SAD vs Low-Carb/Paleo

kk1987 · July 2011

I just have to chime in here and say that I have been a lurker on MFP boards for the past 3 or so years. I can definitely say that there has been an increased interest in Paleo and low carb within the past year. When I first started posting about low-carb, nearly everyone jumped to the conclusion of ketoacidosis, you need carbs to live, complex carbs are necessary, etc. and they wouldn't even hear of a Paleo type diet. I've been looking at the boards recently and I can say that there is definitely an increased interest and dare I say a swing in the pendulum of nutritional thinking that is happening. Many still don't accept it, but I can tell that more people are at minimum curious.

Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, Loren Cordain, and many many others have contributed greatly to this mini-movement that is happening in the nutritional world right now. Even if you don't accept it, it is worth questioning the status quo and at least doing your own research and n=1 experiments to find out what works best for you and how you feel best.

Jimmy Moore has a great podcast with many informational interviews with the movers and shakers in this low-carb/Paleo world. Personally, it makes so much sense to me and honestly, I've never looked or felt better with relatively minimal effort. It gives me time to live and not be obsessive about food and calories.

portexploit · July 2011

I am a low carber, I understand that a lot of people jump to conclusions. I just have to say that before agriculture there was very limited disease if any. Carbs in terms of breads and pastas aren’t natural for the human body.

mrsheavy · July 2011

im a low carber too - but i eat lean meat and limit the amount of cheese/milk/fats that i have. I still eat tomatoes and onions and carrots in abundance, but havent had any potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, yams, sugar etc for a good 4 months now... the weight is coming of slower as i know im not in ketosis (due to still eating fairly high carb veggies) I have around 30g carbs a day - people gasp when they realise im low carbing - but gradually more and more of my friends and family are coming around to my way of thinking.

I think most people think low-carbs = atkins = lard spread on your fatty meat and covered in melted cheese topped with an egg - and its not!

I love it - and dont miss my carbs at all

Leanne1795 · July 2011

Yes, there are still those that panic at the very thought of low carb but for me it has been a God send. I am diabetic and now, through low carbing, I am using the smallest amount of insulin ever and I am full of energy, my skin looks great and my hair is shiny. The Way Of Eating of the cave man works for me! :happy:

cheesesandwich · July 2011

im a low carber too - but i eat lean meat and limit the amount of cheese/milk/fats that i have. I still eat tomatoes and onions and carrots in abundance, but havent had any potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, yams, sugar etc for a good 4 months now... the weight is coming of slower as i know im not in ketosis (due to still eating fairly high carb veggies) I have around 30g carbs a day - people gasp when they realise im low carbing - but gradually more and more of my friends and family are coming around to my way of thinking.

I think most people think low-carbs = atkins = lard spread on your fatty meat and covered in melted cheese topped with an egg - and its not!

I love it - and dont miss my carbs at all

I think there's a huge amount of misinformation going around about Atkins, that's definitely not what the updated book advocates at ALL. It stresses servings of veggies with a protein source at every meal, and with enough fat - in the form of olive oil or something similarly healthy - to keep you satiated. That's fairly similar to Paleo, isn't it?

BerryH · July 2011

I am a low carber, I understand that a lot of people jump to conclusions. I just have to say that before agriculture there was very limited disease if any. Carbs in terms of breads and pastas aren’t natural for the human body.

Knowing a number of palaeoanthropologists, I can assure you there was a very high level of disease among early humans and they were lucky to live past 30.

To clarify I expect you mean disease affected by diet, such as heart disease or diabetes. However, even that dates back further than high-fat, high-carb diets.

Scientists recently discovered the earliest example of a diseased heart, in the mummy of an Egyptian princess who died 3,500 years ago. The researchers say her case shows heart disease pre-dates a modern lifestyle.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13422630

plummersmate · July 2011

I have to agree with low carbs. It doesn't mean no carbs, it just means that you get what you need from natures natural resources, fruit and veg. I have been hypothyroid for many years and the "normal" low fat, calorie counting diet just doesn't work for me. I still struggle to lose weight and only seem able to by taking out bread, pasta, potatoes and alcohol and filling up on lots of veggies and lean meat and fish. It is a healthy way to eat and live. My skin is better and my energy levels are better. It's all about balance.

shanice_22 · July 2011

I've been thinking about going low carb but at the moment I can't really imagine life without carbs as I really love things like bread, pasta and rice a lot. I was wondering if you guys could tell me how you get on without eating any of that stuff? Also is there any advice anyone could give me?

I've adjusted my percentages on MFP as alongside decreasing carbs, I'd like to up my protein but still not eat too much fat. At the moment the goals are set to 118g carbs, 216g protein and 26g fat. I've got carbs set to 118g because as I said I like the carb foods a lot and feel that reducing down to something like 30g would be too much to do straight away. But do those values seem ok to start with? I won't be consuming the amount of protein I've changed it to until Friday at the earliest as that's payday so will be going shopping and looking at what protein supplements I can get. Which brings me to another question, what do you guys think about protein supplements? Do you use them or do you just get your protein from food? Also, what is your balance between carbs, protein and fats?

