Are carbs really that bad for you??

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MichaelAnthony122
MichaelAnthony122 Posts: 22
in Health and Weight Loss
My friend who is a sports and fitness major knows alot about dieting and eating right..he claims that carbs ( such as wheat bread ) and pasta are terrible for you??

is this true? am i really gonna have to give up my carbs even though the carbs I eat are not so bad..thxx
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Replies

  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    no unless you have something like Celiac disease
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
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    I think they are bad, but that is my personal experience since I didn't seem to metabolize the carbs as well once I hit my 40s. Do your own research and decide what is right for you. Some people keep carbs under 150 some under 100 -- i try to keep my under 70. Wheat sources contain gluten which many people have a problem with.
  • MichaelAnthony122
    MichaelAnthony122 Posts: 22
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    thank you :)
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
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    I tryyyy not to go over carbs, but I pay much more attention to my fat totals and overall calorie totals. I think as long as you don't go over ALL the time, it's fine! Most of my carbs actually come from apples and grapes!
  • NaomiLyn15
    NaomiLyn15 Posts: 388 Member
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    Everyone is different. It depends on how your body deals with them. I can't have anything that is processed, but complex carbs are fine for me. So, just try adding and taking things from your diet until you find the right mix.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

    Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

    So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

    Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

    So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

    curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?
  • bhagavatilad1
    bhagavatilad1 Posts: 277
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    I really haven't given up my carbs but I've found on MFP I'm always over on my carbs but carbs include lots of things including sugar I've switched to Honey Wheat bread but someone said honey is sweet therefore sugar you can't get away from it. I give up but I am aware of types of food and try to make small changes. Good luck
  • MichaelAnthony122
    MichaelAnthony122 Posts: 22
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    thanks for all the good advice :)
  • CavewomanCoby
    CavewomanCoby Posts: 253 Member
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    I agree, I think its not so much all carbs, but the type of carbs you eat. Also, I agree it's a subjective thing. I turned to Paleo W.O.E because I found eating wheat, pasta, rice etc was making me sluggish and bloated. I stopped eating them and my lifestyle totally changed.

    Diets are not a "one size fits all" thing - you need to do what works for you. If you're unsure or thinking about making a lifestyle change try it out for a couple of weeks and see how you feel.
  • chanceuse2424
    chanceuse2424 Posts: 2
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    when you say carbs, i'm going to assume you mean bread/pasta/grains/rice/potatoes/sugar, etc.

    i'm going to recommend a few things: a book entitled "Wheat Belly," the blogs of Mark Sisson (mark's daily apple), Tom Naughton (fat head blog), and Archevore...

    though they don't affect everyone the same way.. sugar (especially processed sugar, but too much fruit sugar or whatever will do it too) and wheat are pretty unfortunate for you in the long run.
  • shannon_stallone
    shannon_stallone Posts: 136
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    i personally need to encorporate some kind of carbs into my daily diet or I feel awful...But its all whole wheat, nothing enriched...Everyone is different though :)
  • MarieNevada
    MarieNevada Posts: 395 Member
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    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

    Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

    So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

    curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

    the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.

    If it ain't white, it ain't right.
  • yummummum
    yummummum Posts: 257
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    I am finding that they are for me. I was having all kinds of stomach issues combined with trying so hard to lose weight on weight watchers. I had an endoscopy. Went off gluten. But it wasn't until I cut more carbs and sugar that I started noticing a difference.

    I cut even more carbs and it changed everything for me! Stomach issues gone and weight started falling off. Not hungry, no cravings. I was constantly crashing and feeling hungry on weight watchers.

    I think you need to do your own research and decide for yourself and what works for you. I know lots of people who have lost weight eating carbs just was not working at all for me. And after researching it, i found it is not dangerous or even radical. Once you look at the history of our diets it makes a lot of sense.

    Good luck to you.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

    Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

    So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

    curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

    the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.

    and under what situations does the process of de novo lipogenesis occur?

    and what of the possible anti nutritional factors in brown rice, does that matter?
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    In my opinion, carbs are the new scapegoat, just as fat was evil back in the 70s and 80s.
    Everyone is going to have a different experience or situation here, you don't have to give anything up unless there is an actual reason - some people don't seem to handle carbs well and do better without them, for me they don't seem to be an issue so I eat pasta, rice, cake and chocolate, all in moderation (at least that's what I try to do, sometimes the moderation filter falls down, especially when it comes to chocolate or sweets!)
  • iheartyarn
    iheartyarn Posts: 141 Member
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    I find I feel the best when I stay away from flour, I get my carnal from fruit and whole gluten free grains and I feel great
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

    Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

    So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

    curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

    White rice is not a whole grain because it goes through a refining process that removes the bran and strips it of a lot of its nutrients, so producers have to "enrich" the rice by artifically adding certain vitamins to it (at least in the U.S.). That's why I say to look at the ingredient list and see if it includes the word "enriched." If it does, the food has been chemically altered.

    White potatoes aren't necessarily "bad." They have a lot of the same nutritional qualities as sweet potatoes, but few people eat white potatoes in their natural state, which is where the idea that they aren't good for dieters comes from. If you just ate a plain white potato, you'd be okay. But when you add butter and cheese and sour cream to it or eat it in the form of french fries, you make it "bad." This is true of sweet potatoes, too, although, for diabetics or others worried about blood sugar, it should be noted that sweet potatoes are much lower on the glycemic index than white potatoes.
  • bhagavatilad1
    bhagavatilad1 Posts: 277
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    the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.
    [/quote]


    I believe this is true if you can avoid it stay away from processed foods (anything that comes ready to eat in cans prepackaged containers etc) if your read labels check sodium and sugar contents good luck again.

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