Americans abandoning low carbs diets

[Allon]

4everhung, thanks man. Everything I write or say is always sincere and I truly want and mean it. I really don't see good things happening in our immediate future. I know one person cannot change everything but I have a lot of ideas and am very ambitious. I love the sciences, I love the application of them and I love myself (Anyone who sees this last point as arrogance is missing what love I am talking about). I really want to make a significant impact on the world before my time is up and I feel that before we can solve any other issue plaguing society we must atleast fix ourselves first, fixing meaning be in sufficient physical condition to function. I am currently testing a cancer treatment hypothesis that is very simple in its premises yet can be so effective. We'll see how it turns out by this fall. Also I am in the NPC Teen Nationals this weekend so that is pretty big too, I'll keep everyone posted.

Allon: You're entitled to how you feel about low-carb diets, but if you could explain just exactly you're "really against" it would help understand why some people are so opposed. I don't think that any of the low-carb diets are all good but then again no "diet" ever is. However I do feel that on a physiological level its premises are sound and are in concurrence with what we know about the body's reaction to different macronutrients. You even said yourself you agree that reducing carbs and reducing refined carbs is advisable.. so how is that not "low carb"? When you take out refined products such as white breads, baked goods, sodas, chips, etc. you can only eat so many carbohyrdate sources. That leaves you with veggies and fruits really,and I absolutely think that these foods are integral and should be eaten for their health benefits. I think there is a large misconception that low-carb means no carbohyrdate sources at all. This is wrong, both the misconception and the action. This is what I meant by extremes. If one macronutrient were unnecessary for humans or any organism it wouldn't exist. You can't eliminate an entire macro group. Each one has a place and time, like post-workout for example. Low-carb diets are an attempt to over-simplify a good idea for an American public. Oversimplification may be the problem in that the authors felt it would be easier to say no or very few carbs instead of accomodating to the millions of people individually who all can tolerate different amounts and need different sources at different times.

This is why I stress SELF-EDUCATION. The premise is good, but we all need to tailor our diets to our own bodies. For the most part, eating "low-carb" meaning meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, etc. is ideal and will help many maintain or achieve a body goal. As bodybuilders we know that carbohydrates have a time and place and by varying the amount we can either induce hypertrophy or lipolysis. The word "low" is relative to who is thinking or speaking. Low to me may be 50 grams while to others it may 100 g. So if you could tell me what you are really against it would help me understand why others are also against it, because like I said, its premises are sound just the oversimplification of it makes it less than ideal.

Alex

Wow, you are one talented 17 year old.
Also, you seem to be very idealistic, I like that. I hope you don't expect too much out of idealism though as you can be dissapointed a lot, but from your post you seem to be aware of this.

About the low carbs. I meant that the diest out there reccomend completely cutting out carbs down to somewhere between 20-40 grams a day and also to not eat all those carbs at once. I think that rice and fruits are evryday will have you above 100 grams which in my opinion is the minimum. I am not an expert at all, but it makes sense to eat enough carbs to feel good. and low carb diets ae actually "almost no carb diets" so I think that cutting down to soemwhere around 100 grams a day is probably good but even much more than that...

 

[Shark01]

I recently completed a 2 1/2 year stay on a low carb diet and lost 185 lbs. For me though, 60-80g carbs per day was optimal, these people who try to stay at less than 20g are nuts.

 

[TRUEsoldier]

I recently completed a 2 1/2 year stay on a low carb diet and lost 185 lbs. For me though, 60-80g carbs per day was optimal, these people who try to stay at less than 20g are nuts.

That is fucking amazing bro, is there any of you left??? Good shit

 

[Allon]

I recently completed a 2 1/2 year stay on a low carb diet and lost 185 lbs. For me though, 60-80g carbs per day was optimal, these people who try to stay at less than 20g are nuts.

I know that when cutting down on carbs, people become irritable and suffer loss of energy, I also know that many people accustom to the new lifestyle and these side effects go away for them, but still, I think eating all that colesterol and not having enough fuel for the body is dangerous. Especially if you are working out.

 

[Bigbear]

Shark- Fucking Awesome. Congrats on the wonderful feat you have accomplished.

Allon- I am not trying to be a douchebag and I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but some of your comments about why low-carb diets are bad or dangerous are a bit erroneous. I am not trying to start a fight here or anything, just I want to get the facts straight.

