Carbs are bad. Yes or no?

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  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    With the term “essential” meaning the body needs it, there are essential vitamins, essential minerals, essential protein and essential fats. Name one essential carbohydrate.

    But carbohydrates are important.

    Carbohydrates are a tool, but they are not essential. Google essential carbohydrates.

    The topic of the thread is "carbs are bad, yes or no?" How does the fact that they are a nonessential nutrient address that question?
  • phred_52
    phred_52 Posts: 189 Member
    Carbs are not bad, or as Tony the Tiger would say "They're Great :) Without them, I could never do my 2hrs on the bike...need that gas so to speak :)
  • hotel4dogs
    hotel4dogs Posts: 72 Member
    Glendower wrote: »
    Carbs are good for you and are necessary. They are a source of "fast energy" in that the body uses energy from carbs before it uses energy from fat and if there are any excess carbs in your body that aren't used, they get turned into fat for "long term storage".

    Most people aren't really concerned with how much they weigh unless it is affecting them medically and even then, many don't take heed and either end up with diabetes or even dead! Most people are concerned with how they look and if their clothes still fit them or if they are too tight and show up all the rolls of fat that are hanging over.

    The ONLY way to lose weight is to burn off more energy than you put into your body through your mouth. The way of looking at energy in food is using the "calorific value" of foods.

    Now, the definition of a "calorie" is "the amount of heat require to raise the temperature of one gram of water through one degree Celsius". The calorific value of food is measured using what is called a Bomb Calorimeter and it does this by burning the food in pure oxygen and measuring the amount of heat produced compared to the amount of energy required to burn it.

    Different foods/drinks have different calorific values. Water has no calories at all, as it cannot be burnt; that's why it put out fires quickly. Sugar has a high calorific value; throw a teaspoon of sugar onto an open fire and see what happens. Fat is also VERY high in calories; remember the chip fires of the old days when the pan caught fire and was virtually impossible to put out and sometimes even burnt the house down?

    So, it all comes down to these two very simple equations:

    Energy Out < Energy In = Weight Loss
    Energy In > Energy Out = Weight Gain

    Therefore if you want to lose weight, there are only two options; eat/drink less or exercise more, although a combination of both is a good idea.

    Finally, it is IMPOSSIBLE to put on weight without putting drink/food in your mouth. You can prove it by doing this simple confirmatory test: Stand on a set of scales and weigh yourself. While you are on the scales, drink exactly one pint of water. I will GUARANTEE that you will put on exactly 20oz in weight! Why? . . . because that is how much a pint of water weighs!

    Apologies for "prattling" on but there are so many myths about oversize/overweight people that I thought I'd bring a bit of physics and chemistry into the discussion.



    Only if it's an imperial pint. A US pint weighs just a smidge over 16 ounces.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,455 Member
    I don't like em. Do you?

    @willwhitelaw keep in mind not all carbs even count because there are carbs that humans can not even turn into energy. Those that we can not gain weight from eating but some of the good gut microbiome needs those same carbs to help keep us healthy because of the metabolites they can excrete that we require for health.


    Examples please?
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
    mojavemtbr wrote: »
    Well carbs have only been "bad" over the last few decades.
    Nobody ever seemed to have an issue with them before that.
    Carbs were the main macos that fueled people who built the Great Pyramids, or the Roman Legions who conqured most of the known world at that time. Carbs fueled the workers who laid the railroads crossing north America. Carbs fueled the message runners of Native North American tribes while they ran 20..30...40 miles in a day delivering important information to other tribes. Carbs are the primary fuel for riders in the Tour De France who ride for three weeks at racing speeds covering hundereds of kilometers over tall mountain passes. Were any of these groups known to struggle with weight issues or lack of energy to accomplish these feats ???
    No Carbs are just another thing we in our modern "knowledge" have made out to be a boogyman because it supposedly is the primary cause of so many fat people. When in reality its laziness, a sedentary lifestyle, the overall ease of modern life that are the culprits. But hey....it so much easier to blame it on carbohydrates now isn't it ?

    Its true that they have taken the blame for general overeating. But its not true to say that its a modern thing, way back in the 17 and 1800s, people who wanted to lose weight were advised to cut out the bread and potatoes.
  • poisonesse
    poisonesse Posts: 526 Member
    The question was are carbs bad. My answer... no, they are not. They're a macro, you're body needs them. Too many of them, on the other hand, is just like too much of any good thing. Not so good. ;)
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    nooboots wrote: »
    mojavemtbr wrote: »
    Well carbs have only been "bad" over the last few decades.
    Nobody ever seemed to have an issue with them before that.
    Carbs were the main macos that fueled people who built the Great Pyramids, or the Roman Legions who conqured most of the known world at that time. Carbs fueled the workers who laid the railroads crossing north America. Carbs fueled the message runners of Native North American tribes while they ran 20..30...40 miles in a day delivering important information to other tribes. Carbs are the primary fuel for riders in the Tour De France who ride for three weeks at racing speeds covering hundereds of kilometers over tall mountain passes. Were any of these groups known to struggle with weight issues or lack of energy to accomplish these feats ???
    No Carbs are just another thing we in our modern "knowledge" have made out to be a boogyman because it supposedly is the primary cause of so many fat people. When in reality its laziness, a sedentary lifestyle, the overall ease of modern life that are the culprits. But hey....it so much easier to blame it on carbohydrates now isn't it ?

    Its true that they have taken the blame for general overeating. But its not true to say that its a modern thing, way back in the 17 and 1800s, people who wanted to lose weight were advised to cut out the bread and potatoes.

    They were also advised to cut out butter. They were basically advised to cut out things they overate and eat things they didn't overeat, some of which are plenty high in carbs, like fruits (even dried ones) and biscuits. Although I'm sure glad I didn't have to diet in the ancinet Greece times.
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
    nooboots wrote: »
    mojavemtbr wrote: »
    Well carbs have only been "bad" over the last few decades.
    Nobody ever seemed to have an issue with them before that.
    Carbs were the main macos that fueled people who built the Great Pyramids, or the Roman Legions who conqured most of the known world at that time. Carbs fueled the workers who laid the railroads crossing north America. Carbs fueled the message runners of Native North American tribes while they ran 20..30...40 miles in a day delivering important information to other tribes. Carbs are the primary fuel for riders in the Tour De France who ride for three weeks at racing speeds covering hundereds of kilometers over tall mountain passes. Were any of these groups known to struggle with weight issues or lack of energy to accomplish these feats ???
    No Carbs are just another thing we in our modern "knowledge" have made out to be a boogyman because it supposedly is the primary cause of so many fat people. When in reality its laziness, a sedentary lifestyle, the overall ease of modern life that are the culprits. But hey....it so much easier to blame it on carbohydrates now isn't it ?

    Its true that they have taken the blame for general overeating. But its not true to say that its a modern thing, way back in the 17 and 1800s, people who wanted to lose weight were advised to cut out the bread and potatoes.

    They were also advised to cut out butter. They were basically advised to cut out things they overate and eat things they didn't overeat, some of which are plenty high in carbs, like fruits (even dried ones) and biscuits. Although I'm sure glad I didn't have to diet in the ancinet Greece times.

    I wasnt just referring to the article I posted (I found that after I posted), I was writing from memory of various bits and bobs Ive read over the years ( I love history and read an awful lot about social history). My point wasnt that 'low carb' was the only method of diet ever suggested from those days but that 'lower or low carb' has been espoused for a lot longer than we think.