High Carb Diets Healthier?

I have been an advocate and a user of Dr. Atkins diet for many years. I have found it to be very successful, and my blood test (twice a year) and stress test have proven it to be safe.

Different strokes for different folks goes for dietary plans too. I know people who do quite well with low-carb diets, both for weight loss (not so sure about _fat_ loss though) & blood glucose control for diabetes or insulin resistance. I personally can't do low-carb, but rather do moderate-carb, just slightly less protein than carbs per day; & I choose my carbs from those low or moderate on the glycemic index. Low GI eating, BTW, immediately resulted in the dissappearance of my long-term problem with heartburn/acid reflux. And my blood glucose is under good control. (I'm prediabetic working to prevent becoming fully diabetic.)

The good diet was study was a slow carb diet.
I really think it depends on what carbs and how much.
Having oatmeal is not the same as eating a candy bar but both have carbs just like having fresh salmon is not the same thing as bacon though they are both proteins.
It’s okay to have a little bacon and candy bars but it’s about balance.
Many low and slow carb diets now recognize that oatmeal is a good carb for most people. Some people have food allergies but you may be allergic to anything.

It’s also harder to maintain on lower carb diets, not imposable just a lot harder. I couldn’t give up my oatmeal. Some people low carb will only be bacon, butter, eggs, deli meat and fat.

In the end it remains a personal preference. Some people, for whatever reason, cannot eat low carb diets. Others may need more carbs to survive. Find a diet that works for you, not one that some marketer says is the best.

I personally couldn't do a low-carb diet because if I don't get enough carbs, I get light headed when I run. But I don't eat pasta and white bread for my carbs...oats, whole wheat bread, and fruits and veggies are where I usually get more of my carbs from. It really does depend on your lifestyle and personal preferences though. There are many healthy foods out there and I'm sure whether you go Low GI/high protein/low carb/whatever, there is a healthy way to do it and an unhealthy way to do it.

Mel, hate to break to you, but you are doing a verison of a low carb diet. If you are moderating your carbs in anyway be it GI, or GL, you are doing a low carb diet. If you are simply eating less calories - you are eating less carbs.

There are massive scientifically proven, and experientially proven, benfits to a Moderated Carbohydrate diet (Low Carb).

Keep this in mind - carbohydrates are extremely, extremely addictive. You cannot just go off your carbs without expecting prolonged withdrawal symptoms - psychological & physical that go on for months.

Low Carb works for everyone - there is not biologically unique individuals that need a high level of glucose in their blood stream.

But people choose not to do these diets, because they cannot handle the withdrawla symptoms (Which are temporary).

Mr Green, I lost 140 lbs on 25 carb per day. i have maintained for a year, and i am pretty sure part of that was fat.

I'm finding that what works best for me is taking a moderate approach: allowing myself a little chocolate here and there, lots of raw fruits and veggies, some cooked veggies, lots of chicken, turkey and fish, and whole wheat bread, wheat pasta and brown rice. I guess it's considered low-carb because I tend to stay away from white breads and such, and don't eat the wheat more than a few times a week. Most of the carbs I get are from fruit and vegetables -- oh and the chocolate :) I do believe that different approaches work better for some than others, simply because of our preferences. Some diet plans may work faster than others, but if I'm going to change my eating style and keep it that way for the rest of my life, it needs to be something I enjoy and can live with, not just for a few months.

Tess - Congratulations!

Woohoo!

Ah, another "study".

I love these things. The funny thing is that when you read everything, the high GI diet was coupled with a high protein intake, effectively lowering the GI of the total meal and blunting any spikes in insulin.

I dislike the way these "studies" are titled because they are misleading and dangerous for the average consumer looking for answers.

Oh, and by the way, low carb diets do not "work" for everyone. People that are training to improve levels of endurance, strength, or speed will find subpar results on a low carb diet.

I won't go into whether I agree or disagree with low carb diets. As far as "weight loss" is concerned, they work. However, if the goal is "fat loss", I can think of other ways that are much more effective in the short and long term.

