What do you guys think about carbs?

[Raziaar]

Well... not really an atkins diet threat, though i've done it for a long time, with great results.

This thread is more around the assumption from some that carbs are healthy, and from others that they are dangerous.

I'm gonna give a website, with alot of information on them from the latter side, which I happen to agree with.

Oh, and by the way, don't pay much attention to the fact that the hosted site is biblelife. Heh. Its got nothing to do with religion.

http://www.biblelife.org/carbs.htm

Lotta information in there I have agreed with for a while now, and I just wanted to see what you guys thought too. Lot of reading! So if you don't know how to read, don't read much further than this thread.

 

[ne0_shiny]

...They taste good
and thats all that matters

 

[Raziaar]

...They taste good
and thats all that matters

Hell... i'll agree with you there. But they are as addictive as crack cocaine. If you don't believe me... get off of them for about a month, or even a couple weeks... Its INSANE the cravings you feel for carb foods. Incredibly addictive, and you never know otherwise because you're constantly eating them to satiate the craving.

EDIT: Ugh, stupid topic. delete me please! I think I was on drugs when I posted it.

 

[Shakermaker]

EDIT: Ugh, stupid topic. delete me please! I think I was on drugs when I posted it.

lol, funny.

Carbs are great. Nothing beats a big bag of Italian flavoured potato chips. Or french fries with a large blob of mayonaise (yes, we do ****ing drown 'em in that shit).

 

[Razor]

Hell... i'll agree with you there. But they are as addictive as crack cocaine. If you don't believe me... get off of them for about a month, or even a couple weeks... Its INSANE the cravings you feel for carb foods. Incredibly addictive, and you never know otherwise because you're constantly eating them to satiate the craving.

EDIT: Ugh, stupid topic. delete me please! I think I was on drugs when I posted it.

Starving yourself of a vital food source will mean that the body tries to fight back with cravings.

Carbohydrates, especially the complex type, are very important to giving your body the energy to get by through your day. Starving yourself of them is stupid.

I eat a balanced diet and i work out at the local gym and am losing weight and getting fit at the same time, that is the only healthy way to lose weight.

 

[Raziaar]

Carbs are great. Nothing beats a big bag of Italian flavoured potato chips. Or french fries with a large blob of mayonaise (yes, we do ****ing drown 'em in that shit).

Mayonaise, at least here in the states... has 0 carbs in it. 0 Carbs.

Starving yourself of a vital food source will mean that the body tries to fight back with cravings.

Carbohydrates, especially the complex type, are very important to giving your body the energy to get by through your day. Starving yourself of them is stupid.

I eat a balanced diet and i work out at the local gym and am losing weight and getting fit at the same time, that is the only healthy way to lose weight.

See, thats just the thing... I don't VIEW carbohydrates as an integral, healthy thing for the body. At least not in the quantities the government wants us to eat them. I feel fan-fricken-tastic when I am not loaded up on Carbohydrates. I feel more satiated, able to eat less throughout the day and not just snack and snack and snack and eat and eat and eat... I have more energy, I feel less tired. When I get the carbs back in my system, I have the cravings to eat more, with less energy, and other negative side effects.

The thing about the world today is... and the US governments stupid ass nutrition pyramid, is that they want you to eat low fat, high carb diets, with lots of fruits.

The problem is, nearly every single low fat, high carb item, including fruits... has TONS and TONS of sugars. People somehow see a package of yogurt for instance(lets call it Danimal yogurt), and they see the label "No Fat" or "Low-Fat" And they think... WOW, that must be healthy for me! It is this thought they have because they have been taught by the government for so long, that low fat foods will help them lose weight, and live healthier lives. The thing they don't seem to care about, is the fact that that the lower fat a product is, usually the more sugars it contains, which is very destructive on the body. Sugars are absorbed incredibly fast, and flow throughout the bloodstream and can cause horrible conditions such as diabetes.

I just think people have been brainwashed by the government thinking low fat diets are healthy. They somehow equate the word 'fat' and think 'fat person', like because its called fat, or a fatty acid, it is bad for them and will make them fat. Stupid thinking on their part.

