Why are carbs so bad?

Low Carb/Atkins/Paleo works because it cuts out entire food groups/macro nutrition. Which causes an increase in Protein consumption, which causes more satiety. It becomes a self regulating diet. The greater problem is sustainability over time (and the hypocrisies of the Paleo diet in general)

Just FYI people carbs are essential food source for our brain. Since our brain does not have the ability to store fuel it relies 100% on glucose...the breakdown of carbs to feed it!! Ever did the atkins diet and start to feel "high, out of it, forgetful?" Its because your brain is starving!!!!

Just go by your food pyramid and eat in control CARBS ARE NOT BAD in fact their required for neural functioning!

That's strange. I have sleep apnea and even when I got the CPAP machine I was still foggy. Since I started to eat paleo I'm more focused and alert than I've EVER been. Hmmmm....

Im sorry what was your point here?

My response was in response to your "high, out of it, forgetful?" Sleep apnea tends to give you the "out of it, forgetful" feeling ALL of the time. I STILL felt that way after using the machine (CPAP) that was supposed to help get rid of that feeling. Since I've cut my carbs to <50g's per day I've become MUCH more alert. THAT was my point....your comment was STRICTLY opinion.

And your comment is completely anecdotal?

"Hey, low carbs/Paleo help with my sleep apnea so you should do it too even if you don't have sleep apnea!"

That's funny, I don't believe I said anywhere in my statements that "low carbs/Paleo help with my sleep apnea." I still have sleep apnea. I said that since I've been eating Paleo I'm much more alert and have more energy. I was responding to the "out of it/foggy" comment she was implying would happen to people on low carbs.

We have insulin resistance in our family and so- simply put- we cannot metabolize simple carbs and that basically means sugar turns to fat.

You're the exception, not the rule.

Never said I was the rule. All I can speak from is my own experience, and I never pretend to have answers for others. Everybody is different, and every body works a little different. I did trial and error with myself for years until I learned how to best fuel MY body. I support everyone in doing whatever they find to make themselves happy and healthy. Including you.

. . .Sleep apnea tends to give you the "out of it, forgetful" feeling ALL of the time. . . . Since I've cut my carbs to <50g's per day I've become MUCH more alert. THAT was my point....

That's funny, I don't believe I said anywhere in my statements that "low carbs/Paleo help with my sleep apnea." I still have sleep apnea. I said that since I've been eating Paleo I'm much more alert and have more energy. I was responding to the "out of it/foggy" comment she was implying would happen to people on low carbs.

What?

A symptom of sleep apnea if you want to get semantic on me.

And your point? You implied that I was trying to give the impression that low carb was somehow a cure for my sleep apnea. I said that since I've been low carb I'm more alert. You're obviously not that familiar with sleep apnea but that's not surprising.

You're obviously not familiar with suggesting diets based on non-anecdotal evidence but that not surprising.

Sorry I didn't say "a symptom of sleep apnea". You completely disproved my point while at the same time proving yours? Wait what?

Low Carb/Atkins/Paleo works because it cuts out entire food groups/macro nutrition. Which causes an increase in Protein consumption, which causes more satiety. It becomes a self regulating diet. The greater problem is sustainability over time (and the hypocrisies of the Paleo diet in general)

Except that Low Carb/Atkins/Paleo do not cut out an entire food group. Carbohydrate is part of the diet in all three cases, except at a lower level than the standard diet. I agree that a diet needs to be sustainable over time, personally, for me, eating the standard way wasn't because it was causing insulin resistance and all kinds of related problems, not least an unhealthy body fat percentage with much visceral fat.

Stop arguing semantics. It doesn't invalidate my point, nor prove yours.

No one is. You're expressing thoughts poorly, back tracking, and then think someone is pulling some semantic trickery on you. You said "entire macro"

Everyone is going to have their own opinion about it. Obviously one person on here has a very immature way of sharing it, and also has a problem respecting other people's opinions. Really makes you want to go to him for advice, huh?! lol, anyways, Carbs are not the devil. Fat is not the devil. Calories are not the devil. etc..etc..etc... Everyone has a different body type, different food allergies (even some you don't know about), different genetics. Some one thing isn't going to work for everyone. You have to experiment a little to find out what works best for you. SInce you are only trying to lose the last 10 lbs you obviously have the eating part under control. I would suggest cutting out all startchy carbs and upping the workouts. (mostly strength training) in order to lose the last lil bit. That doesn't mean cutting out all carbs! I am Paleo/Primal and I can have up to 150 carbs! It kills me to see people talking about things that they know nothing about! Just offer your opinion people and move on! lol, sorry, can't help myself. Just try to get most of your carbs from fruits/veggies. (the less fruit the better if your trying to lose fat). This is what works for me. It doesn't mean that it will work for you!

Honestly, you look great, and you will lose the last little bit if you just keep working out and eating healthy. It will just take longer than the rest did.

I want to remind everyone that attacking or insulting other users is against the forum rules. You may not attack or insult another user at any time, under any circumstance. If you do, you risk having your posting privileges suspended or can even be banned from the site.

If you disagree with someone, that's fine as long as you do so respectfully. But if you attack or insult someone, you won't be posting on the site for much longer.

