Are Carbs Evil?

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  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    evil-carbs.jpg
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Carbsare not inherently evil. Most people on a SAD eat far too many and lack anything resembling a balanced diet...but as part of an overall balanced diet and barring any medical conditions, they're just fine. BTW...you might want to remind your sister that vegetables are carbs and fruit are carbs...last time I checked, fruits and veg were a pretty essential part of proper nutrition.

    That said, If you're sitting around eating cake and cookies all day and not getting your fitness on...you might have issues.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    My view on carbs is this:

    High carbs typically = high calories. If you would typically eat 400g carbs per day, and you go on a low-carb diet that restricts you to 25 carbs, you're significantly reducing your caloric intake, which is how you're losing weight. That's the science behind it. Don't believe me? Calculate both your carbs and calories from a typical day before you started trying to lose weight versus now. You'll find that they're both reduced.

    Where a lot of people are unsuccessful with calorie-based diets is one or both of two things:

    1. They don't accurately measure the calories going in (thus they're eating more calories than they think)
    2. They're over-calculating the additional calories they can eat due to exercise.

    #2 is very common. I've seen two different GPS-based cycling apps come up with calories-burned data more than 300 calories apart for the same 1 hour bike ride.

    I look at carb diets like I look at weight-watchers. If it helps you more to keep track of 25 carbs as opposed to 1,500 calories because it's simpler to keep track of then sure, watch your carbs and you'll lose weight because your calories are lower. If you're already using something like MFP, you'd might as well watch the calories first and keep an eye on your other metrics (vitamins, fat, protein) as a secondary but still important goal.


    This is the best answer on all the threads! If you're new, do the calorie counting first...if you find (like i did after 3 years of calorie counting and failing) it's not working, then start looking at your macros and your calories will fall into place automatically. I even have to figure out protein solutions to boost my calories daily now that i'm 100g of carbs a day. *hint, hemp hearts and chia seeds help me exponentially.
  • ztaitaifufu
    ztaitaifufu Posts: 77 Member
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    beyond the basic/obvious insulin response issue, 2 points: 1) it's not so much carbs that are evil as processed "foods" which are usually carbs even if they wouldn't otherwise be. 2) different people respond differently to different macro nutrient percentages. (even in their insulin response) for instance my sister does really well on a lot of meat, and i do really well on a lot of squash, sweet potatos, taro and pumpkin. beans are pretty high carb too and if i'm getting puffy that's what i go to the most (along with the usual greens and colourful veggies obviously). but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.
  • ksuh999
    ksuh999 Posts: 543 Member
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    beyond the basic/obvious insulin response issue, 2 points: 1) it's not so much carbs that are evil as processed "foods" which are usually carbs even if they wouldn't otherwise be. 2) different people respond differently to different macro nutrient percentages. (even in their insulin response) for instance my sister does really well on a lot of meat, and i do really well on a lot of squash, sweet potatos, taro and pumpkin. beans are pretty high carb too and if i'm getting puffy that's what i go to the most (along with the usual greens and colourful veggies obviously). but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.
    I eat bread, cookies and cakes and look at my counter.
  • laele75
    laele75 Posts: 283 Member
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    evil-carbs.jpg

    Where is my like button, dammit!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,998 Member
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    yes. your entire body runs on evil. every cell in your body breaks down glucose to get energy. This is called respiration. glucose is a carb. carbs are evil, therefore your entire body runs on evil, every cell in your body is right now breaking down evil in order to get energy. :devil: :flowerforyou:





    please don't feel guilty for eating carbs. Balance your macros, aim for about 40% of your calories to come from carbs, 30% from fat and 30% from protein, and stay within your calorie goals. Carbs are good for you, and too much of anything is bad for you.

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  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    1) They are not evil
    2) Your sister isn't a fitness fanatic
  • yesiamheathermills
    yesiamheathermills Posts: 7
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    You shouldn't feel guilt about eating food, ever. (Unless you're eating food that you stole from a small child.)

    Wait... You're saying this is bad??? (Slinks into a closet to hide...)
  • Daerina8
    Daerina8 Posts: 35 Member
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    There is no one diet and nutrition system that works for everyone, if you want to eat carbs and do a calorie control diet, go for it!