 

[Shakermaker]

Mayonaise, at least here in the states... has 0 carbs in it. 0 Carbs.

Correct, but it's pure fat. Not very good.

 

[SimonomiS]

Correct, but it's pure fat. Not very good.

Eurgh pure fat, made me think of lard, and with chips, dipping chips in lard or pure fat. Think I might throw up now. :x

I don't pay attention to what I eat. Nutritionally anyway, I guess I should, but I'm just too lazy.

 

[Raziaar]

Lets have a contest! I'll eat my low carbs, you eat your high carbs. We'll keep in touch and see who dies first.

 

[DarkStar]

Hell... i'll agree with you there. But they are as addictive as crack cocaine. If you don't believe me... get off of them for about a month, or even a couple weeks... Its INSANE the cravings you feel for carb foods. Incredibly addictive, and you never know otherwise because you're constantly eating them to satiate the craving.

EDIT: Ugh, stupid topic. delete me please! I think I was on drugs when I posted it.

I think they're addictive because your body needs them for energy.

That's kinda like saying sleep is addictive.

I know some people who have tried some of this new-fangled low carb stuff it really takes a toll on the body.

A balanced diet. Now that is the key.

 

[Raziaar]

I think they're addictive because your body needs them for energy.

That's kinda like saying sleep is addictive.

I know some people who have tried some of this new-fangled low carb stuff it really takes a toll on the body.

A balanced diet. Now that is the key.

How does my body need them for energy, if when I'm on the low carb diet I feel FULL of energy!? If I need more energy, I have some protein, and damn... i'm ready to go.

Carbs are energy, yes... but they're easy energy, that the body doesnt have to work towards to provide it. It just gets sucked into the blood stream fast, which can easily make you fat.

 

[Danimal]

Still want this thread locked?

 

[Raziaar]

Still want this thread locked?

I'd let it go a bit... I didn't realize we would be actually arguing on the merts of fats vs carbs.

 

[Fat Tony!]

Pff just keep it simple and have a balanced diet, there was never any doubts with that!

 

[Raziaar]

Pff just keep it simple and have a balanced diet, there was never any doubts with that!

Heh. Yeah there is, lotta people have talked about their balanced diets by the government have caused them a slow, steady increase in weight. Even when doing things in moderation.

 

[DarkStar]

Heh. Yeah there is, lotta people have talked about their balanced diets by the government have caused them a slow, steady increase in weight. Even when doing things in moderation.

It's seriously hard to gain a whole lotta weight if you exercise regularly and eat a fairly balanced diet.

 

[Raziaar]

It's seriously hard to gain a whole lotta weight if you exercise regularly and eat a fairly balanced diet.

You guys still haven't convinced me that carbs are good. I feel fantastic when i'm off of carbs. My head is clearer, I don't feel the desire to eat as often, when I do eat I feel more full with less food. I have lots of energy, I'm not tired!

Most people who eat low carb eat healthy. They don't just say... I can eat all the food I want in the world if its low carb. Vegetables play a HUGE part. Vegetables have carbs in them, but they're regarded as very nutritious and essential to the diet.

I don't see what the problem is with omitting all these highly processed foods on our shelves.

"FAT" does not mean it'll make you fat, people.

A New Study

Researchers are aware that no long-term interventional human studies
on the issue exist nor are there any complete toxicological studies on
high protein diet effects. This has led to a new investigation of the
wide range of biochemical, anatomical and histological parameters to
determine whether long-term ingestion of a high protein diet could
have adverse and/or beneficial effects in an obesity prone strain of
rats. The authors of ''A long-term high-protein diet markedly reduces
adipose tissue without major side-effects in Wistar male rats,'' are
Magali Lacroix, Claire Gaudichon, Celine Morens, Veronique Mathe,
Daniel Tome, and Jean-Francois Huneau, all from the Physiologie de la
Nutrition et du Comportement alimentaire, Institut National
Agronomique Paris-Grignon, Paris; and Antoine Martin, at the Service
d'Anatomie pathologique, H￴pital Avicenne, Bobigny, both in France.
Their findings appear in the Articles in Press section of the American
Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative
Physiology. The journal is one of 14 scientific publications issued
each month by the American Physiological Society (APS)
(www.the-aps.org).

