Are carbs really the cause of weight gain (keto question)?

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Noel_57 wrote: »
    russelljam08 wrote: »
    Carbs are rarely, if ever, stored as fat in humans. Fat is the easiest to store.
    The first part of your comment is absolutely untrue. But the second part is probably accurate. Ultimately it is excess calories that get converted into fat, not a particular macronutrient.

    @Noel_57
    Actually the first statement and second statements are both true - but I would agree with you it's an irrelevance and a distraction from calorie balance.
    What would normally happen in over-feeding of carbs is they get used preferentially and dietary fat that would otherwise be used gets stored instead.
    Our bodies for the most part follow the most efficient way of processing, using and storing the food we intake. Which is great in a famine but not so great when food is plentiful.


    Carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis) under normal dietary conditions. There are exceptions when this occurs. One is with massive chronic overfeeding of carbs. I’m talking 700-900 grams of carbs per day for multiple days. Under those conditions, carbs max out glycogen stores, are in excess of total daily energy requirements and you see the conversion of carbohydrate to fat for storage. But this is not a normal dietary situation for most people.
    - Lyle McDonald. https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-we-get-fat.html/

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
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    Eat less calories than your body burns to lose weight.
    Whatever works for you and is sustainable for the long term
    Work your options into your daily calorie budget.
  • AndroidBioweapon
    AndroidBioweapon Posts: 3 Member
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    You can gain weight eating anything in excess.
  • Jeepygirl
    Jeepygirl Posts: 23 Member
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    Eating less calories is what causes you to lose weight. For myself, eating low carb makes it easier for me to maintain a calorie deficit. But I'm still losing weight because I'm eating fewer calories. I do still track my calories, because if you go overboard on the fats and oils, you can very easily find yourself eating way too many calories and not losing weight.

    On a side note, I'm also not as super strict on the low carb as some of those who do keto. I shoot for 20g carbs but if I go over, I don't worry about it. Maybe try slowly upping your carbs to see if that helps you stick with it. And there's nothing wrong with saying its not working for you or your weight loss goals and trying something else.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    If carbs made you fat than the healthiest and longest living parts of the world wouldn't be 70% carb based.

    What it comes down to is dietary preference. If any diet has a benefit, it's a high protein diet since it's highly satiating and supports muscle retention/maintenance of metabolism. If you struggle with keto, go to another plan where you can maintain compliance. I lost 50 lbs while maintaining 50% of my calories from carbs.

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