no carb vs. low calorie

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  • MsNilli
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    Your brain requires carbs to work properly: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

    Carbs in moderation, just like every other nutrient, is what is necessary.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    Your brain requires carbs to work properly: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

    It requires glucose, not carbs.
  • HeidiRene
    HeidiRene Posts: 335 Member
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    I often find doctors to not be the "gods of knowledge" our society believes them to be...precisely the reason I want to hear about real life experience with limiting carbs.
  • japruzze
    japruzze Posts: 453 Member
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    When most people say "carb" they think bread, rice, pasta, crackers, cereal, potato, etc. Not fruits, veggies and the like. So I'm guessing your doctor was speaking starch carbs not ALL carbs. Call and ask. I do low carb but NO bread, rice, pasta, crackers, cereal, potato on a regular basis. I'm perfectly healthy and usually happy. :ohwell:
  • billgiersberg
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    I tried Atkins once and found it to be like a lot of other fad diets. It worked a little but it was not viable for the long term because it asks for things that are NOT things you would want to do the rest of your life. I am searching for things I can do that help me lose weight now and will give me the tools I need to control my weight once I reach my goal weight. For me, watching the sum total of all calories I eat versus my BMR is the way to go. When you eat protein, 30% of what you eat is used to digest what you ate. In addition you get a lot of nutrition for building lean body mass. When you eat carbs, 11% of the calories you ate are used to digest what your ate. Fat uses only 3%. If you eat carbs, you should avoid the heavily refined carbs like white bread and opt instead for whole wheat. Fo me I look at my BMR and create a 500 cal/day deficit for a 1 pound a week loss. I add to that another 500 cal/day in exercise which I do not eat back. Total then is 2 pounds a week. Increasing my protein helps me build lean body mass and some carbs gives me a quick boost to my fuel supply when I need it. My gold is to watch the calories and be sure what I eat is good fuel. Look at your body as a fine-tuned engine. Do you want to fuel it with last years left-over gas (crud like potato chips) or do you want to put nitro in the tank (lean protein, whole grains, fiber)?

    Exactly what about the Atkins plan asks for things that you would not do for the rest of your life?

    People that actually do Atkins correctly learn how to eat a controlled carb lifestyle in moderation.............

    Excuse me. Geeze.... maybe I should have been more specific and indicated the induction phase or phase one of the Atkins plan. In any case, I found the Atkins plan to be just one more fad diet. Based on some of your other remarks on this thread, it sounds like you are just looking to pick an argument. I guess trolls like to do that. I stand by all my comments, your snide remarks not withstanding.
  • AmeChops
    AmeChops Posts: 744 Member
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    Firstly, you can't do 'no carb' - there's no such thing. Low-carb, yes you can do...how low would be dependent on what your doctor advises. When I do low-carb (starting again tomorrow) I eat around 20g per day for a couple of weeks then slowly increase - with those mainly coming from vegetables. I've got PCOS so the amount of carbs I eat really does affect my weight loss (or gain as it usually is). Why does your doctor advise low-carb?

    There are people that consume 0 carb aka "no carb"............

    Check it out!

    http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=53

    Sorry, I do apologise...I should have said - Firstly, you can't do 'no carb' unless you're prepared to eat a shed load of meat and not much else - which you'll probably be able to stick at for about a week, unless of course your will power is actually made of steel :laugh:
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    Please, research, research, research. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it! If you don't understand what your doctor is saying, please call the office nurse and ask for clarification!! never follow blindly!! NEVER!
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    No carb is really unhealthy... I don't know why your doctor would suggest that. You'll drop weight fast, but it won't stay off and you can really damage your heart and blood vessels from all of the fat you'll need to eat for energy.

    Fat does NO damage to the heart or the blood vessels. and NO carb is not unhealthy either. Humans have ZERO need for any carbs.

    Fat and protein will provide the body with the necessary nutrients needed to not only survive, but also thrive.

    Here is a whole forum of information to read.

    http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6

    YIKES! Don't listen to this!!

    OP Please look at http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx. Fruits and veggies are valuable sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals. Don't understimate the value of whole foods. It is the processed crap and saturated fat animal products taken in such large quantities that are harming us.

    Please, research, research, research. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it! If you don't understand what your doctor is saying, please call the office nurse and ask for clarification!! never follow blindly!! NEVER!
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Firstly, you can't do 'no carb' - there's no such thing. Low-carb, yes you can do...how low would be dependent on what your doctor advises. When I do low-carb (starting again tomorrow) I eat around 20g per day for a couple of weeks then slowly increase - with those mainly coming from vegetables. I've got PCOS so the amount of carbs I eat really does affect my weight loss (or gain as it usually is). Why does your doctor advise low-carb?

