6 reasons to keep carbs in your diet
Pinky_Calhoun
Posts: 125 Member
I’m not naming any names, but I have a family member who rarely eats carbs. The reasoning? In their words, not mine, “they make you fat.” (And chances are, thanks to the Atkins craze, you too know at least one of these no-carb eaters.)
1. Carbs can help boost your mood. Researchers suspect that carbs promote the production of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. In a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who followed a very low carbohydrate diet for a year—which allowed only 20 to 40 grams of carbs daily, about the amount in just 1⁄2 cup of rice plus one piece of bread—experienced more depression, anxiety and anger than those assigned to a low-fat, high-carb diet that focused on low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and beans.
2. Carbs can help prevent weight gain—and even promote weight loss. Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah followed the eating habits of middle-aged women for nearly two years and found that those who increased their fiber intake generally lost weight. Women who decreased the fiber in their diets gained. Many carbohydrates contain dietary fiber, which is actually an indigestible complex carbohydrate. You’ll find it easy to boost your fiber intake with these healthy and tasty fiber-rich recipes to help you lose weight.
3. Carbs are good for your heart. Research suggests that increasing your soluble-fiber intake (a type of fiber found in carb-rich foods like oatmeal and beans) by 5 to 10 grams each day could result in a 5 percent drop in “bad” LDL cholesterol. Similarly, people who eat more whole grains (think brown rice, bulgur, quinoa) also tend to have lower LDL cholesterol and higher “good” HDL cholesterol.
4. Carbs will help you trim your waistline. Swapping refined grains for whole grains may help reduce total body fat and belly fat, according to new research in the Journal of Nutrition. In the study, adults who ate about 3 servings of whole grains a day had about 2.4 percent less body fat and 3.6 percent less abdominal fat than those who ate less than a quarter of a serving.
5. Carbs will keep your memory sharp. After overweight women followed a “low-carbohydrate” diet for a week (they were told to completely eliminate carbohydrates from their diets) they did worse on tests of working memory (i.e., why did I walk into this room?) and visuospatial memory (remembering locations on a map) than their counterparts who followed a “low-calorie” diet, based on American Dietetic Association guidelines, in a study from Tufts University.
6. Carbs will help you blast fat. Eating a breakfast made with “slow-release” carbohydrates, such as oatmeal or bran cereal, three hours before exercise may help burn more fat, according to a recent study from the Journal of Nutrition. Here’s why: in the study, eating “slow-release” carbohydrates didn’t spike blood sugar as high as eating refined carbohydrates, such as white toast. In turn, insulin levels didn’t spike as high and because insulin plays a role in signaling your body to store fat, having lower levels may help you burn fat.
1. Carbs can help boost your mood. Researchers suspect that carbs promote the production of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. In a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who followed a very low carbohydrate diet for a year—which allowed only 20 to 40 grams of carbs daily, about the amount in just 1⁄2 cup of rice plus one piece of bread—experienced more depression, anxiety and anger than those assigned to a low-fat, high-carb diet that focused on low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and beans.
2. Carbs can help prevent weight gain—and even promote weight loss. Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah followed the eating habits of middle-aged women for nearly two years and found that those who increased their fiber intake generally lost weight. Women who decreased the fiber in their diets gained. Many carbohydrates contain dietary fiber, which is actually an indigestible complex carbohydrate. You’ll find it easy to boost your fiber intake with these healthy and tasty fiber-rich recipes to help you lose weight.
3. Carbs are good for your heart. Research suggests that increasing your soluble-fiber intake (a type of fiber found in carb-rich foods like oatmeal and beans) by 5 to 10 grams each day could result in a 5 percent drop in “bad” LDL cholesterol. Similarly, people who eat more whole grains (think brown rice, bulgur, quinoa) also tend to have lower LDL cholesterol and higher “good” HDL cholesterol.
4. Carbs will help you trim your waistline. Swapping refined grains for whole grains may help reduce total body fat and belly fat, according to new research in the Journal of Nutrition. In the study, adults who ate about 3 servings of whole grains a day had about 2.4 percent less body fat and 3.6 percent less abdominal fat than those who ate less than a quarter of a serving.
