I don't think that your binge eating issue is necessarily correlated to your level of carbs. It could be simply caused by under-eating (a too aggressive calories deficit), and/ or by some emotional/stress issue.

If you are speaking to me, yes it is. I stopped under-eating long ago. My emotional/stress issues are also much affected by the food I choose. What's worked for many others didn't fully work for me, and I think 3 years is giving it a pretty good shot. Nothing wrong with trying something else that has worked for some others as well.

I'm not speaking for others, just myself. I'm not winning the struggle so if I can find a way to NOT struggle, that's what I'll choose. It's an experiment that is safe for someone with as much knowledge as I have.

Do you have experience with BED? I was struggling with that before I started so under-eating certainly wasn't the cause. In my case, malnutrition was, which I haven't fully resolved even with 3 years of Paleo.

Totally relate to what you are saying MDApebbles! I used to be really overweight. I lost over 200lbs 14 years ago and have kept it off with the exception of 20 to 25lbs which I yo yo back and forth with because of binge eating. I lost 170lbs on a Paleo type diet although it was called schwarzenbein at the time and 31 on a vegan diet. Binged WAY more being vegan! Which is one reason why after 9 years of vegan I am back to Paleo.
My optimum carb level seems to be 60 to under 100. Under or over that number seems to not work well for me. I will binge on Paleo foods but usually the high carb ones like nuts, nut butters, Paleo treats or recipes, fruit and dried fruit.
If you find a magic number that makes the need to turn to food for comfort please let me know as I will be all over that!

Anything under 100g for me, but I try to keep them as low as possible while still eating enough fruit and veg. I have a bad habit of binging on carbs... the more I eat, the more I want to eat.

In general and for women especially under eating and/or eating too few carbs can trigger stress in your body and lead to obsessive thoughts, constant hunger and eventually a binge cycle. It's a situation I've seen with my clients time and time again. I know it may sound controversial but I don't believe that a keto diet is sustainable for women in the long term. It can be used in certain therapeutic instances or to break through a plateau but if used in the long term can lead to binges, plummeting thyroid and sex hormone levels while increasing cortisol levels.

I'd stick to the 75-150g of carbs per day. If you are really active some days I'd double it. Women need carbs to support their hormones. Don't forget starchy carbs. They are totally underrated and when taken closer to bedtime can even improve sleep quality leading to more overall weightloss.

Good luck!

I agree, some people do great on VLC and others just can't handle it. Although, 75-150 is technically "low carb" so, I will never be against the concept.

There is nothing wrong with an animal based diet long term for women (I'm sure there are some health issues these days that have created exceptions to that).

So for someone who is still showing very much metabolic problems on 30 grams of carbs (and spent over a year trying to moderate carbs and eat more and has gotten sicker and fatter), what would you recommend?

Fats are most important for hormones as far as I am aware, not carbs.

Jeez, I must be a special snowflake because it's the carbs that still trigger bingeing, obsessive thoughts, depression, anxiety, constant hunger, fat storage on few calories, blood sugar problems, etc.

I do agree that many people can do just fine on far more carbs than me... but then I see lots who are constantly struggling.... But I really get annoyed when very low carb eating plans are said to be unhealthy, unsustainable, and that a body NEEDS carbs. Because I have witnessed so much proof of the opposite. What's blown my socks off lately is to discover that the low carbs were still keeping me struggling constantly, and it seems my body needs no carbs for now.

Just talking about me, but there are also others I've just met in another group who report similar experiences as I've had. Nice to know I'm not alone and that I can try something different when all else has failed. Unpopular? Yes. Misunderstood? Yes. Working right now? YES. (but it's only been 4 days of no carb and I WILL be honest on how things go for the next month during this experiment.)

I'm actually another one that has found benefit so far by eating an animal based diet not unlike @Akimajuktuq. (So, my sweet spot, then, is "as close to none as feasibly possible.")

I don't have BED, but I do have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), and am what could be described as a "hard loser." In 7 years of busting my *kitten* to lose weight, I've lost a net total of 35lbs. I had lost another 30lbs through that, but it was the first time I was on Metformin and I was unable to get back on it after having to get off of it when I was pregnant (it was making me sick). After the pregnancy/breastfeeding hormones went away, so did the weight loss.

I've been Primal for about 3 years now, and have yet to lose weight on it by itself. I've systematically decreased my carbs over the past year, and the best I've still been able to do is keep from gaining weight (though that's not the only reason I've done it).

Then I went carnivore, and dropped everything except meat, eggs, cheese, butter, and some cream. I lost 6lbs in three days. On day 4 (yesterday), I decided to have a little ice cream. I arguably didn't eat more, calorie-wise (what I ate that day consisted largely of some meat and cheese roll-ups with some mayo), yet this morning, I was up 2lbs. Water weight? Almost certainly. However, I was coming from around 50g or so of carbs, so it wasn't a drastic drop. Yesterday's carb count may have been 30-40g. So it's not like I'm dropping from 100g+ to almost nothing. Clearly, my body isn't keen on carbohydrates right now. And no, it's not just because that was sugar. Starches give me headaches almost instantly and have the same weight effect.

And yeah, I'll be talking about my experience with it, too.

In the meantime, you might be interested in these women who have done carnivore diets as well (may also explain some of what drives people to these kinds of diets and their results from it):

http://myzerocarblife.jamesdhogan.com/wp/
http://theprimalparent.com/2011/07/27/the-carnivores-dilemma-a-diet-of-just-meats-and-fats/