Methodology

This study used male Wistar rats that were administered either a no
protein diet or a high protein diet for six months. Detailed body
composition, biomarkers of oxidative stress [reduced and oxidized
glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, expression of
glutamy-cysteine-ligase, and detoxification function
(Glutathione-S-Transferase), plasma hormones (insulin, cortisol and
leptine)] and liver and kidney histopathology were investigated.
Calcium balance was also assessed over four months after this
protocol.

Results

This study sought to estimate the consequences of a long-term intake
of high levels of protein in an obesity-prone rat strain. The results
showed that the long-term effect of eating protein at will led to a
markedly reduced food intake and lowered white adipose tissue. At the
same time, basal blood insulin, leptin and triglyceride levels, and
glucose tolerance were improved. Calcium balance was not affected by a
high intake of milk proteins. Moreover, in contrast to what has
generally been admitted, no adverse effects of the high protein diet
were reported, particularly regarding kidney and liver health. After
six months of the experiment, the body weight of rats fed the high
protein diet was 18 percent lower than that of rats fed the
non-protein diet. Body composition measurements revealed remarkable
differences between the two groups, especially concerning the
subcutaneous fat pad.

This study also revealed that the weight reduction in rats fed the
high protein diet was strongly associated with lower basal blood sugar
and insulin levels, as previously described, and improved glucose
tolerance. As the isocaloric exchange between high and low protein
diets was performed on carbohydrate, the flattening effect of the high
protein diet on insulin and glucose basal levels could be attributed
to its reduced carbohydrate content. This contrasts with the results
of many studies that have acknowledged the fact that high protein
intakes induce an increase in glucose and insulin concentrations.

Conclusions

This unique long-term study found that in male rats, a protein intake
of three times the requirements did not produce any adverse effects on
the renal and hepatic functions, on oxidative stress or on the calcium
balance. On the contrary, exchanging carbohydrates for proteins was
beneficial regarding body composition, basal triglycerides, glucose,
leptin, and insulin plasma concentrations. The results of the present
study agree with the idea that long-term dietary management is of
major importance to preventing obesity.

 

[Razor]

Raziarr, what sort of activities do you do?

I run a good 4 miles every other day and eat a good amount of protein and complex and simple carbs, coming from vegetables, fruits, wholemeal bread and porridge.

 

[Kangy]

If carbs are so bad, why do people live such long, healthy lives in Italy and Greece, where they have a high-carb diet.

I don't think cutting any source out of a diet could possibly be good for you, on the whole. I wonder where the days of eating a normal, balanced diet actually went.

 

[el Chi]

Seems to me to that "carbs" are the new dietary buzz-word so that fat people have something to blame and aspiring-anorexics have something to avoid.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Chi nails it on the head there. Carbs are great, and so are proteins. Nothing beats a sandwich filled with loads of different meats.

Just eat properly. Fad diets will make you die quicker, and are worse for your health. I'm in good shape, and I eat a little of everything - just in moderation.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Razor]

Chi nails it on the head there. Carbs are great, and so are proteins. Nothing beats a sandwich filled with loads of different meats.

Just eat properly. Fad diets will make you die quicker, and are worse for your health. I'm in good shape, and I eat a little of everything - just in moderation.

-Angry Lawyer

Definately.

A balanced diet should contain fat, protein and carbohydrates. You have to remember though that there are different types of protein like Dextrose and lactose, etc, just as there are different types of fats, especially fatty acids such as the Omegas, and carbohydrates i.e. simple and complex.

 

[Raziaar]

Definately.

A balanced diet should contain fat, protein and carbohydrates. You have to remember though that there are different types of protein like Dextrose and lactose, etc, just as there are different types of fats, especially fatty acids such as the Omegas, and carbohydrates i.e. simple and complex.

Umm... Dextrose(Glucose) and Lactose are sugars and thus carbohydrates. Not Proteins.

And you're sitting here telling me about whats good and bad?

 

[bvasgm]

My view on carbs.

 

[Razor]

Taken from www.Wikipedia.org.

