No carbs?

124

Replies

  • ptvu0052
    ptvu0052 Posts: 7
    Go for whole grains like whole wheat, oat. They are carbs yet they contain lots of fiber that make you feel full longer.
    Make sure to buy '100% whole grain' though. Look at the ingredients and the first thing you should see is whole grain.
    If you can, go for organic bread since there are lots of additives in most food nowadays.

    Good luck!
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
    To anybody who disagrees with what I expressed above, I'll be happy to grab some medical journal sources for you and edit them in when I get home. parkscs, you are indeed correct that I did not factor in fat - I was simply attempting to explain the protein-sparing effect of carbohydrates without getting into a full discourse on metabolism.

    Links, not edits. Context is important.

    1. Your brain runs fine on ketones.
    2. Gluconeogenesis cannot generate the needed number of carbohydrates long term. You need some carbohydrate intake--"some" meaning the kind of low intake one can get from vegetables in the absence of fruits and grains.
    3. There s some variance on carb-less tolerance in "2", eg: some First Peoples' tribes with very low carb requirements (and on modern diets, very high rates of diabetes), such as Pima natives and certain blubber-diet-overwintering Eskimo groups.
  • 17ChargerGirl17
    17ChargerGirl17 Posts: 441
    My nutritionist told me that a person needs 130 grams or more of carbs a day for healthy brain function. I think it depends on what type of carbs you eat to be honest. Non processed food carbs are much better than junk food carbs. Carbs with high fiber are very good too like Quest bars. Most of the carbs are fiber carbs so that is good for you.
    Good luck!

    I eat less than 30 net carbs a day. My brain is functioning very well, thanks.


    I agree, my brain functions extremely well and I eat about 20 net carbs a day.
    And most of my carbs come from vegetables. Having said that, I do believe that because I am on a low carb diet my calorie intake is smaller and therefore I am in a deficit as I should be to lose weight. I personally, just feel better on a low carb diet and it works for me. I in no way am incouraging anyone else to do it. To each his own, what works for me doesnt mean it will work for you.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    Of course fat will be preferred, but if a person is sticking to ~10-30% of their intake as fat, the rest of their caloric intake has to come from somewhere

    10-30% of your calories from fat ... on a low carb diet? Really? You're just demonstrating your misunderstanding when it comes to low carb diets. Even on such a diet, what you're talking about is something like a PSMF (which, even though it's a VLCD/fast, is still muscle sparing). But unless you're designing a VLCD, you're doing it completely wrong if you're setting a fat macro of 10-30%.

    As for your studies, did you just pick them at random? They have nothing to do with your original post beyond a general relation to low carb diets. #1 looked at risk of cardiovascular disease, #2 concluded there's no metabolic advantage to a ketogenic diet (and actually their ketogenic dieters lost less LBM by week 6 - woops!), #3 essentially concludes the same, saying calories matter more than a reduction in carbs... did you just list 3 arbitrary studies "off the top of your head?" Not one of them stands for the proposition that your body will begin to prefer protein over fat as a source of energy on a low carb diet, nor do they suggest low carb diets are less sparing of LBM (#2 actually shows the ketogenic dieters lost less LBM than the HC dieters, although it may not be a statistically significant difference).

    In any event, let's just agree that "no carb" isn't ideal and call it a day.
  • janatarnhem
    janatarnhem Posts: 669 Member
    No carbs?..... That would be a living h*ll for me!
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
    Most of the functions of your body rely on carbs, especially having ready energy. You may reduce carbs from around 65% to 45%, but I personally see no advantage to anything less.
  • aldousmom
    aldousmom Posts: 382 Member
    no carbs? that's crazy talk.
    Carbs are good, in a whole food form. (as in whole fruit, whole wheat, potato, etc)

    Refined carbs are crap: calories separated from their nutrition: white flour, white sugar, fruit juice, etc.

    This is a good book. https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/shopping/books/starch-solution/

    Anyway, eat only whole foods, not processed, as much as you can. Eat a wide variety of things, but avoid white flour, white sugar, added refined oils. Easy peasy. :)
  • mysweetjenna
    mysweetjenna Posts: 52 Member
    I actually GAINED weight doing low carb. And I was tired on the time, so my workouts suffered. Before I tried it, I never really had a sweet tooth, didn't drink soda, didn't care for pasta, ate the filling off of my sandwich......in other words, not a carbaholic anyhow. Cutting them out actually made me crave carbs I couldn't care less about before. It was not fun, and not successful for me.

    I've lost 28 pounds since I stopped doing it. Now I just count straight calories and work out five days a week, including strength training.

