Live data from Hacker News

Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

nytimes.com

1–10 of 275 posts

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#2
When I lived alone it was easy. I simply didn't buy any at the grocery store and as such didn't eat any. It's nearly impossible, now living with my wife who adores pasta and everything potato based.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#3
post #2

When I lived alone it was easy. I simply didn't buy any at the grocery store and as such didn't eat any. It's nearly impossible, now living with my wife who adores pasta and everything potato based.

My mother is convinced if i dont eat carb heavy foods (rice, fruit) that I will die of some disorder or other. It is hard to stay on diet whenever I go home.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#7
I don't know if it's exciting advancements in food science or something else, but I used to be able to make a bag of chips last a month. Now I just can't buy them because they disappear within a day.

What's weird is I can eat carb-rich foods and get a very different result from what the researchers in this article found. It seems to have more to do with the composition of the meal than the exact nutritional content. A tuna sandwich or a pot pie dumped on a baked potato (both options are ~500 calories) fills me up to the point where I don't even get hungry at a normal meal time.

You'd expect either of those to leave me desperate for more carbs based on the usual low-carb diet sales pitch. I tried the low-carb lifestyle. It left me hungry and tired, no matter how carefully I followed all the good advice or how long I stuck with it.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#8

Is it proved that Carbs are harmful? Don't want to cut down on them only so that a study 10 years down the line lists out Carb-diet benefits just like Fat ones these days.

Its pretty well understood that a diet that is high in carbs and low in nutrients is generally unhealthy. Our bodies are totally capable of generating all of the glucose/ATP they need from a diet that is high in protein and fats and these diets tend to be more nutrient rich as fats and proteins (in general) are found in more complex foods.

Our bodies cannot, however, produce all of the nutrients we need from a diet that is high in carbs but deficient in other things like proteins.

And yes there is always a change that future work will require us to rework our current understanding, thats how science works after all.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#9

Is it proved that Carbs are harmful? Don't want to cut down on them only so that a study 10 years down the line lists out Carb-diet benefits just like Fat ones these days.

I think it's proven that carbs make you gain weight faster, at least.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#10
And none of this even goes into how much modern food is designed and engineered to be as addictive as possible. Every snack food is built practically from the molecule up to hit as many of the addiction-causing transmitters as possible, from the texture of the food, to the shape of the salt they use, to the size of the serving, all of it is designed to make you want more, perpetually, and as much more as possible.

The average consumer is not even remotely prepared in a fight against a food industry with thousands of PhD's working to make the food as addictive as possible, the fight isn't even remotely fair. And then we get mad at everyone who fails, and wonder why so many are so horribly obese.

Post reply on HN