CARBS! How much is too much & are they all bad?

amarie35
amarie35 Posts: 333 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I know I need carbs, but how much is too much? According to MFP, I can eat up to 237 carbs per day. Should I eat as close to that as possible or should I try to stay way under?

I'm pretty active; I ZUMBA 5 times a week, lift weights 3 times a week, & go skating once a week. I know the more active you are, the more carbs you should take in to replenish lost energy but are there good carbs? And if so, which carbs are good for you?

One of my favorite high carb foods is BREAD. Which is the main reason why I'm so concerned with my carb intake. I LOVE bread. I eat bagels, english muffins & or sandwich bread on a daily basis. I've always heard that the carbs in bread is bad for you & that if a person was to cut back on their bread intake, they can lose weight faster. Which means that the carbs in bread is bad for you.

I also LOVE dried fruits. I eat a serving or two daily. My favorites are the dried mangos, apricots, banana chips, & cranberries. I know dried fruits are good for me, but are all of the carbs in them good for me?

Replies

  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
    I'm not sure of the answers, but I'm curious to hear what others say.
  • campi_mama
    campi_mama Posts: 350 Member
    Some "good carbs" I like... sweet potatoes, beans, blueberries, apples (to name a few). Try and eat things that your body has to work at to digest...things high in fiber. Be careful of dried fruit since it usually has sugar added to it. You'll be more satisfied eating the actual fruit than a dried version.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    Personally, I find MFP's carb recommendation a little high - but it's within the recommended range for carb intake, so in theory you should be okay.

    Not all carbs are bad. In fact, they're ESSENTIAL to your health. Your body needs carbs - it's an important source of fuel. That said, it's important to eat the right carbs. Not all carbs are created equal.

    Easy rule of thumb - the more processed it is the worse it is for you. I try to stay away from bread, as many breads have lots of refined ingredients. Breads with few ingredients that are made entirely from whole grains are okay, but even then I'd rather have a "better" source of carbs.

    The best carbs are the closest to their natural state - fruits, veggies, tubers (potatoes, etc.) & roots, legumes, whole grains like barley/oats/etc., quinoa, etc.

    WebMD has a good overview of carbs - I recommend you read the whole thing: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/carbohydrates
  • stevemcknight
    stevemcknight Posts: 647 Member
    The actual truth is our bodies have a daily requirement for protein and fat, but none whatsoever for carbs. You could actually eat zero carbs for the rest of your lift and be fine. Vitamins and nutrients are a different story and many of these are found in veggies and some fruits. Raise your protein levels to at least 25% then simply fill out the rest of your calories with carbs and fat depending on your goals.

    We do get energy from carbs, it's true, but you can also get energy from fat as well. In addition, protein takes 25% more energy to burn it than does carbs, which is a great thing!

    Steve
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
    Preworkout your body needs 15 to 25 grams of carbohdrates before weight training. If you train first thing in the morning, you canadd six to 15 grams of protein to the mix.
    Your body needs between 45 to 65 grams of carbs post workout


    Defining "fuel": To get the most out of your training, fuel should be the priority before, during and after training. Fuek is the energy for your working body, which means picking the right carbs, protein and or fats that will be digested and absorbed quickly enough to improve your performance.

    So between 60 grams and 90 grams of carbs a day to keep your body fueled. I hope that could be of some help. If you don't weight train then you wont need as many carbs.

    But I personally would limit the bread intake down to one meal a day. Try to eat whole wheat/grain rice. Fruits and veggies.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    The actual truth is our bodies have a daily requirement for protein and fat, but none whatsoever for carbs. You could actually eat zero carbs for the rest of your lift and be fine. Vitamins and nutrients are a different story and many of these are found in veggies and some fruits. Raise your protein levels to at least 25% then simply fill out the rest of your calories with carbs and fat depending on your goals.

    We do get energy from carbs, it's true, but you can also get energy from fat as well. In addition, protein takes 25% more energy to burn it than does carbs, which is a great thing!