And yes, sorry, Dextrose and Lactose are sugars.

Strictly speaking, carbohydrates are not necessary for human nutrition because proteins can be converted to carbohydrates—the traditional diet of some peoples consists of nearly zero percent carbohydrate, and they are perfectly healthy. However, carbohydrates require less water to digest than proteins or fats, and are an important source of energy.

Problems have been cited for the long term effects of a no-carbohydrate diet. These include reduced athletic performance, possible brain damage, and nephrotoxicity. The brain can only utilize carbohydrates for energy, and protein may not supply enough in many cases. The increase in protein means that more ammonia groups need to be removed from the blood.

edit: and i am sorry for not having a degree in nutrition and sports nutrition, so getting mixed up between what dextrose, etc, are can be quite easy.

 

[Raziaar]

Holy hell man. Have you been so brainwashed by these old diet studies and really, truely honestly believe carbohydrates are the only source of energy the brain can utilize? Ketones are a fantastic source of energy for the brain, from the process known as Ketosis

http://www.theomnivore.com/commonmythsaboutlowcarbdiets.html

Please... read... all of it. Some of you are remarkably deep in your ruts thinking that these old studies are somehow the truth, when there are NEW studies and factual basises proving exactly the opposite of what you're claiming.

Those of you who read through this entire article... really think on it, and come back posting your views that low-carbohydrate diets are bad... Then i'll respect your opinion that low-carbs are evil. But until then, stop going by the old studies and recent studies paid for by the big food companies to further propagate their low fat, SUPER HIGH sugar foods.

You're all so supposedly propoganda aware when it comes to political stuff... but don't mind being spoon fed this other stuff. Heh.

 

[Steve]

Look, I'm a soccer player, and if I don't eat bread or pasta or something leading up to a game, I just don't have a great deal of energy. I think the way to keep your carb consumption healthy is to just scale it to how active your lifestyle is.

 

[Raziaar]

Look, I'm a soccer player, and if I don't eat bread or pasta or something leading up to a game, I just don't have a great deal of energy. I think the way to keep your carb consumption healthy is to just scale it to how active your lifestyle is.

Look in that article I just posted.

The Masai are a warlike tribe residing in East Africa who for the last 10,000 years have existed as cattle-herding nomads. Their sustenance is derived from large amounts of high fat milk and meat, which may be supplemented by fresh cattle blood in the dry season. Thanks to their copious consumption of high fat animal foods, Masai males ingest a hefty 300g of mostly saturated fat on a daily basis. If the lipid hypothesis had any merit, the Masai should be riddled with obesity and CHD, but when Professor George Mann from Vanderbilt University visited the Masai in the 1960's he found a slim, robust population free of CHD. When given treadmill tests, several of the tribesmen achieved performances superior to those of Olympic champions. Autopsy examinations on deceased Masai males showed an almost complete absence of atheromas, the advanced atherosclerotic lesions implicated in coronary blockage. The Masai also recorded one of the lowest average cholesterol levels ever measured in any population (6-8). A few years later, another group of American researchers performed similar autopsy examinations on deceased Masai and confirmed "the paucity of atherosclerosis" documented by Mann (9).

These are people that eat relatively few carbs. Certainly far far far far less than any of you. Yet they no doubt have the energy and healthy capability to far surpass you in everything you do regarding fitness. And primarily what they eat is meat! Red meat! Read the article... it has all sorts of facts, and other things that I hope would help sway your view that you don't need carbs in your diet to stay extremely healthy.


Read that article... its fascinating evidence against your cause.

 

[PvtRyan]

Simple: **** healthy food, **** it all. I'm not gonna starve myself by eating like a ****ing rabbit. I want RED MEAT, FRIED FOOD, PIZZA. I don't want to eat HEALTHY, I want to eat TASTY, that's the reason I eat! If you start to notice you have trouble seeing your feet, exercise.

 

[Raziaar]

Simple: **** healthy food, **** it all. I'm not gonna starve myself by eating like a ****ing rabbit. I want RED MEAT, FRIED FOOD, PIZZA. I don't want to eat HEALTHY, I want to eat TASTY, that's the reason I eat! If you start to notice you have trouble seeing your feet, exercise.

