are carbs evil?

mzmoonlight

I, for one, am in love with carbs. I eat a high protein diet but do not forgo my carbs because of this, so was interested in this article when I found it because it explains just why we need carbs when we have exercise in our lives.

http://articles.elitefts.com/nutrition/carbohydrates/

MacMadame

Everyone is different. If I eat too many carbs, I start to get cravings for junk food and I'm hungrier than if I get those same calories from protein or fat. I try to keep mine between 175 and 200 a day on average and that works for me. Obviously, if I'm doing an 8 hour bike ride, I'm going to eat a lot more than 200 g of carbs, but I don't do that every day.

omid990

With fad diets like the atkins popping up all over the place, carbs are getting almost as bad of a rep as fats.


You have to have carbs in your diet. They are absolutely necessary. Carbs does no necessarily mean things like bread or pasta. Those are composed of carbs but they are mainly grains. In terms of grains, keep it whole grains as much as possible. Wheat bread, brown rice, wheat pasta, etc.

you also get carbs from fruits and vegetables as well.

MacMadame

You have to have carbs in your diet. They are absolutely necessary.

Actually, there are no essential carbs. There are essential fatty acids and essential amino acids (proteins) but no essential carbs. Your body uses carbs for energy just like it uses protein and fat for energy and it uses it to make glucose, which your brain needs. But your body can make glucose from other sources. So, since it can make what needs (energy and glucose) from other sources, carbs aren't essential by definition.

smae1980

You have to have carbs in your diet. They are absolutely necessary.

Actually, there are no essential carbs. There are essential fatty acids and essential amino acids (proteins) but no essential carbs. Your body uses carbs for energy just like it uses protein and fat for energy and it uses it to make glucose, which your brain needs. But your body can make glucose from other sources. So, since it can make what needs (energy and glucose) from other sources, carbs aren't essential by definition.

Your body will use energy from fat stores as long as they are there and if there are are no fat stores and no carbs coming in, then it will start to break down lean tissue to use protein for energy. In that sense, yes carbs are necessary. They are not essential in the defintion of the word, but you cannot live a healthy existance without carbs

mzmoonlight

Surely the healthiest way to eat is to get all of your food groups in there. To me, carbs are an important part of this. But then I dont subscribe to any kind of fad diet (anymore) but just read lots and adapt my own diet according to my own needs.

The main reason I wrote this post was to mention carbs with exercise. You do need them before and after exercise in order to get the most from your exercise efforts. As the article points out, whats the point of working out if you can only give 50% of your maximum effort? With carbs you can give so much more of yourself.

kwardklinck

Depends on the carbs. I do eat white bread every now and then and I love mashed potatoes. Carbs in moderation and high fiber carbs are good for you. I was actually eating a lot fewer carbs before I started here. When I started adding them in I felt more satisfied and I lost weight faster. Eating junk food makes me crave junkfood. Eating a piece of bread doesn't lead to a craving for chocolate.

kelli_panzera

Carbs aren't evil. You definitely need to be incorporating the "right" kind of carbs into your diet. I am diabetic and was under the impression years ago that I needed to cut out carbs almost completely. Carbs are energy, and for me, my diet should be 50-55% carbs every day. Now I feel great and look better. Go figure. :huh:

courtney_love2001

I live for carbs!! I find myself going over on them quite frequently. It's not from sugar, either, it's bread. On the average day I eat an english muffin for breakfast, 2 slices bread for dinner, and a carb for dinner (potato, rice, roll, etc.). I think this works for me, though, as I have lost doing it this way and I am happy with my diet. I don't feel deprived at all...I could neverrrrrrr do low carb!

mzmoonlight

Yeah, I could NEVER do low carb either. My ideal of hell!

I'd point out that I am not a fan of simple carbs though and am very careful about the carbs that I do have. I don't eat bread of any kind any more (best decision ever) and I dont eat white potatoes (I love sweet potatoes though). All my pasta etc is wholewheat too, but I try to limit pasta to once or twice a week.

SHBoss1673

Carbs aren't evil. You know what's evil, what big food does to perfectly healthy food in the name of profit and "longer shelf life", and that's pretty much why there is such a thing as simple carbs out there.

it's no coincidence that obesity rates have skyrocketed in the US in the last 50 years. 50 years ago, we didn't have the same kind of mega corporation conveyor belt food plants putting out billions of pre-packaged, long shelf life foods that require white flour (which lasts longer in storage) and preservatives.

White flour is probably the biggest enemy in the battle against obesity. The problem is, it's also one of the easiest way to shove large portions of food to people cheaply, and thus is a huge money maker for business. So I say, how do we fix obesity? It all comes back to the same thing IMHO (sorry to get even remotely political but...) get rid of the lobbyist in Washington, without lobbyist then big food has no say at the FDA, and then the researchers there can make REAL assessments about food quality instead of having to wade through miles of paperwork to file any kind of negative report.

Do that, and teach our children proper nutrition at home and in our schools, and this epidemic would be gone.

Carbs aren't the enemy, our own ignorance is. And don't fool yourself, you elected officials in Washington are WELL aware of what big food is doing to our country, they really just don't care all that much.

Sorry, little pre-vacation rant about the state of our country (the good ole U.S. of A.)

aareeyesee

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/anthony4.htm

andyxbear

*replying for later reading*