why are carbs so bad

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Replies

  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    Any time I want carbs I eat cauliflower.
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
    Any time I want carbs I eat cauliflower.

    Have you ever heard of cauliflower pizza? It is soooo rad!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Carbs are bad because they made me fat and pre-diabetic. Now that I restrict them to under 30g a day, I've lost 1/3 of my body weight and 1/2 the gain of the last 14 years, and I am no longer pre-diabetic and I have a normal blood lipid profile and blood pressure.

    Now, tell me again that carbs are good? :p

    You were pre-diabetic because you were fat and ate too much. Now that your weight is healthier, your blood sugar and blood pressure are normal. That has most probably nothing to do with carbs.

    How could you possibly know what made this person pre-diabetic? People who are not overweight also become pre-diabetic.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    Because they tend to be high in calories, and over consumption of calories equals weight gain, which can and does lead to a whole host of medical problems, including, but not limited to, diabetes.

    Also there is a HUGE difference between the nutritional value of simple carbs (white bread, white rice, potatoes) and complex carbs (Brown rice, whole grain, sweet potatoes) Most of the beneficial nutrition has been bleached and removed from the simple sort.

    Carbs, Fat, Gluten are not your enemy. They're all an essential part of the human nutrition. It's the overeating of calories, and missing vitamins/minerals which makes you malnourished and overweight.

    It's that simple.

    Of those three it's only fat which is essential part of human nutrition.

    Also white rice etc.is a starch, which is a complex sugar and not a simple sugar.
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member


    Of those three it's only fat which is essential part of human nutrition.
    I am not sure people always say this. U cannot live too long without protein and amino acids. First u will get sick then u will die.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member


    Of those three it's only fat which is essential part of human nutrition.
    I am not sure people always say this. U cannot live too long without protein and amino acids. First u will get sick then u will die.

    I'm pretty sure you can survive just well and optimally without every consuming plant based protein. Also you could get by without carbs, albeit it would not be optimal for fitness or health (but it certainly wouldn't kill you) and I wouldn't recommend it.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Because they tend to be high in calories, and over consumption of calories equals weight gain, which can and does lead to a whole host of medical problems, including, but not limited to, diabetes.

    Also there is a HUGE difference between the nutritional value of simple carbs (white bread, white rice, potatoes) and complex carbs (Brown rice, whole grain, sweet potatoes) Most of the beneficial nutrition has been bleached and removed from the simple sort.

    Carbs, Fat, Gluten are not your enemy. They're all an essential part of the human nutrition. It's the overeating of calories, and missing vitamins/minerals which makes you malnourished and overweight.

    It's that simple.

    Agree mostly with the last bit, but lots of carbs--like most vegetables--are the opposite of high in calories. Even fruit isn't really that high. Whether rice or potatoes or sweet potatoes, etc. are depends on how filling you find them. I find 100 calories of potato or sweet potato or 150 calories of oatmeal, for example, pretty filling, so don't consider them especially high. I also don't find brown rice any more filling than white.

    As others have pointed out the simple vs complex thing gets used incorrectly all the time, generally to make simple equate to foods people are told are bad for them or fattening, but I'm particularly puzzled by potato being simple here while sweet potato is not. Is this a color thing? Or is the potato being blamed for the fact that some overeat fries and chips? Of course the calories in those are largely from fat.
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    Remember guys carbs have four cals per gram just like protein. Fat has nine per gram. So saying carbs have alot of cals doesnt really make sense.
  • Swiftlet66
    Swiftlet66 Posts: 729 Member
    They're not bad... They are actually what your body uses first for fuel. People mentioned simple vs complex carbs. Simple is best for pre-workouts or for quick energy. Complex is great for micronutrients that helps in the processes going on in your body. Carbs/fats/proteins, none of that is bad. There are uses for all of it inside your body. You just have to balance it out enough where you feel at your best. I just took a nutrition course and learned all that!! lol So glad I took that class.
  • renzo211
    renzo211 Posts: 25
    I had over 300 gr of carbs yesterday

    Will prolly have that much today....

    Just ate 300 gr of white rice with my chicken and broccolli

    This! Had a discussion today with work buddies and they were all convinced that "rice is bad". My nutrionist for example recommended I eat brown rice but didn't go crazy in negation towards white rice. Like everyone is saying, everything in moderation works well, you need to find out how many grams of carbs you need a day depending on your needs.

    I take around 170 grams of carbs on a regular day, around 240 when exercising (MFP automatically bumps it up).

    If im not eating lentils, split pees or wheat berries, I eat my chicken and salad with a cup of white rice!
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    Remember guys carbs have four cals per gram just like protein. Fat has nine per gram. So saying carbs have alot of cals doesnt really make sense.

    It is for the micro nutrient return on some junk foods.
  • Devlyn_P
    Devlyn_P Posts: 294 Member
    Carbs aren't bad - in moderation.

    They are an optimal macro nutrient for health and general fitness.

    Best answer in this thread...The other snarky comments should be buried. Sheesh what happened to this community.
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    I dont preach if it fits ur macros. But eat enough to hit ur macros. Going over nsy make u fat or have health consequences.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    Carbs are bad because they made me fat and pre-diabetic. Now that I restrict them to under 30g a day, I've lost 1/3 of my body weight and 1/2 the gain of the last 14 years, and I am no longer pre-diabetic and I have a normal blood lipid profile and blood pressure.

    Now, tell me again that carbs are good? :p

    Great job! Congrats on getting your health back!! But I respectfully disagree with you. You stated in your post 'Carbs are bad because they made me fat and pre-diabetic'. Carbs didn't do it.....you did it. It was the consumption of too many carbs, too many calories and allowing yourself to become obese that caused your health problems.

    There are many people out there that can eat carbs in moderation with no problems at all.
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  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Remember guys carbs have four cals per gram just like protein. Fat has nine per gram. So saying carbs have alot of cals doesnt really make sense.

    It is for the micro nutrient return on some junk foods.
    If you still meet your macro nutrient goals for the day though. That's not a problem.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    simple carbs are typically monosaccharides. They are a single simple molecule. Easily and quickly broken down by the body. Complex carbs are polysaccharides. They are chains of sugar molecules linked together. The body takes longer to break these down.

    Simple and complex shouldn't be used, it's a general lay term misnomer. And your attempt to define it as monosaccharides and polysaccharides is slightly incorrect. For example, sucrose, a simple polysaccharide (simple here in that it is easily made from two monosaccharides) is typically considered a simple carb. Fructose - a monosaccharides is sometimes not so quickly broken down and depends on the substrate. Some "complex" carbs, like starch, can be made easily available.

    It's just best to avoid "simple" and "complex".

    I wasnt going to go into the different kinds of bonds here.

    Nothing I wrote talks about bonds, your post about simple carbs = always more easily available is not correct. It depends on total food composition.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    CARBS did this to you? does this include veggies and fruits? or where you shoving twinkies down your throat?

    I was Vegan actually!
    No they didn't. And no they aren't.

    Yes they did. Explain why I was in such a bad state, despite eating the magical low fat diet with plenty of fruit and veg! Yet when I dropped the carbs and started eating high fat, moderate protein, the weight dropped off (despite many years of dieting including Weight Watchers and failing dismally) and my blood work normalised.
    Because low fat, low protein? You know, fats regulate hormones, proteins necessary for growth and repair?


    Carbs aren't bad. They're just easy to overconsume.