5. Carbs will keep your memory sharp. After overweight women followed a “low-carbohydrate” diet for a week (they were told to completely eliminate carbohydrates from their diets) they did worse on tests of working memory (i.e., why did I walk into this room?) and visuospatial memory (remembering locations on a map) than their counterparts who followed a “low-calorie” diet, based on American Dietetic Association guidelines, in a study from Tufts University.
6. Carbs will help you blast fat. Eating a breakfast made with “slow-release” carbohydrates, such as oatmeal or bran cereal, three hours before exercise may help burn more fat, according to a recent study from the Journal of Nutrition. Here’s why: in the study, eating “slow-release” carbohydrates didn’t spike blood sugar as high as eating refined carbohydrates, such as white toast. In turn, insulin levels didn’t spike as high and because insulin plays a role in signaling your body to store fat, having lower levels may help you burn fat.
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Replies
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Love it Pinky!! We crave carbs for a reason!!! Our bodies want & need carbs for fuel. The majority of top athletes eat carb rich diets so they have the energy to get out there, be active, and enjoy life!! Eat the carbs, get the energy, become fit.0
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Great post.
I think the message to doubters is if you eat the RIGHT carbs your body will thank you0 -
Exactly! Like many other food groups carbs have a bad rep. I love'em and don't plan on ever cutting them out my diet!0
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I would like to add #7:
they are DELICIOUS!0 -
Low carbers like myself still eat carbs. Probably just less than the average person. There's a time to eat them and there's an amount to eat that varies by person. So I wouldn't lump us all into some evil carb hating cult.
Just sayin'0 -
Great post. I hope a lot of people see this. I tried Atkins some time ago. It's not a life-long commitment diet I would ever recommend. The only thing that has worked for me is to watch what I eat and exercise. The exercise seems to be key and it's a worthy life-long commitment. While I avoid things like potatoes and most breads until I achieve my weight loss goals, I seek out carbs like beans and fiber. Everything in balance and moderation....0
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Great post.
I think the message to doubters is if you eat the RIGHT carbs your body will thank you
Bingo!
I did the Atkins and I lost a lot of weight, but it was impossible to stay on it, fell off and boom, weight came back :grumble:0 -
Thanks for the post, very informative0
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Great post.
I think the message to doubters is if you eat the RIGHT carbs your body will thank you
Bingo!
I did the Atkins and I lost a lot of weight, but it was impossible to stay on it, fell off and boom, weight came back :grumble:
If you were climbing the carb ladder and adding back in all the foods there is no reason you shouldn't have been able to stay on and maintain without gaining............
I'm just sayin'.............
I maintained a 100 + pound loss on Atkins for years. I didn't gain the weight back until I developed Thyroid and other Endocrine issues............0 -
I’m not naming any names, but I have a family member who rarely eats carbs. The reasoning? In their words, not mine, “they make you fat.” (And chances are, thanks to the Atkins craze, you too know at least one of these no-carb eaters.)
1. Carbs can help boost your mood. Researchers suspect that carbs promote the production of serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. In a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who followed a very low carbohydrate diet for a year—which allowed only 20 to 40 grams of carbs daily, about the amount in just 1⁄2 cup of rice plus one piece of bread—experienced more depression, anxiety and anger than those assigned to a low-fat, high-carb diet that focused on low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and beans.
2. Carbs can help prevent weight gain—and even promote weight loss. Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah followed the eating habits of middle-aged women for nearly two years and found that those who increased their fiber intake generally lost weight. Women who decreased the fiber in their diets gained. Many carbohydrates contain dietary fiber, which is actually an indigestible complex carbohydrate. You’ll find it easy to boost your fiber intake with these healthy and tasty fiber-rich recipes to help you lose weight.
3. Carbs are good for your heart. Research suggests that increasing your soluble-fiber intake (a type of fiber found in carb-rich foods like oatmeal and beans) by 5 to 10 grams each day could result in a 5 percent drop in “bad” LDL cholesterol. Similarly, people who eat more whole grains (think brown rice, bulgur, quinoa) also tend to have lower LDL cholesterol and higher “good” HDL cholesterol.
4. Carbs will help you trim your waistline. Swapping refined grains for whole grains may help reduce total body fat and belly fat, according to new research in the Journal of Nutrition. In the study, adults who ate about 3 servings of whole grains a day had about 2.4 percent less body fat and 3.6 percent less abdominal fat than those who ate less than a quarter of a serving.
