Do carbs make you fat?

I eat plenty of carbs without guilt or fear. It hasn't seemed to matter at all. What matters (in my personal experience) is calories in, calories out.

I think it has something to do with a blood sugar / metabolism issue. People who don't handle carbs well - become overweight. Some people may become overweight for other reasons.

If you get really hungry every couple of hours you would probably benefit from lowering carbs. If just cutting calories works for you then you likely don't have a problem at your current carb intake.

I think one of the main problems with carbs (particularly processed) is under reporting as well as not having a good balance of nutrition overall. I think being vegan would be a real challenge for me to get enough protein. Tofu is nasty stuff IMO

Well that's why I included a "no". You're correct in that carbs in and of themselves don't make you fat. I believe carbs have about 4 calories per gram. But if someone is trying to avoid weight gain, it's best to avoid the carbs because of the reasons I mentioned-glucose weight and lack of feeling full, which in turn, causes overeating. I got the feeling that the OP was referring to just getting "bigger" mass-wise, not necessarily fat, so glucose weight would count

No, if someone is trying to avoid weight gain they do not have to avoid weight gain.

Glucose weight gain? Please don't explain to make that 1g of carb will attach to 4g of water, I already understand all that, if that's what you meant by glucose weight gain, which is a new term for me. Unless you meant to say glycogen. Which doesn't matter because added glycogen is not the same as gaining fat.

OP asked about carbs making you fat. I will it make me retain water.

okay buddy

Almost everything has carbs in it- fruits, vegetables, etc. And those are the types of slow carbs you want to be ingesting along with whole grains. Avoid what they call "fast carbs" like white bread, milk, candy. Slow carbs won't cause the yo-yoing/crashing people describe when eating crappy fast carbs. Although I am not diabetic, I do follow the recommended diet structure by eating like 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. I try to keep total meal carbs below 40 and total snack carbs below 20.

And one of the other posts mentioned- do not stop eating carbs, just eat the right ones and limit the amount per meal. Your brain requires glucose to keep going, here is a pretty neat snip-it from a text on Biochemistry- Each Organ Has a Unique Metabolic Profile http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/

well, yes and no. it's true that excess calories of any macro type will cause weight gain. but the type of macro does matter. if you eat a bunch of carbs and don't burn them off, they are stored as glucose. for every 1 gram of glucose the body holds, it holds 4 grams of water with it. so there's that. i've also found that carbs aren't very satiating relative to protein and fat. if i eat a 300 calorie meal made mostly of fat and/or protein, i'm usually stuffed for a few hours (fat digests slower). but if it's mostly carbs, then i'm hungry an hour later. so i'm more likely to consume more calories, which results in weight gain. i did lose close to 30 lbs. after cutting my carb intake to below 30 grams per day.

Your statement makes no sense. You will be hungry which will cause you to overeat which will cause you to gain weight. You can't blame the carbs. You still had to eat more calories than maintenance.

So the answer is No, carbs don't make you fat. Over eating does.

And water weight gain is not fat gain.

They're not blaming the carbs for weight gain as if they hadn't eaten over maintenance; they're saying that carbs aren't as filling so they're more likely to eat over maintenance and thus gain weight. So the answer is that for some people, eating carbs WILL make them fat not in and of themselves but because carbs cause them to be more likely to overeat and thus gain weight.

No they don't, stay within the guidelines that MFP provides and youll be fine, I was on the no carb thing for YEARS, all it did was lead me to binges .

your body needs carbs, in moderation.

No. Carbs do not, in and of themselves, make you fat.

Some more than others. It really depends on what you're eating. If you're eating things like white bread, flour-based foods, or starchy foods, and if you eat more than your fair share of them, you are guaranteed to bulk up, but not the way you want. Carbs absorb into your body, and after a while, with very little to no activity, carbs turn into fat. That is something you don't want. If you are going to eat ANY carbs, good or bad, your best bet is to not eat them before bed.

So, as far as which carbs to eat, you cannot go wrong with fruits and veggies, and you definitely can't go wrong with whole grains. Sweet potatoes and brown rice are great carbs to have. Wheat pasta is another thing, that is, if you like pasta. I'd stay away from the flour-based foods (certain breads, pasta, flour tortillas) and the starchy foods (potatoes and white rice) if you're aiming to lose weight. If you're trying to bulk up, by all means, add starch to your diet, but not if you're trying to lose weight.