    But if you want to do a keto diet, then yes, carbs are "evil".

    Essentially, here's a brief summary;
    Your body takes in and uses energy (aka calories) from one of three different sources; carbs, fats, and proteins.
    If you take in less energy than you consume, you'll lose weight. Period. No matter what diet you're on.

    HOWEVER, many of us have some excess energy laying around on our hips, stomachs, thighs, etc. So, a keto diet basically reduces your carb intake to 5% or less of your total calorie intake, and lowers your protein intake to a healthy amount (30% or so) and encourages a high fat diet where 65% or more of your calories are from fats. This "trains" your body to use fat as its main source of energy, so it will be more likely to use that excess fat sitting on your hips as energy when it's run out of food. Keto diets are proven to be a very effective method of weight loss, but it is definitely not for everyone.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    1) it's not so much carbs that are evil as processed "foods" which are usually carbs even if they wouldn't otherwise be. .
    What does that even mean? Foods get processed into "foods" (presumably the scare quotes mean they are no longer actually food) and somehow turn from fats or protein into carbs?
    but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.
    I beg to differ, I've been pretty successful with breads, cookies and cakes. And chocolate, pizza, ice cream and wine.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    Carbs are not evil, abuse of Carbs is evil. Not knowing how much protein,fats and carbs make for a balance in your body is just something all of us learn.

    I need more protein at age 55 than I did at age 35. I only get X amount of calories a day, and I have to plan my meals around protein first, fat second and then carbs. I try to eat the most nutritional dense foods each day. That's why I eat an avocado instead of crisco, and salmon instead of a hotdog.

    When I went on my weight loss journey, which is now my fitness journey, I cut out bread, pasta , potatos and rice as well as any desserts. I didn't add those back in maintenance, and only have desserts occasionally. I get carbs from all the other foods I eat. It is easier to get my macros balanced when I leave out gluten laden foods and rice,pasta. I think potatos have a lot of great nutrtion in them, but I will overeat them everytime. So I just stay away.
  • Wildflower0106
    Wildflower0106 Posts: 247 Member
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    beyond the basic/obvious insulin response issue, 2 points: 1) it's not so much carbs that are evil as processed "foods" which are usually carbs even if they wouldn't otherwise be. 2) different people respond differently to different macro nutrient percentages. (even in their insulin response) for instance my sister does really well on a lot of meat, and i do really well on a lot of squash, sweet potatos, taro and pumpkin. beans are pretty high carb too and if i'm getting puffy that's what i go to the most (along with the usual greens and colourful veggies obviously). but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.

    Well um... NO...
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    beyond the basic/obvious insulin response issue, 2 points: 1) it's not so much carbs that are evil as processed "foods" which are usually carbs even if they wouldn't otherwise be. 2) different people respond differently to different macro nutrient percentages. (even in their insulin response) for instance my sister does really well on a lot of meat, and i do really well on a lot of squash, sweet potatos, taro and pumpkin. beans are pretty high carb too and if i'm getting puffy that's what i go to the most (along with the usual greens and colourful veggies obviously). but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.

    Look at my diary.
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
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    evil-carbs.jpg

    Where is my like button, dammit!

    I know, right? That's a great picture for this topic!

    *Feeds Evil Pancakes more butter and syrup*

    *Eats them!*

    The evil has now been contained. All clear!
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
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    evil-carbs.jpg

    Ahhhh!
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    but obviously if you are eating breads cookies cakes, or anything processed you aren't doing to have too much success.
    I think you need to research more, especially the successful people on this site
  • gogoboobzilla
    gogoboobzilla Posts: 91 Member
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    So are they? It's Fall my favorite season full of warm tea under blankets and hearty meals. My sister who happens to be a fitness fanatic who is gluten free and dairy free hardly ever eats any carbs tells me I should eat like that if I want to lose weight.

    The thing is...I LOVE CARBS! If I stay under my calorie count for the day shouldn't I be able to eat whole grains and potatoes?

    Yes, carbs are evil. If you eat them you must pray to the porcelain god to cleanse you of your sins.





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