Furthermore, I am growing increasingly tired of all of these "weight loss" studies that don't tell the whole picture. In other words, break out the body fat measuring devices and actually document WHAT the person is losing.

All researchers should have the finances to afford the equipment that will tell you EXACTLY how much body fat, muscle, and water a person is losing due to a particular diet and/or exercise plan.

Stepping on a scale to measure progress is absolutely ludacris in this day and age. Plus, if the average consumer could see that a particular diet only netted 2 lbs of body fat loss out of 10 lbs of total weight loss (which happens much more than people would like to admit), they might decide that the "plan" isn't worth it.

Eating the right carbohydrates, protein, and fats I believe to be the key for success. Going on a high carb or high protein is always temporarily and is not a long lasting thing.

I don't believe it.A human needs all kinds of food-sugar,protein,carb,fat.The important thing is to eat enough.

I have to disagree with lowcarbdave: Low-carb diets are not for everyone.

Science and biology proves that the body NEEDS carbs for energy. Any athlete or active person needs carbohydrates to fuel their workouts. Runners, joggers, martial artists, boxers, tennis players--ask any of the top players in their respective fields, and you'll find the all eat a high-carb diet.

Moreover, high-carb does not equal weight gain, as proponents would have you believe. Take Scott Jurek and Brendan Brazier, for example. Both are whip-thin, winners of professional races (an ultra-marathon and triathlon, respectively), and vegan. Both rely on foods like oatmeal, rice, potatoes and beans when they're training and racing.

Sure... low-carb may lead to some weight loss for some folks. But it does not work--nor is it healthy--for everyone.

Eating a very low carb diet will of course make you lose WEIGHT, but not necessarily fat right away. What happens initially is that your body, being deficient in the carbs it usually gets to keep your blood glucose levels up, will go through glycolysis to break down any available stored glycogen in the body. Your body stores glycogen in your muscles and your liver and it has to be bound with a lot of water so that when it needs to be used, it has that water there to complete the reaction. So you use up the glycogen and then the water associated with it goes away. That's why you'll lose a bunch of "weight" right away when you go low carb and why you magically "gain" it all back when you eat a carb rich food. When you eat carbs, you'll store them back as glycogen and you'll retain the water that goes with the glycogen.

And eating a high carb diet doesn't make you gain weight, but it's more based on your lifestyle I think. Marathoners and triathletes and bikers like Lance Armstrong are very athletic. When you train a lot, your muscles become really efficient at using the stored glycogen in them as fuel (which is why athletes need carbs, to replenish those stores) and eventually, your body becomes averse to storing extra energy as fat. I can vouch from experience on this one. I have had numerous issues with trying to put ON fat (for having kids) but my body just has gotten so used to storing energy as glycogen that the only way for me to put on fat would be to stop running for a while and give my body a chance to convert the glycogen to fat. I don't think it would matter a whole lot what I ate, as long as more calories went in than out.

From an evolutiionary standpoint, we aren't much different than our ancestors, the cave men and women, who thrived on meat, and what little nuts, berries, tubors, etc. they could find. There is enough evidence that shows utilizing fat as the main energy source may be the natural state. In addition, as we ate meat, we fed our brains allowing us to evolve into modern man. We cut back on carbs and our guts shrank.

Now that we learned to farm, our diets changed and we now depend on too many carbs and supersized fruits and vegetables with lots of sugar.

We are genetically similar to early man, and stuffing our faces with too many carbs just ain't right.
Plus, eating fewer carbs produces less methane gas, making it more pleasant to be in my vicinity. I feel like I'm making a strong environmental statement, both personally and globally.

Well, I think that a "moderation" diet could be better, getting the full spectrum of nutrients: Complete balanced fats, complete proteins, and a moderate amount of low GI carbs.

So, you can have your lobster and butter and eat it too.