    Cutting out an entire food group does not sound very healthy or fulfilling to me. However, this is MY body, not yours. If it works for you, great. If it doesn't, stop. But stop more quickly than I did (~20 pounds later). :smile:
  • pleasurelittletreasure
    pleasurelittletreasure Posts: 236 Member
    I like carbs. But I try to be choosy and eat carbs in the form of fruits, veggies and such. The only time I restrict my carbs is when I am experiencing a flare-up of my fibromyalgia. Some restrict their carbs to keep their glycemic index low to control their diabetes. If you aren't needing to restrict carbs for a specific health reason, eat them. Just watch your macros and be happy!
  • ladybird89
    ladybird89 Posts: 28 Member
    Eliminating carbs is absolutely not necessary. Cutting down on carbs, though, will make your life a lot easier. It'll force you to eat more protein, which will make you feel more full, which will keep you happier and more satisfied during your weight loss.

    Having said that, when you get to the point where you are avoiding fruit and certain vegetables because "they have carbs," well, you're only hurting yourself because fruits and veggies are very nutritious and necessary to maintaining good health. Maybe a little less fruit, a little more veggies, but...you get the point.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Without carbs, I'd be miserable.

    I've successfully lost 135 lbs (give or take a lbs) all whilst eating carbs.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Eliminating carbs is absolutely not necessary. Cutting down on carbs, though, will make your life a lot easier. It'll force you to eat more protein, which will make you feel more full, which will keep you happier and more satisfied during your weight loss.

    Having said that, when you get to the point where you are avoiding fruit and certain vegetables because "they have carbs," well, you're only hurting yourself because fruits and veggies are very nutritious and necessary to maintaining good health. Maybe a little less fruit, a little more veggies, but...you get the point.

    Don't forget the other carb loaded essential...Oreos. These are a must and should never be cut out.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    I'm no expert, but any time you cut out certain amounts or different kinds of foods you will end up losing faster. When you quit carbs your body goes into ketosis and then it goes directly to burning fat. I hear a lot people say their cholesterol and blood pressure get better. I've been trying it for 3 weeks and did OK then fell off. Its very hard for me to figure out new foods to eat that are not loaded with fat! Plus after while for me anyway, i really start to crave those carbs..

    That's because ketogenic diets are based on fat.
    It's high fat/low carb, mod protein.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    No. It's not healthy or particularly safe. Carbs provide fast energy to feed into cellular respiration. Just eat at deficit and balance your nutrition. :)

    I guess I'll just die then :frown:
  • nopotofgold
    nopotofgold Posts: 164 Member
    Don't go on a crazy no carb diet. They are no fun and really hard to stick too. Veggies have carbs. Almost everything does.

    However, here is a great good recipe that helps cut some carbs and gives some flavor with the protein.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/3-healthy-fat-loss-recipes-for-getting-lean-and-mean.html
  • jamien604
    jamien604 Posts: 11 Member
    It's crazy how people actually think pastas/bread/rice are a food group lol.

    They aren't. They aren't real food. They are processed garbage. It's the same as going to mcdonalds and buying a burger. It's the same as buying a package of cookies.

    You shouldn't demonize "carbs' but when people say carbs are bad for you they mean grain products and you would do very well eating less grain products. Get your carbs from some starches and some fruit
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    It's crazy how people actually think pastas/bread/rice are a food group lol.

    They aren't. They aren't real food. They are processed garbage. It's the same as going to mcdonalds and buying a burger. It's the same as buying a package of cookies.

    You shouldn't demonize "carbs' but when people say carbs are bad for you they mean grain products and you would do very well eating less grain products. Get your carbs from some starches and some fruit
    All the healthiest and longest living populations eat grains. Look at the Blue Zone populations
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Yes. Context is soo very important in this discussion.
    However, my mind keeps going to....I+saw+it+change+once+then+almost+shat+my+pants+_61d35f2a9894226efc34954b0fe716ff.png
  • robertf57
    robertf57 Posts: 560 Member
    To anybody who disagrees with what I expressed above, I'll be happy to grab some medical journal sources for you and edit them in when I get home.


    Edit: Off the top of my head, please see:

    1. Lagiou P, Sandin S, Lof M, Trichopoulos D, Adami HO, Weiderpass E. (June 26, 2012). "Low carbohydrate-high protein diet and incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Swedish women: prospective cohort study". British Medical Journal 344. e4026.

    2. Carol S Johnston, Sherrie L Tjonn, Pamela D Swan, Andrea White, Heather Hutchins and Barry Sears (May 2006). "Ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets have no metabolic advantage over nonketogenic low-carbohydrate diets". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 83 (5): 1055–61.

    3. Dena M. Bravata, MD, MS; Lisa Sanders, MD; Jane Huang, MD; Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM; Ingram Olkin, PhD; Christopher D. Gardner, PhD; Dawn M. Bravata, MD (2003). "Efficacy and Safety of Low-Carbohydrate Diets". JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 289 (14): 1837–50.

    Well, I don;t have time to pull up all the appropriate studies, but I can comment on the sample you provided.

    1) is a cohort study that looked at a survey of diet on entry into the study. Made absolutely no attempt to measure or even ask about diet during the follow up period. Can't draw any meaningful conclusions from it.


    2) &3) show no adverse effects of low or lower carbohydrate diets. (At least these studies were looking at people on a diet)

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