If anyone decides to reply, if you could send me a private message that would be better as I don't know if I'll keep flicking to this thread for responses.

Edit: Though on second thoughts, I have no idea if I'll be able to do it as I'm already up to 46g carbs and it's not even 11:30am :-/
I think I'll just edit them back to what they were but am still welcome to advice if anyone has any.

portexploit · July 2011

I am a low carber, I understand that a lot of people jump to conclusions. I just have to say that before agriculture there was very limited disease if any. Carbs in terms of breads and pastas aren’t natural for the human body.

Knowing a number of palaeoanthropologists, I can assure you there was a very high level of disease among early humans and they were lucky to live past 30.

To clarify I expect you mean disease affected by diet, such as heart disease or diabetes. However, even that dates back further than high-fat, high-carb diets.

Scientists recently discovered the earliest example of a diseased heart, in the mummy of an Egyptian princess who died 3,500 years ago. The researchers say her case shows heart disease pre-dates a modern lifestyle.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13422630

I read that page when I was looking in to the little research I did. Agriculture was developed about 10,000yrs ago. That mummy was found 3,500 yrs ago. Agriculture came before the mummy. Before this is what I am talking about, cavemen also known as Neanderthal where around 100,000yrs ago.. As humans make more advancement their life span increase.

portexploit · July 2011

im a low carber too - but i eat lean meat and limit the amount of cheese/milk/fats that i have. I still eat tomatoes and onions and carrots in abundance, but havent had any potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, yams, sugar etc for a good 4 months now... the weight is coming of slower as i know im not in ketosis (due to still eating fairly high carb veggies) I have around 30g carbs a day - people gasp when they realise im low carbing - but gradually more and more of my friends and family are coming around to my way of thinking.

I think most people think low-carbs = atkins = lard spread on your fatty meat and covered in melted cheese topped with an egg - and its not!

I love it - and dont miss my carbs at all

I am doing a modified atkins diet. I was afraid of fat too. It’s so counterintuitive it just shows how brain washed we can be. Most of our biological hormones , our skin, our hair, our eyes, even our BRAIN uses fat. This comes to the different types of fat. Everyone agrees trans fat is bad for you. People don’t necessarily agree on saturated fat being bad for you, cholesterol. Anabolic hormones are based on a cholesterol molecule. I was watching “Fat head” it’s a documentary. Doctors where saying that usually the higher your cholesterol the longer you live. Just sounds crazy. The issue isn’t that components of fat clogs arteries. The real question “what causes arteries to clog?” It’s due to scaring in the blood vessels. Fat doesn’t scare the blood vessels, but it DOES stick to the scared area.

vnvdvci · July 2011

I am a low carber, I understand that a lot of people jump to conclusions. I just have to say that before agriculture there was very limited disease if any. Carbs in terms of breads and pastas aren’t natural for the human body.

Knowing a number of palaeoanthropologists, I can assure you there was a very high level of disease among early humans and they were lucky to live past 30.

To clarify I expect you mean disease affected by diet, such as heart disease or diabetes. However, even that dates back further than high-fat, high-carb diets.

Scientists recently discovered the earliest example of a diseased heart, in the mummy of an Egyptian princess who died 3,500 years ago. The researchers say her case shows heart disease pre-dates a modern lifestyle.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13422630

The Ancient Egyptians were /very/ dependent on agriculture. Just sayin'. They lived off beer and bread, pretty much.

kk1987 · July 2011

im a low carber too - but i eat lean meat and limit the amount of cheese/milk/fats that i have. I still eat tomatoes and onions and carrots in abundance, but havent had any potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, yams, sugar etc for a good 4 months now... the weight is coming of slower as i know im not in ketosis (due to still eating fairly high carb veggies) I have around 30g carbs a day - people gasp when they realise im low carbing - but gradually more and more of my friends and family are coming around to my way of thinking.

I think most people think low-carbs = atkins = lard spread on your fatty meat and covered in melted cheese topped with an egg - and its not!

I love it - and dont miss my carbs at all

Just wanted to say, don't necessarily be afraid of fat. Fat in itself is not bad and is actually quite essential. Everyone agrees that trans fats are bad, but most people don't realize that all artificially created fats are equally damaging due to their omega 6/3 profiles. I just like to think, if it can't naturally occur, then it probably isn't good for me. It's crazy that people think canola oil is healthier because it's not saturated. Too little fat to protein can actually slow you down because protein can be converted to glucose. Robb Wolf does make a good point about fat in the meat we eat today though. It is likely contaminated and also has a different omega profile due to being grain fed rather than grass fed. I know there is a bigger push for grass fed and finished meat but it isn't accessible to all of us, so we just do the best we can with what is available. Jury is still out on dairy, but I think most Paleo people would agree that it isn't part of the lifestyle and dairy can be a slippery slope for many people. I like Mark
Sisson's approach though. If people want to include some cheese in their diet as part of the 20%, by all means do it and enjoy life. Just don't let your 20% become 25, then 30, etc, and understand that if your weight loss slows down, it might be the first thing to have to go because it does cause some gastrointestinal problems for many people.

martinah4 · July 2011

bump

SAD vs Low-Carb/Paleo

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