    There are people that consume 0 carb aka "no carb"............

    Check it out!

    http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/showthread.php?tid=53

    Sorry, I do apologise...I should have said - Firstly, you can't do 'no carb' unless you're prepared to eat a shed load of meat and not much else - which you'll probably be able to stick at for about a week, unless of course your will power is actually made of steel :laugh:

    LOL, you are right. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I actually made it about 3 months on 0 carb..................the boredom factor set it and the reason I added in more variety.

    I am now with the Paleo approach. Protein, mostly saturated fats, vegetables and fruit. I am no longer depressed, no longer diabetic and working on getting off thyroid medications.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    No carb is really unhealthy... I don't know why your doctor would suggest that. You'll drop weight fast, but it won't stay off and you can really damage your heart and blood vessels from all of the fat you'll need to eat for energy.

    Fat does NO damage to the heart or the blood vessels. and NO carb is not unhealthy either. Humans have ZERO need for any carbs.

    Fat and protein will provide the body with the necessary nutrients needed to not only survive, but also thrive.

    Here is a whole forum of information to read.

    http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6

    YIKES! Don't listen to this!!

    OP Please look at http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx. Fruits and veggies are valuable sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals. Don't understimate the value of whole foods. It is the processed crap and saturated fat animal products taken in such large quantities that are harming us.

    Please, research, research, research. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it! If you don't understand what your doctor is saying, please call the office nurse and ask for clarification!! never follow blindly!! NEVER!

    Your wrong about the saturated fats and the vitamins.

    Saturated fats are the main component in breast milk. If they were so bad for us, breast milk would be made of something entirely different. Nature doesn't get it wrong.

    Saturated fat is a WHOLE food, just like broccoli, tomatoes or eggplant.

    Keep the source of the issues with Obesity and other lifestyle diseases where it needs to be. Processed crap coming from refined sugar, grains and transfats.

    There are virtually no sources of any vitamins to be in vegetation (which is why all vitamin supplements are synthetic), but all are found in abundance in meat. For example no source of A other than animal liver exists. The amount of B complex in 30 gm of fresh red meat is more than can be extracted from one hundred
    kilos of yeast concentrate- once it was done, but at great expense. C is not the only antiscorbitic substance, since a diet of just red meat prevents scurvy (the Inuit diet).

    Nothing is refined or processed in anything that I have written.
  • paulamarsden
    paulamarsden Posts: 483 Member
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    the reason other tribes survive on meat only diets is because they eat the whole animal, bones, sinew, ligaments and organs.

    one cannot survive on meat alone.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    Dude,how does one stay regular without the bulk of fiber? I would imagine you'd be seriously stopped up if you weren't eating at least fruits and vegetables. Not trying to be a smart *kitten* just genuinely curious!

    Fat and water are really all you need. We don't need the fiber they try and sell you on, which most people buy hook, line and sinker.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I have a few observations/comments:

    1) I would find out specifically why your doctor is recommend a no carb approach or a low carb approach.
    2) Your doctor is saying "no carb" but probably means "low carb" because he/she is recommending vegetables, which are carbs.

    Regarding necessity for carbs, your body can manufacture glucose via gluconeogenesis which essentially eliminates the physiological need for carbs, but that being said, I think doing a ZERO carb approach is idiotic and unnecessary.

    Low carbing is just fine and plenty of people have success with it, but it's not necessary for most people and it's very necessary for others.

    But ultimately, I'd consider a new doc or at least find out why she is making this recommendation and why she doesn't know that veggies are carbs.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    I tried Atkins once and found it to be like a lot of other fad diets. It worked a little but it was not viable for the long term because it asks for things that are NOT things you would want to do the rest of your life. I am searching for things I can do that help me lose weight now and will give me the tools I need to control my weight once I reach my goal weight. For me, watching the sum total of all calories I eat versus my BMR is the way to go. When you eat protein, 30% of what you eat is used to digest what you ate. In addition you get a lot of nutrition for building lean body mass. When you eat carbs, 11% of the calories you ate are used to digest what your ate. Fat uses only 3%. If you eat carbs, you should avoid the heavily refined carbs like white bread and opt instead for whole wheat. Fo me I look at my BMR and create a 500 cal/day deficit for a 1 pound a week loss. I add to that another 500 cal/day in exercise which I do not eat back. Total then is 2 pounds a week. Increasing my protein helps me build lean body mass and some carbs gives me a quick boost to my fuel supply when I need it. My gold is to watch the calories and be sure what I eat is good fuel. Look at your body as a fine-tuned engine. Do you want to fuel it with last years left-over gas (crud like potato chips) or do you want to put nitro in the tank (lean protein, whole grains, fiber)?