You want red meat? You can have plenty... plenty of red meat on a low carb diet buddy... it contains no carbs.


My discussion here on carbs isn't really about 'weight management'. Its about health. If you don't care about being healthy, eat whatever the **** you want. But i'm telling you... there are all sorts of new studies out there that show that diets higher in carbohydrates are EXTREMELY unhealthy. Some people are just stubborn for change or to go out there and read all the facts surfacing every day.

 

[PvtRyan]

You want red meat? You can have plenty... plenty of red meat on a low carb diet buddy... it contains no carbs.

I know, but I'm against this whole 'healthy eating' bullshit, whether it's fats, protein or carbs. And sorry for the little rant, but I just read one of those magazines where they promote all this so called healthy stuff. FFS, if I spend an hour cooking that shit, I'd want it to be tasting good. And don't give me that 'healthy can be tasty to', because it CANT taste good. Don't tell me a salad tastes better than a greasy donut. It's a common fact of life, it's because Jebus HATES you.

</rant>

 

[Raziaar]

I know, but I'm against this whole 'healthy eating' bullshit, whether it's fats, protein or carbs. And sorry for the little rant, but I just read one of those magazines where they promote all this so called healthy stuff. FFS, if I spend an hour cooking that shit, I'd want it to be tasting good. And don't give me that 'healthy can be tasty to', because it CANT taste good. Don't tell me a salad tastes better than a greasy donut. It's a common fact of life, it's because Jebus HATES you.

</rant>

Live hard, die fast?

 

[PvtRyan]

Live hard, die fast?

Rather that than living to 90 and having the joyful memories of being allowed one dry cracker per day.

 

[PickledGecko]

Everything is important. Carbs are good, they are the best source of energy, even though other foods give you energy carbs are the best. Sugars should be kept low, and I do agree, a lot of people a conned into thinking a high sugar low fat diet is "good for you". Protein is important because it’s the only type of food that satisfies hunger, that’s why the Atkins works so well, most people eat high protein foods rather than high fat foods and therefore eat less. A small amount of fat in a meal is also important as there are many vitamins and other important stuff that can only be absorbed into the body when dissolved in fat.

 

[Steve]

Look in that article I just posted.

You know I can't read!!! ;(

Read that article... its fascinating evidence against your cause.

That is actually pretty cool. However, I don't plan on eating a steak before my next soccer game.

 

[kirovman]

Dr Atkins died from his own diet

I've known people on the Atkins diet and their breath smells like rabbits.

Also it's meant to be detrimental to your kidneys and liver by cutting out carbs.

Anyway I'm not complaining, I enjoy a good salad etc.

 

[ríomhaire]

I think carbs is short for carbohydrates :| . That's the only thing I think about carbs.

 

[kirovman]

I think carbs is short for carbohydrates :| . That's the only thing I think about carbs.

You are right.

Organic molecules containing Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen....

Meh Food Science is teh suck.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/nutrition/basics_carbos.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/nutrition/basics_fatsugar.shtml

 

[Razor]

You are right.

Complex organic molecules containing Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen....

Meh Food Science is teh suck.

There was a guy on the Discovery channel that would explain in detail the processes that goes through food when it is cooked in different ways, right down to the atoms, and gave info about all of the different additives and preservatives.

edit: the problem with me is that i do try to eat healthily, but when it gets to the point of measuring out exact amounts of carbs, proteins and fats that are in all the foods i eat, eating food that doesn't taste nice or being told that on a balanced diet, i can never eat a large chocolate cheese cake, that is the point to where i stick my nose up. I am a very active person, both mentally and physically, and i just don't want to go messing around my diet, which to me is quite healthy, to try out new diets which might be slightly better or a lot worse.

But Raziarr, you still didn't answer my question, how active are you in the average day? I have a 8 hour a day job where i am always on my feet, i play football 1 night a week and run 4 miles every other day. I am losing weight, eat a balanced and healthy diet. If you aren't as active as i am, try being as active as i am and see if your atkins diet still keeps you healthy and full of energy.