5. Carbs will keep your memory sharp. After overweight women followed a “low-carbohydrate” diet for a week (they were told to completely eliminate carbohydrates from their diets) they did worse on tests of working memory (i.e., why did I walk into this room?) and visuospatial memory (remembering locations on a map) than their counterparts who followed a “low-calorie” diet, based on American Dietetic Association guidelines, in a study from Tufts University.
6. Carbs will help you blast fat. Eating a breakfast made with “slow-release” carbohydrates, such as oatmeal or bran cereal, three hours before exercise may help burn more fat, according to a recent study from the Journal of Nutrition. Here’s why: in the study, eating “slow-release” carbohydrates didn’t spike blood sugar as high as eating refined carbohydrates, such as white toast. In turn, insulin levels didn’t spike as high and because insulin plays a role in signaling your body to store fat, having lower levels may help you burn fat.
I don't know where they got these things at, but when I eat grains I get moody, very bad mood swings and I am unbearable to live with.............grains also cause brain fog in a lot of people.....
I could go down this list and I pretty much have the opposite reaction when low carbing..........
My carbs come from lots of veggies, little bits of fruit and nuts. I stay away from grains and limit dairy because they are NOT good for my body.
I have lots of energy eating this way, am always in a good mood, need less sleep and have stellar workouts.
Where ever this study came from, they obviously don't know anything about the low carb lifestyle.
And to the OP, Atkins is NOT a no-carb eating plan. Veggies have carbs. Fruit has carbs. With Atkins you have whole grains, sweet potatoes, dairy later in the plan when you add back in foods according to the carb ladder (which is based on the glycemic index).
I very much dislike the whole bashing of the low carb lifestyle.0 -
Personally I wouldn't go to grains for carbs - they are really hard to digest and tax the digestive lining and beans are pretty much indigestable as well. Fruit and easily digestable veggies are where its at for me. I feel you about the headaches when eating lots of grains July24 but I would be curious to nail down the health problems you endured after Atkins.0
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I have to say that it was only when I cut my carbs down that I was finally able to shift my excess weight.
If I eat carbs, I crave more. Willpower doesn't even come into it, the cravings are awful and once I cut most of the carbs out of my eating plan, the cravings started to abate and now I do not crave any at all.
My daily alloted amount of carbs are 150, the vast majority of the time I have loads left at the end of the day.
I eat a lot of protein because it fills me up and stops me snacking, this is the first time I have ever tried eating protein with every meal and cutting back on carbs when trying to lose weight and so far, it is working a treat.
Having said all that, I do think the OP's post was extremely interesting to say the least :flowerforyou:
Regarding the Atkins Diet, I do know somebody who lost a lot of weight with that method. Their weight gained again because they ate the wrong things once they had shed their weight, not because they lost weight in the first place on the Atkins diet.
The reason people gain back weight is because they stuff themselves with crap once their weight has been shifted, not because they went on the Atkins Diet, lost too quickly, ate nothing but cabbage or went on some Shake diet.
Weight gain is caused by eating more calories than you use up daily, not because of the methods you used to lose it in the first place.
The Atkins Diet has had unfair coverage in the media in the past, it is a damn shame that the ketogenic way of eating has not been in the news more regarding how it helped epileptic children to such a degree that many of them no longer required their medication, it did not help 100% of the people on the Ketogenic Diet but it did help a fair number and that can be nothing but good.
A balance view is needed here and the continual happy slapping of high protein, low carbs diets is becoming tiresome.0 -
I think we all need to realize that everyone is different, so we all need to do different things to be healthy. Some people can eat any amount of good for you carbs and see weight loss. I, like many others suffer from PCOS and cannot proccess carbs like others so I have to limit mine or I never see weight loss. I just wanted to throw that out there so you know not every one is out here bashing carbs for the sake of it.0
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"Can't we all just get along?" ~Rodney King0
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"Can't we all just get along?" ~Rodney King
No.0 -
Personally I wouldn't go to grains for carbs - they are really hard to digest and tax the digestive lining and beans are pretty much indigestable as well. Fruit and easily digestable veggies are where its at for me. I feel you about the headaches when eating lots of grains July24 but I would be curious to nail down the health problems you endured after Atkins.
Atkins hasn't caused any health problems for me. Eating green leafy veggies and moderate amounts of protein will not cause any health problems.............
My blood work is all in check.
