Do carbs make you fat?

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135

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  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Carbs are magically delicious
  • marcusriedner
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    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.
  • badbcatha05
    badbcatha05 Posts: 200 Member
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    Too many carbs will make you fat if it puts you over your maintenance level. But so would too much fat or protein if it pushes you over that threshold. Some people cut them because of medical issues. I personally don't eat tons of bread or pasta because I feel like a bag o'crap after (so says the girl who indulged in pizza, breadsticks, and beer last night)... not because I think they are a culprit in the weight gain problem or particularly evil.

    Eat the way that makes you feel the best not because you think one food group is completely villainous.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Sorry about my post up there...posted on the wrong thread!
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    Sorry about my post up there...posted on the wrong thread!

    I'm glad you did. At least one post was useful.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    The only thing that causes weight gain is a surplus of calories. Simple as that.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    NO. I would not be able to kick box w/o carbs. I'm getting into shape FOR kick boxing so my diet is around that.
  • MrsRatfire
    MrsRatfire Posts: 102
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    I could't help to notice your amazing weight loss. Thank you for posting. Your leg looks great! I also agreed with your answer to the question under consideration. Best Wishes!
  • tgmichelleee
    tgmichelleee Posts: 144 Member
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    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

    ^
    This!
  • illuvatree
    illuvatree Posts: 185 Member
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    No, like everyone else has said, carbs do not make you fat. If you go too much over your calories, then carbs will contribute to weight gain (or if you're trying to lose, maybe maintenance). But the thing is, cutting carbs out of your diet can make it harder for you to maintain your weight after you've achieved whatever goal you're trying to achieve and want to eat carbs again.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

    ^
    This!
    ^
    Nope.
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    No they don't.Eating over your maintenance calories will add fat
  • Sonicz90x
    Sonicz90x Posts: 40 Member
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    Yes they do*

    *Protein, fat, and alcohol are also equally to blame. ;)
  • ggluvbug1
    ggluvbug1 Posts: 87 Member
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    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

    ^
    This!
    ^
    Nope.

    Curious why you so no....this is exactly what my doctor and I have been discussing in regards to my insulin resistance and elevated A1C. Different people do respond to carbs differently.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

    ^
    This!
    ^
    Nope.

    no x a million ...
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Options
    It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

    Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

    If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

    In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

    Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

    Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

    ^
    This!
    ^
    Nope.

    Curious why you so no....this is exactly what my doctor and I have been discussing in regards to my insulin resistance and elevated A1C. Different people do respond to carbs differently.

    To make long story short, let's assume everything said until the part where an insulin spike flushes all the macros out of your bloodstream and puts them into fat storages is true, since I don't know the specifics of that and the important part comes afterwards anyway.
    That doesn't make your body stop needing energy to work. Since there's no nutrients in your blood anymore your body has to get them from somewhere else. Like the newly made fat storages from before.
    The energy is needed, no way around it. If the energy is already in your blood or has to be taken from your stores, no (significant) difference.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    Carbs don't make you fat.
    Sugar doesn't make you fat.
    Protein doesn't make you fat.
    Chocolate doesn't make you fat.
    Eating more calories than you burn off makes you fat. Simple as that.
  • felonebeats
    felonebeats Posts: 433
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    Carbs don't make you fat.
    Sugar doesn't make you fat.
    Protein doesn't make you fat.
    Chocolate doesn't make you fat.
    Eating more calories than you burn off makes you fat. Simple as that.

    Exactly
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    Carbs don't make you fat.
    Sugar doesn't make you fat.
    Protein doesn't make you fat.
    Chocolate doesn't make you fat.
    Eating more calories than you burn off makes you fat. Simple as that.
    But, you can't sell books, run blogs, or make Netflix/Youtube documentaries to scare everyone if "something" doesn't make us fat.