I've removed the worst attacks or insults on this topic. Let's get the discussion back to a civil tone.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Just a couple responses from reading the thread -
1) Low carb isn't a fad diet. It's been around since the 1800's (1869, to be exact) and the only reason people don't follow it any more is because of our governments' insistence that fats are bad for us. So, someone please explain how my great-grandmother lived to 96 without ever worrying about eggs, butter or saturated fats? We need to go back to eating like THAT. And no, it wasn't high carb, or ever very low carb, just mostly low.
2) Just because carbs are burned by the body first doesn't make them the body's preferred fuel. If that was the case, we would all need to exist on alcohol - didn't you know, that's what the body actually REALLY burns first, whenever it is in the system? The body burns carbs first because they are literally toxic when they are around in excessive amounts. This is the same reason they are stored as fat or glycogen and not sugar. The body's goal is to get rid of them, not have more of them!
3) Eating low carb doesn't hurt the muscles of your body. As long as you get enough carbs from the veggies you eat, you will have enough glycogen to work out and make new muscle. If anything, low carb promotes muscle growth, not the other way around.
4) Protein does cause an insulin response - when eaten to excess - and at drastically reduced levels to what carbs do. ALL carbs cause an insulin response. Even fake carbs (sugar substitutes) can cause an insulin response!
5) Any glucose your body needs can be manufactured from other foods in a process called gluconeogenesis. So no matter how low carb you go, your brain will have fuel and so will your muscles. As a matter of fact, it has been proven that a brain running on ketones and the glucose from GNG will actually run better.

So, those of you trying to bash low carb - do your research on it. Don't just believe what you read the most often, and for pity's sake don't believe the government. There is much more to this then just the types of things most people on here are repeating over and over again.

1) How does your anecdotal evidence of your great-grandmother prove anything about what the population of the world should do? And I'm pretty sure the anti-fat campaign stopped back in the 1990s. We're in 2011 in case you forgot.
2) Alcohol isn't an essential nutrient. Our bodies view it as a toxin, that's why it is burned first, not because it is preferred. It can lower testosterone in moderate quantities, and in extreme excess, it can destroy muscle mass. Not to mention dehydration.
3) Muscle Stimulation with adequate protein in a generally hypercaloric diet promotes muscle growth.
4) Insulin response and the fat stored by it is irrelevant in a hypocaloric state when looking at people who aren't insulin sensitive/resistant. You're staring at a tree instead of the forest.
5) Source? You fail to mention the positive or negative effects of kinetic performance on high protein/low carb or high fat/low carb diets. You should also realize that dietary fat is stored easily as body fat without the presence of carbs or insulin. Either way, energy balance is the most important factor.

1) Apparently, you are the one who is unaware. I am completely aware that it is 2011, just as I know full well that the gov't is still pushing a low-fat diet. Otherwise, why is our food pyramid so focused on low fat foods? Low fat dairy, limiting eggs... it's ridiculous. As for my great-grandmother and her anecdotal evidence, consider what the population of the world was eating back then, which she was a great example of. More fat, more meat, less carbs - and they were more healthy (less diabetes, for example?). Great-grandma died of complications from Alzheimer's, not anything "fat" related!

2) I was making the same point about glucose being a non-essential nutrient. The human body not only can survive without consumed glucose, it can thrive. Any nutrient that can be produced by the body is no longer essential, which is why there are only 10 essential amino acids instead of 20. We need all 20 to live, but we only need to consume 10. The same rule applies to glucose, which we produce using gluconeogenesis. As long as people eat sufficient fat and protein, we can produce the glucose needed for body function. (And yes, I certainly realize alcohol isn't essential - but comparing it to another non-essential shouldn't be a problem!)
3) When you are getting 30% of your calories from protein, which on a 1600 calorie diet is 120 grams, you will be able to build muscle. Even high-protein diets only recommend 2.75g of protein per kilo of lean mass, which means a woman eating 30% of protein from 1600 calories who weighs 123 pounds at 22% body fat (normal amounts) will be fine. A low carb diet typically is 30/50/20, protein/fat/carbs, so why would a muscle-building diet have to be hypercaloric?
4) Yeah, well I'm talking to a group of people on a website dedicated to weight loss. Most people, if not all, who are trying to lose weight have some insulin resistance. Unfortunately for you, this forest is more of the kind of people I am talking to than you.
5) Sources: Taubes "Good Calories, Bad Calories" (mentioned by many others, for the idea that nutrient intake is more important than calories in, calories out). I don't have time to post all of the things I have read that give me sources, but the two places I suggest to start with are Mark's Daily Apple (http://www.maeksdailyapple.com) and Leangains (http://www.leangains.com/). Leangains mostly talks about restricting food intake through intermittent fasting, but he does discuss (and his comments discuss) low carb diets.

People seem to be suggesting that carbs are unnecessary, (they aren't. If you want to do serious exercise you need SOME carbs) and the same people seem to be suggesting that people who are suggesting we need some carbs have masses and masses. Also not true. I low carb by most people's standards, in fact, my diet is very nearly paleo (aside from the being vegetarian thing). I don't eat wheat or anything processed, but I know I need SOME carbs which I get almost entirely in the form of fruit and vegetables, whereas my protein intake is way lower than most people on here seem to set it (I usually have about 30-40g a day on a 1200 cal limit) and yet I am perfectly healthy, and build muscle much faster than any other female person I know.

I do think the low carb Atkins thing is a fad, just as I think people's obsession with protein is a fad, and not one that is prevalent on this side of the Atlantic. Sports recovery drinks have a carb to protein ratio of 3 carb to 1 protein, because that is the ratio that provides the best overall recovery.

I think eating a balanced and natural diet is the key to health.