My issues I have been told were already there before Atkins, they just have gotten worse due to being untreated by Dr's that denied I had any thyroid issues............
I have PCOS and the doctor told me due to having irregular cycles since I was 10, I have always had PCOS, it just didn't manifest itself until i was in my 20's.0 -
Love the post! Everyone is always telling me to lay off the carbs but for the most part, I eat whole grain/natural foods that cause my carb amounts to go up instead of bad stuff like candy. I think the hardest thing for people to realize is the difference between good carbs and bad carbs and portion sizes. I know Ive had a tough time with it. Good luck everyone!0
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Personally I wouldn't go to grains for carbs - they are really hard to digest and tax the digestive lining and beans are pretty much indigestable as well. Fruit and easily digestable veggies are where its at for me. I feel you about the headaches when eating lots of grains July24 but I would be curious to nail down the health problems you endured after Atkins.
Most people go to grains for their carbs due to the fact the government has this thing called the food pyramid that tells them they need to eat more and more grains...............
the government has so many people duped, it is unbelievable.
I actually changed my eating plan to a stricter plan than Atkins. Atkins allows beans, legumes, grains in the latter carb rungs (as a to be eaten sparingly item)...............I can't tolerate those things, my body does not like them and makes me feel horrible.
I have switched to a more paleo style of eating now and feels better for life............0 -
I think we all need to realize that everyone is different, so we all need to do different things to be healthy. Some people can eat any amount of good for you carbs and see weight loss. I, like many others suffer from PCOS and cannot proccess carbs like others so I have to limit mine or I never see weight loss. I just wanted to throw that out there so you know not every one is out here bashing carbs for the sake of it.
Yes, anyone that deals with issues such as:
Hypothyroid
Diabetes or Insulin Resistance
PCOS
These groups need to severly limit their carb intake..............0 -
Personally I think one of the biggest issues has nothing to do with carbs are bad/good, or Atkins is Evil or heavenly - it is portion control.
Yes wholegrain carbs are good, and yes eating protein and veg is also good. However most people I come across have no idea just how many carbs they eat. Just come back from a friends where I was amazed at how much bread they ate. But under the guise of "I need carbs or I have no energy."
Then we had pasta for dinner (with bread) and a huge portion of pasta. It was so much more than when I was carb loading for marathons and yet they were complaining that they put on weight despite exercising. (Not sure 30mins light jogging will burn 2000 calories of carbs!)
SO many people think they know what is healthy to eat but are blissfully aware of how much of it hey should eat.0 -
my opinion is that ALOT of people don't even know what a carb is. There are favorable and unfavorable (not good and bad). Some are better than others. Fruits and veggies=favorable. Breads, grains, rice, potatoes,etc=unfavorable. Not bad, just not as good. I eat all kinds. I try to limit the "unfavorable" and it has had a big impact on my weight. Period.
Here's what I don't get. Doctors recommend a very good diet for diabetics, restricting unfavorable carbs, regular meals, good lean proteins, etc.
If this is a good diet for diabetics wouldn't you think it would be a good diet for most everyone? Good for your body? Less stress on the system?
This is what I'm doing and I feel great. Less joint pain, clear headed, more energy, depression in check and very little sweets cravings. I haven't eaten sugar in I don't know how long now. I personally think sugar is the biggest problem. Definitely what I'd go so far as to call a "bad" carb. People need to learn what "carbs" are. I'm amazed at the people I talk to that don't know that fruit or veggies are carbs. Of COURSE you need to keep carbs in your diet. It's a matter of which ones!0 -
To carb or not to carb??? That is the question....that NO ONE person alone has the answer to because, again, EVERYONE is different. I did the no carb thing for two days and guess what...FAIL!!!! lmao But I'm okay with that. I had no energy and I felt like blah. This does not work for ME. Balance is key for me. Not to say it can't work for YOU. Thank you pinky for the post! As always mah boo...YOU ARE ON IT!! With ur skinTy @$$!! GET IT MAMA! Werk!0
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I appreciate the sentiments of those who get tired of having their low-carb diets bashed. Likewise, I get frustrated when I see people say eating carbs is bad for you and will make you fat. I have had great fat-loss success and feel the healthiest I've felt my entire life, and my diet consists of a large percentage of carbs, including whole grains and even the dreaded potatoes.0
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