Is it healthy to completely cut out carbs from my diet?

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  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Hensonator1084 wrote: »
    Enjoy them ther good for you in moderation just keep your carbs low after 6pm

    You really don't need to. Research has shown that it has no effect on weight or fat loss. It is purely calories in vs calories out.

    You can enjoy an ice cream before bed :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Lara_z wrote: »
    I eat a lot of carbs. Like white bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta.

    Would it be a problem to completely cut out carbs from my diet for 1-2 weeks?
    With the exception of having ready break in the morning for breakfast. And just have a diet of fruit, veg and protein?

    I've read here that starchy food can contribute to weight gain and I want to cut it out together with high sugar foods (like cakes and biscuits) for a couple of weeks.

    Would this be a good idea?
    Has anyone tried cutting down on carbs?

    Starchy foods don't contribute to weight gain...excess calories contribute to weight gain.
  • StarshipFighter23
    StarshipFighter23 Posts: 73 Member
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    I'm in to my 8th week of eating less than 5g of carbs per day. So far I've lost 35lb and I feel great. Low carb certainly doesn't suit everyone, and I don't intend to eat like this for the rest of my life, but as a 'blunt instrument' for weight loss it is certainly effective.
  • DavidRocketts
    DavidRocketts Posts: 80 Member
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    It is quite easy to gain weight faster by overdoing carbs though, which is why some go low-carb (no carb is difficult). Why not go for low (complex) carbs and higher protein for a bit and see how it goes. I just switched away from very low carbs as by evening I was 'climbing the walls' due to carb cravings, and often ended up caving in and ruining my day. Good luck...
  • breannemarie1993
    breannemarie1993 Posts: 161 Member
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    Cutting out starches and added sugars isn't a bad idea at all... they are foreign to the body and don't really belong there anyways. However, to cut out "carbs" in general is next to impossible. Fruits contain a ton of carbs and most veggies do as well. So if you're cutting out the bad, processed crap, I say go for it. You'll be miserable for the first two weeks because our bodies become very addicted to sugars but it won't kill you. If you have the motivation and will power, do it!
  • Skyblueyellow
    Skyblueyellow Posts: 225 Member
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    I don't know how people go as low as 5g of carbs a day. I'm diabetic so I do watch my carbs (I sent mine to 30% daily) and I would have constant low blood sugar and be passing out all over the darn place.
  • breannemarie1993
    breannemarie1993 Posts: 161 Member
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    I'm talking like junk food here people, don't get your panties twisted sheeesh!
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
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    Hello_its_Dan wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.
  • Hello_its_Dan
    Hello_its_Dan Posts: 406 Member
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    ccrdragon wrote: »
    Hello_its_Dan wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Still not advised.
    You'll be hard pressed to find an RD or RN who'd agree with the above statement.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    ccrdragon wrote: »
    Hello_its_Dan wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Can you list off a week's worth of no carb meals? By "no carb" I mean no carb, not net carb, but absolutely zero carbs.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    Hello_its_Dan wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Can you list off a week's worth of no carb meals? By "no carb" I mean no carb, not net carb, but absolutely zero carbs.

    I'm curious about the micro content of those meals too.
  • FarewellBlues
    FarewellBlues Posts: 66 Member
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    Feel the need to add - while carbs and plant matter are not strictly required, and supplementation isn't necessary either because animal products contain the necessary micronutrients, there's still an open and non-trivial question of what is optimal. I'm guessing this varies person-to-person, but I'd really have a hard time believing that eating plants is sub-optimal. I eat a ketogenic diet most of the time, and even when I don't I'm low-ish carb, and I don't feel nearly as well without lots of fresh veggies, nuts, some fruit, etc. Actually, I'd say those things are the basis of my diet by volume, though probably not by proportion of calories.

    In any case, I think it's interesting that the advent of agriculture and (relatively, for most but not all cultures) higher-carb diets allowed us to flourish as a species by decreasing the time and work it took to gather food. And in fact, it allowed us the luxury we low-carbers have today in not having to hunt our meat.

    I think it's likely that some people have better adapted to handle higher carbohydrate levels, and this is likely somewhat correlated with when agriculture was developed in the region where their predominant ancestors are from. Of course this is conjecture, but it seems to have some anecdotal evidence. The Inuits had very low carbohydrate intake, even until very recently (the level is debated, but by any standard it's pretty low). Now, as the culture modernizes and a wider variety of food is available, their carbohydrate intake has risen dramatically. Heart disease, diabetes, and other disease rates have also skyrocketed. This is only correlation, but suggests that further study is warranted.

    This is also backed up by the research of Dr. Jeff Volek, considered by many to be the foremost expert on low carbohydrate diets (he holds a Ph.D, R.D., and a professorship at a respected institution; this is not just some guy writing a diet book and the focus is on more than just weight loss). No science on this is as yet conclusive, but it has some narrative for why some seem to do better on low-carbohydrate diets.

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