However, you may think that you can eat anything in moderation, well, there ARE exceptions. Fried foods, pasteries, sugary drinks, artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated oils are completly forbidden.

While the top athletes may or may not being a low carb diet, I think the number of other athletes (myself included) have proven you can certainly do low carb while working out, running, whatever. I know a number of marathoners who are Atkins followers, and run 30-50 miles per week.

Low Carb may not be everyone anymore than minivans, chemotherapy, or German Shepards are, but that does not eliminate the health benefits that many have seen doing low carb. The body does not need ingested glucose for any bodily function. It can convert protein into those function that require glucose, and can certainly convert the ingested fat or fat stores for energy and ATP production.

I read an article that says although low carb diets can make you loose weight fast, it's one of the reasons why so many of us suffer from depression. High carb, low fat diets along with exercise and better sleeping patterns would probably benefit us more on the whole. Seems to me that many of us (myself included unitl recently) always look for what seems to be the easier way out. Don't athletes have high carb diets? We try to solve one problem (ie wieghtloss) but forget that our actions can have a domino effect. I'm going to try this high carb, low fat diet. Carbs increase serotonin which makes a happier person, too much sleep is also a reason to gain weight and be depressed. Makes sense to me Any comments are welcomed. Best Regards to all. Check out this article http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/2004nl/040300pudepression.htm

Tara,

"Don't athletes have high carb diets?"

Those that come from the old school still do, but it is slowly changing. Top athletes follow a highly specialized nutritional program, well, most of them do. If you look at the actual design of such a program, one thing immediately stands out – they are not low or high carb. They cycle through various phases.

Boy do I hate low carb diets! I folled my diet (or lifestye change as people call it. XP) I didn't cheat watched my calores too kept my carbs at 20gms or less.

1 week later i'm 15 pounds HEAVER. *sobs* Low carb diets need to DIE.
Never ever again.

Take note that the glycemic index is an almost meaningless measure. The idea is right, but there are some major problems. First of all, the glycemic index is tested in a starved state. Next, the foods that they test are tested in isolation. So, take a rice cake. Depending on what kind it is, it can have a glycemic index over 80. However, if you spread some peanut butter on it, the number falls drastically.

If you're eating reasonably often and/or not eating the carbs in isolation, the glycemic index starts to mean less and less. In general, just eat fruits, vegetables, and starches that are as close to their natural state as possible. Processing is what you should be avoiding, not high glycemic index.

Strictly speaking, the body does not use glycogen to increase its fat stores. Once glycogen has formed, it is exclusively used to fuel the muscle. The only time glycogen is released from the muscle is when the blood sugar level drops. Glycogen is then converted back to glucose, it re-enters the blood stream, and used by the brain as fuel. Under these circumstances it is not converted into fat as the insulin levels are low.

You can't have too much glycogen. What you mean is that when glucose enter the blood stream (from food, not glycogen) then insulin is produced to ensure that the blood sugar level is not too high (the brain is really sensitive). Insulin works by putting this extra glucose into cells, BOTH muscle and fat cells.

So much for theory. It is not proven that foods that elicits a fast insulin response are more fattening than those that elicits a slow release. If your glycogen stores are full, it is likely you will push the glucose into the muscle and fat cells, regardless of GI. Once glucose is in the blood stream, GI is no longer relevant.

Personally my view is that low GI foods are typically fibrous and as such fill you up more, compared to dense highly processed foods. The result is that you eat less of these kinds of foods. This is why they are less fattening .

Glucagon (not glycogen!) is a complex hormone. Its primary purpose (in the context of this discussion) is to convert free fatty acids (FFA) into ketone bodies. This happens when the blood glucose level drops to very low levels (and cannot be refilled from glycogen). The brain is capable of using ketone bodies as energy instead of glucose. This itself is not a catabolic process. The catabolic process is when the glycogen is the muscles are used up and not replenished. Glucagon actually prevents muscle breakdown. This is the reason why keto diets are so popular with bodybuilders .