    Exactly what about the Atkins plan asks for things that you would not do for the rest of your life?

    People that actually do Atkins correctly learn how to eat a controlled carb lifestyle in moderation.............

    Excuse me. Geeze.... maybe I should have been more specific and indicated the induction phase or phase one of the Atkins plan. In any case, I found the Atkins plan to be just one more fad diet. Based on some of your other remarks on this thread, it sounds like you are just looking to pick an argument. I guess trolls like to do that. I stand by all my comments, your snide remarks not withstanding.

    I am not a troll, I have been a member of this site since 2009. I was asking a genuine question when Atkins is no where near a fad diet. It is a lifestyle plan that is easily done for life. You can't even detect any tone or inflection in my voice with words typed on a computer screen so stop being so sensitive and taking things to heart.

    I was not being snide at all in my remarks, simply asking questions because I don't understand how protein, fats, vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds is somehow a fad.

    These foods have been around since nearly the beginning of time, where as the processed cereal, grains, oreos, etc are new fad items that aren't even REAL food.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    No carb is really unhealthy... I don't know why your doctor would suggest that. You'll drop weight fast, but it won't stay off and you can really damage your heart and blood vessels from all of the fat you'll need to eat for energy.

    Fat does NO damage to the heart or the blood vessels. and NO carb is not unhealthy either. Humans have ZERO need for any carbs.

    Fat and protein will provide the body with the necessary nutrients needed to not only survive, but also thrive.

    Here is a whole forum of information to read.

    http://forum.zeroinginonhealth.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6

    YIKES! Don't listen to this!!

    OP Please look at http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx. Fruits and veggies are valuable sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals. Don't understimate the value of whole foods. It is the processed crap and saturated fat animal products taken in such large quantities that are harming us.

    Please, research, research, research. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it! If you don't understand what your doctor is saying, please call the office nurse and ask for clarification!! never follow blindly!! NEVER!

    Nah saturated fat is being exonerated.

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/80/5/1102.full
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21978979
  • nmzeta
    nmzeta Posts: 381 Member
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    Oh NatureMade... "Saturated fats are the main component in breast milk. If they were so bad for us, breast milk would be made of something entirely different. Nature doesn't get it wrong. "

    I believe when you were consuming breast milk (if you ever did) you are growing a bit faster than you are today. Last I checked, they don't let infants on this site.


    http://www.americanpregnancy.org/firstyearoflife/whatsinbreastmilk.html

    "Fats
    Human milk also contains fats that are essential for the health of your BABY. It is necessary for brain development, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and is a primary calorie source. Long chain fatty acids are needed for brain, retina, and nervous system development. They are deposited in the brain during the last trimester of pregnancy and are also found in breast milk.

    Carbohydrates
    Lactose is the primary CARBOHYDRATE found in human milk. It accounts for approximately FORTY PERCENT of the TOTAL CALORIES provided by breast milk. Lactose helps to decrease the amount of unhealthy bacteria in the stomach, which improves the absorption of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. It helps to fight disease and promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the stomach. Breast milk has the perfect combination of proteins, fats, vitamins, and carbohydrates. There is nothing better for the health of your baby. "
  • mpattill
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    Low carb has worked well for me in the past. I find that too many carbs is really unsatisfying and makes weight loss very difficult. I try to eat carbs that are low glycemic like vegetables and some fruits and avoid the processed carbs like bread, pasta, cereal, sugar, etc. Also, carbs make me more hungry and I tend to eat more often and eat more in general. I think the quality of the carbs is the most important factor in carb intake. Avoid the junk carbs and processed foods and eat more unprocessed foods and you will do great.
  • dennydifferent
    dennydifferent Posts: 135 Member
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    No carb huh? There are some folk that do it but...wow. Unless you like liver, kidneys and other offal, I really wouldn't think this was a good idea.

    I think I agree with an earlier poster your doc probably meant no "white" carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or sugar. Search the Groups here for "low carb" and join the low carber group, there's loads of info on there.
  • 5kfunrun
    5kfunrun Posts: 8 Member
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    Just remember... Mr. Atkins died of a heart attack...

    Everything in moderation :)