    Steve

    I haven't ready any legitimate sources that say we have zero need for carbs. How our body gets energy from carbs and how it gets energy from fat and from protein is not the same. There are times in which it is very important to have a source of QUICK energy - that would be what carbs are for. I definitely agree that the highly-sedentary population (even those who workout various times throughout the week) eat more carbs than are necessary... but that said, it's going off the deep-end to say that we have no need for any carbs at all.
  • ashley0616
    ashley0616 Posts: 579 Member
    Saying that you don't need carbs to survive is silly. You need fruits and vegetables, right? You have to remember that CARB does not equal BREAD and TWINKIES. Carbs are in fruits, veggies, anything with sugar (added or natural), anything with fiber, beans, nuts, etc. Accountant Boi is right, the more refined the worse. Sticking to whole grains and whole foods and staying away from processed and white food should be your rule of thumb. I personally try to stay under 200 carbs a day, the closer to 100 net the better. Also remember to take the total number of carbs for the day and subtract your fiber intake, as that doesn't count as part of your "net carb" intake.
  • kryptobobo
    kryptobobo Posts: 4
    I replaced for the processed food all the simple carbs (white floor pasta and bread, white rice) for the complex one (oat bread, whole wheat bread and pastam brown rice)

    From what I read on carbs, complex one are supposed to last longer in the body.
  • AlyssaC2010
    AlyssaC2010 Posts: 100
    Sweetamck: Good carbs are the complex carbs…those are the ones that keep your blood sugar steady. Refined carbs, in white bread and sugar, are the ones that can make you crash. If you absolutely love bread, don’t cut it out! Just eat it in moderation and you’ll be fine. Cutting it out is only going to make you binge like crazy on it. Plus, cutting carbs helps you lose weight but after you eat carbs again you’ll gain it all back. So if you really want some bread, eat a piece with peanut butter or however you like it but just don’t overdo it with the refined carbs. Try to go for whole grains (the best) or whole wheat b/c that’s better than white bread. Be careful with the dried fruits…make sure they don’t have any added sugar in them. Look at the ingredients on the food label and if sugar is one of the top ingredients, you may want to find a different brand. If I get dried fruits I make sure the actual fruit is the only ingredient listed. Fruit is good for you, but you'll get extra carbs from sugar…it’s just added refined carbs which you don’t want too much of.

    Accountant_boi: THANK YOU for saying carbs are essential! I just don't think people realize they need energy from it.

    Goalseeker: You should try to get about 130 grams of carbs a day....that's what my registered dietitian says. She says if you get as little as possible for a long time then you’re body can go into ketosis mode which basically acidifies your blood since the preferred energy source of the body (carbs) isn’t available and can cause serious complications in the long run.
  • caprica
    caprica Posts: 80 Member
    like everything in life - it depends ........

    If you are insulin sensitive then you should probably eat less carbs than MFP suggests.

    If you are into endurance sports or work as a lumberjack then you may need more than MFP suggests.

    If you are concerned about water weight then cutting carbs will help you drop it quickly. For example, if you are a body builder you will cut carbs radically before a competition or photo shoot to get that ripped look. Jockeys and boxers do it to to hit their weight limits.

    If you are an epilepcitc child then your doctor might recommend that you stay in a ketogenic state for long periods of time to lower the number of seizures.

    In terms of do you really need carbs - then no. Your body will quite happily go ketogenic and you can last long term without them. You will be grouchy as all hell and you will suck at any endurance sports, but you can do it. Epileptic kids do this for years with only a few negative side effects (loss of body salts is common as carbs are hydrophilic and you drop water when you drop carbs out completely). Your body on the other hand would run into serious trouble if you cut out protein or essential fats long term as these are essential.

    In terms of good carbs vs. bad carbs - at the end of the day your body turns them all into glucose. If you need to drop carbs for some reason, then the distinction is meaningless. On the other hand if you want to stay fuller for longer and then good carbs are important. The magical mix of fibre and carbs means they take longer for your body to digest it.

    The really big question is if you are an average joe / jane to trying to loose weight - do you really need to cut carbs? well .. .the answer to that is "we dont know". Long term low carbers dont seem to do any better then moderate carb compatriots in terms of fat loss.

    In my case, dropping carbs helped me stop retaining water so my blood pressure came down. I also feel less bloated, my blood sugars stopped swinging like crazy and I feel more lean. So I am happier. I personally aim to eat around 100 - 150 grams of carbs a day. I probably could have gotten the same effect by taking up an endurance sport like running, and running 5 days a week, but I am so not a runner.
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