For one it is well known that dietary cholesterol has very little impact on serum blood cholesterol levels rather it is the stimulation of hepatic enzymes by elevated insulin levels.

Secondly, Glucose is the primary source of energy, but definitely not the only one. Lipids and Ketones are highly efficient sources of energy. People eating eating low carb don't not eat at all. And while it would seem that they would have very lowered blood glucose levels this is not the case. Serum Glucose Levels <i>normalize<i> For many of these people they have been living with chronic hyperglycemia for prolonged periods of time, so they were definitely not deprived and yet they were still obese and lethargic, and were bombarded with the other symptoms of insulin resistance such as hypertension and elevated blood lipids. Additionally, when the body does not receive any dietary carbohydrate the liver can produce an adequate amount for the CNS by gluconeogenesis in the liver.
So in short, when one reduces dietary carbohydrates one is certaintly not energy deprived because of the secondary sources.

Alex

 

[Allon]

No problem BigBear, I am enjoying the conversation and in no way see it as a fight

When I went low on carbs for a few weeks (I ate about 80 grams a day, maybe even more) I completely lost all my energy. when I realized it was not for me and went back to carbs, it still took me about 3-4 weeks until I felt normal again. To make this clear I will explain:
While on the diet I was easliy aggraveted and felt weak. once I went back to a normal diet with carbs in the morning as well as rice and fruit before workouts, it still took about 3 weeks until I felt normal again. I felt fatigued and literally my blood sugar level did not feel normal (this was how it felt) for all that time even once I started eating carbs normally...

So all my opinions here are not so scientific but just from what I have heard all over the net doing research and from common sense. I found the consensus is that carbs are important. they should be eaten and not cosidered as evil ... but definitely cutting down to 200-300 grams a day will help dieter on a not so radical diet like the 20-80 grams a day diet would, without the side effects.

 

[fiction agent]

I'm interested if anyone would happen to know more about long term issues with increases cholestrol intake on low carb diets. I try to mantain about 100% of what I should take but sometimes go over a bit; how would this impact my health? Or, does the lack of carbs and the burning of fats also include cholestrol removal as well?

 

[FigureSkater]

People just take this low carb stuff way too out of hand...it's one thing to eat sensibly (lean proteins like chicken and fish, good carbs--brown rice, vegetables, etc) but people thought that "low carb" meant that they could eat bunless cheeseburgers, steaks, lots of cheese, etc. every day, and that lead to heart and other health problems. I've seen tons of people attempt the Atkins diet and wind up cranky, tired and miserable because they have no clue what they are doing. There are much more sensible plans out there that work just as well, if not better, and don't have the side effects (the Body for Life plan, for example).

I'm glad to see this craze ending or at least dwindling down--I'm so darn sick of all the ads on tv for low carb sauces, menus at restaurants (some of which are fine, but others are loaded with greasiness, red meats, cheeses, wings, etc). I'll admit to buying a few of the low carb products--the yogurts and stuff because I can't have a lot of sugar (I normally buy the sugar free candies they sell for diabetics), some of the chicken and vegetables dishes available at restaurants are excellent, and I love one of the chicken and spinach salads (minus the usual dressing, bacon and hard boiled eggs) at Subway, but now they even make low carb MILK!? I'm sorry but when you go so far as to alter the content of one of the most basic, essential, healthy beverages, that's a little nuts.

I don't eat much in the way of carbs (I really don't count how much, I'd guess around 70-120 g/day), but I don't really consider myself a "low carb" dieter...I just use my brain and eat things that are not only good but good for me--whole wheat breads/wraps/pastas, brown rice, tons of vegetabes, oatmeal--in addition to healthy proteins at every meal. But I'm also not afraid of the occasional chocolate chip cookie, slice of pizza, etc

 

[Shark01]

That is fucking amazing bro, is there any of you left??? Good shit

LOL....yeah there is plenty left. I started at 410 lbs

Actually, all of my blood test numbers have normalized significantly.

LC diets, like any diet, isn't for everyone. I'm glad I made the right choice. And some of the new breed of LC products can help everyone. Things like Hood milk (makes GREAT protein shakes), LC tortillas and breads that besides having alot of fiber are pretty high protein.

Thanks everyone