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Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

nytimes.com

211–220 of 275 posts

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#211
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cutting carbs is difficult for most people because of two things: 1) withdrawal from the sugar-high that you get from eating high-glycemic-load food (like bagels / pasta), and 2) your body needs a fair amount of carbs every day Research the ketogenic diet which is Starting with a low carb diet and transitioning to keto can be done without a lot of pain and I've eaten less than ~30 carbs a day for 6 months with no los…

Would this diet be suitable for a person who does a significant amount of endurance exercise? (E.g. ~1 hour of running per day)

It's almost outright recommended by people like Maffetone.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#212

Preface: Over the past 12+ years I have spent a fair amount of time learning about foods/diets, at first to try to get rid of my acne (which I was successful at), but then later to stay lean and stop any diet-related dips in my mood (which I was also successful at). What I want to say: Cutting carbs is difficult for most people because of two things: 1) withdrawal from the sugar-high that you get from eating high-gly…

Would you please what did you do to get rid of the acne? My GF has acne too. Various face creams or treatments from dermatologists didn't work.

She tried cutting lactose (milk, cheese), which had a good, but small effect. Would like to try anything else before laser treatments.

Thank you!

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#213
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[The] statements you make above don't actually address the claims he made. While a certain diet/lifestyle may be controversial, the specific claims he made about carbs are well established by medical science, and are not controversial.

Err, they said this > And carb deficiency is not associated with any impairment or disease. This is an entirely false statement. Different people have different reactions to carbohydrate restriction based on genetics, past diet, medical issues, environmental factors, and a boatload of other well understood reasons.

Can you list anything specifically that anyone is likely to encounter? Your comments are rather vague.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#214

Being an Indian, I was raised on a diet with the major macro-nutrient as carbohydrates (wheat and rice), it was hard to switch to a low carb ketogenic diet. But once I switched the health benefits were tremendous - 30lb weight loss and prediabetic symptoms gone. Also, ketogenic doesn't mean you completely give up on carbs. I take about 2-3 cups of green vegetables everyday. These veggies have very low amount of carbs…

Curious - what does a low-carb Indian/vegetarian diet look like? It seems like one simply can't avoid rice and roti .

It's hard. You can keep curries and meat appetizers. Although you'd need to add greens which most indians don't consume regularly like kale, broccolli, spinach etc

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#215
Most of the lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart ailments are a manifestation of carbohydrate intolerance.

However, everyone has different tolerance to carbs so the pattern is not uniform, but as recent studies and data shows, most of us are not that lucky

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#217

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. Th…

When I was in graduate school many foreign students noted that American food was too sweet and put in extra effort to find food that more resembled that from their home countries. This seems at odds with humans "naturally" loving sweetness-everywhere. The other thing that makes the "carbs are fattening us" story seem incomplete (though not necessarily wrong ) is that a generation or two ago obesity rates were much lo…

The amount of sugar in food seems to be much higher in US. My wife, when she came to US, said that everything tasted too sweet (and salty), compared to the food where she came from. Even cakes and ice-creams are sweeter than those that she is accustomed to, to the point where she can't eat them.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#218
post #84
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is a Type-1 diabetic and I'm fairly confident that there's no such thing as a "zero carb" diet. She's had several endocrinologists tell her that she needs to eat carbohydrates. This is definitely something we need to survive! More importantly, there are naturally occurring carbohydrates in most unprocessed foods (greens, vegetables, beans, etc). Obviously "refined carbohydrates" are different — that's the sug…

I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic and went on keto with almost no carbs for 5 months and am now borderline not diabetic / pre diabetic.

Congratulations on your hard work! Head on over and join fellow Type 2's at the Diabetes Daily site. They were the community whose discussions gave me the tools to bring my HbA1c to 5.7 for 2.5 years running. Without any medication (I was on Metformin and statins when initially diagnosed).

If you refuse to consign yourself to the fate that most MD's in the US describe for their diabetic patients (mine told me, "there's nothing you can do to improve it, other than some exercise, take the medicine, annual check ups, and then hope there aren't complications as you age"...I got another general practitioner), then self-support groups like this are the only way to go to find what works for you, IMHO. The Reddit group is also helpful when starting out, but I found them not as hardcore about control as I wanted, which I found in some members of the DD group.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#219
post #176
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My original source for those numbers is from the book Protein Power https://www.amazon.com/Protein-Power-High-Protein-Carbohydra...

I don't have the book but maybe you could provide me with some references that were used to write this? I'd like to look into it myself. Also "An effective, medically sound diet that lets you eat bacon, eggs, steak, even cheese? It's true!" Is just wrong. Medically sound my ass. Of course you're going to get people to buy a book that says that you can eat what you want (E.g. lots of animal fats), doesn't make it the…

Then check out Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, and an older copy at that. Keto diets are roughly equivalent to Atkins' "induction phase", and Atkins followers have known for decades that you can stay on induction (against the advice in the book) for as long as you like. NDR addresses your concerns on processed meats directly and does suggest a wider variety of foods.

Re: Why Cutting Carbs Is So Tough

#220

I cut carbs and have not looked back. I have even developed a dislike of them. Our stomachs adjust to what we eat and after a while, eating two slices of pizza just doesn't sit well. I found always going for the lesser of two evils was a big help. Sweet potato over regular potatoes. Vanilla Haagen-Daz over Ben and Jerry's (has lower sugar and more fat). whole wheat wrap with some sort of high fat salad (e.g. chicken…

Per 100 grams, there is little difference between potatoes and sweet potatoes. The preparation and condiments will make a larger difference than the tuber.

This is pretty wrong. Take a look:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/regular-vs-sweet-potatoes

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