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One thing I've always found amusing about the whole low-carbohydrate thing is that the vast majority of the "high carbohydrate" foods people talk about are foods that are also high in fat. The carbohydrates get blamed, yet the foods are usually 40% or more of fat. For example, your typical french fry or potato chip is 50% carbohydrate and 50% fat. Bread, in itself, is high carbohydrate but people put butter on it. With one tablespoon of butter a piece of big toast is around 50% carbohydrate/50% fat. Same goes with most sweats.
Why focus on the carbohydrates and not the fat? Of course...its the combination of refined carbohydrates with fats that is so problematic. The fats promote insulin resistance and then the refined carbohydrates flood the body with glucose. As such limiting carbohydrates will short-circuit this relationship, but it does it at a high cost. Alternatively one can remove the refined carbohydrates and limit fats and this is the sort of eating pattern that is recommended by all major health organizations, namely, a diet rich in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits,, nuts and some lean meats and fish if desired.
Wait, you need a balance of carbs, fats and protein to function.
Not exactly. The ONLY dietary macros we need are fats and proteins. Dietary carbohydrates are not essential to human function as the body can synthesize what it needs (gluconeogenesis by the liver).
If we consume no fat or protein, we do not get the essential fats and amino acids absolutely required to survive. There are no essential carbohydrates. If you never ate another carbohydrate but consumed adequate fat and protein you would receive all the nutrition required for human functioning.
Some people feel better when consuming carbohydrates, but it is likely more a combination of a physiological response, i.e. not fully adapted to using fat as a primary energy source, and the emotional/psychological pleasure of eating certain foods. Your body can take it or leave it.
Because the science seems to show that carbohydrates, particularly the refined and processed variety, have a pronounced role in the metabolic issues leading to obesity and disease due to their effects on hormone regulation and fat storage. Yes, some individuals are more prone to this than others.
With the exception of synthetic trans fats (found only in processed food products), dietary fat is not harmful to humans when consumed as part of a balanced diet. In fact, our brains and bodies thrive on it.
One thing I've always found amusing about the whole low-carbohydrate thing is that the vast majority of the "high carbohydrate" foods people talk about are foods that are also high in fat. The carbohydrates get blamed, yet the foods are usually 40% or more of fat. For example, your typical french fry or potato chip is 50% carbohydrate and 50% fat. Bread, in itself, is high carbohydrate but people put butter on it. With one tablespoon of butter a piece of big toast is around 50% carbohydrate/50% fat. Same goes with most sweats.
Why focus on the carbohydrates and not the fat? Of course...its the combination of refined carbohydrates with fats that is so problematic. The fats promote insulin resistance and then the refined carbohydrates flood the body with glucose. As such limiting carbohydrates will short-circuit this relationship, but it does it at a high cost. Alternatively one can remove the refined carbohydrates and limit fats and this is the sort of eating pattern that is recommended by all major health organizations, namely, a diet rich in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits,, nuts and some lean meats and fish if desired.
Because fats, especially saturated fats, keep many people full and functioning with very little need for carbohydrate, and for those same people, carbohydrates with very little fat just make them sluggish and ravenous. For some -- I am one of them -- the focus on the carbohydrates is so I'm lean, satiated, and energetic.
I also think it's obvious to most thinking people -- you are an exception, evidently -- that the "eating pattern that is recommend by all major health organizations" is not one-size-fits-all or anything close.
I have no interest in carbs still...no thoughts of bread or pizza or pasta...
When I do consider it my body remembers the heaviness of
It all...beer doesn't pull me either.
I am really liking this new way of eating.
And my intestines are just fine and regular, also.
If you never ate another carbohydrate but consumed adequate fat and protein you would receive all the nutrition required for human functioning.
At least in the short-term, but we have no idea what the long-term consequences of a carbohydrate free diet would be. But just because the body can convert the minimal amount of carbohydrate required to keep the body functioning doesn't mean that this is in any sense an optimal state for the body.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthYorkEd
Because the science seems to show that carbohydrates, particularly the refined and processed variety, have a pronounced role in the metabolic issues leading to obesity and disease due to their effects on hormone regulation and fat storage.
Science has not shown that carbohydrates in general have a pronounced role in metabolic issues, in fact, whole grain, legume and fruit consumption are associated with lower rates of diabetes and lower BMIs. On the other hand refined sugars and starches seem to be problematic, but can't extend these conclusions to carbohydrates in general. This would be like concluding that all fats promote heart disease because trans-fats have been shown to increase your risk of developing heart disease.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribecavsbrowns
Because fats, especially saturated fats, keep many people full and functioning with very little need for carbohydrate, and for those same people, carbohydrates with very little fat just make them sluggish and ravenous.
Fats are very calorie dense, so of course they will keep people full. As for as satiation though, while refined sugars and starches may promote appetite the opposite is true for carbohydrates from fiber rich whole foods. Legumes, for example, are known to reduce appetite for many hours after they are consumed.
As I mentioned in my last post, almost all the foods people associate with "carbs" are actually high in fat as well yet the carbohydrates are being singled out as the issue.
In any case, low-carbohydrates diet may be effective therapeutic diets for people with particular diseases, but the recommends for people without such diseases is to consume a diet rich in whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts and some lean meat/fish if desired.
That seems to be the diet of the hunter gatherers we came from.
I learned a lot about that from the Epilogue at the end of
"Protein Power"
Which diet are you referring to? I don't think any diet being discussed here is that similar to a hunter gatherer diet. Hunter gather diets are, in general, based on a combination of starchy vegetables, fruits, vegetables and meats. By no means low-carbohydrate, but also more meat than what is recommended (by medical health organizations) today.
I forgot whole grain was not in the hunter gatherer diet. ...
Fish, fat, meat, berries, fruit, nuts,..nothing farmed, in other words...
before farming.
That's what I remem from Protein Power...but I can find a book if I'm off.
So, if I feel low energy sometimes....should I eat something with fat
or cook something using more olive oil?
I didn't know what was causing it, so I would eat, take my vitamins and potassium..it would eventually pass.
Thanx for your help.
Olive oil is ok for cooking, but coconut oil or butter are better. The latter are more heat stable, and olive oil has some beneficial components that heat can destroy.
Coconut oil can be eaten by the spoonful for an energy boost.
Grass fed butter is what we want. High in vitamin K2, which is key for a proper operating calcium cycle.
Dr Price isolated vitamin K2 benefits in his research of dental decay.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn
I forgot whole grain was not in the hunter gatherer diet. ...
Fish, fat, meat, berries, fruit, nuts,..nothing farmed, in other words...
before farming.
That's what I remem from Protein Power...but I can find a book if I'm off.
Seeds and nuts are in, grains are out.
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