The Truth About Carbohydrates
Original Poster: Ironjim
Forum: Weight Loss
Posted On: 23-03-2004, 22:54
Orginal Post: Ironjim: From www.jamesfit.com
There are different theories about carbohydrates (carbs, for short) out today. Many believe that they'll make you fat. These are usually the same people that follow the famous Atkins Diet and diets like it. Then there are the people who say that carbs should not be neglected from your daily diet because are body needs whole grains, and that we should have a low fat intake. Well, in this article, I'm going to give you the undisputed facts about carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are your body's preferred source of fuel. Like protein, they have 4 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram. Carbohydrates are actually a chemical composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are different types of carbohydrates. However, for the sake of not getting too far into the scientific mumbo jumbo, lets stick to the two most basic types. Simple carbohydrates, and complex carbohydrates.
Simple carbs are the ones that usually contain the most sugar, and raise your insulin levels high. Examples of these types of carbohydrates are honey, table sugar (sucrose), fruit, etc. Complex carbs are the ones that burn slower in your body and last longer. Examples of these types of carbs are wheat, rye, pumpernickel, and multigrain bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.
When you eat too many carbohydrates, especially simple carbs, it raises your insulin levels very high. This can result in what is known as "insulin spillover," which can further lead to diabetes. Your body then stores the excess carbs as fat if they are not burned off.
Then there is a special type of carb called fiber. Some great sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. By the way, I highly recommend eating a lot of grean vegetables, as they are usually lower in calories and contain lots of fiber. Eating lots of fiber also helps to fill you up.
When you severely restrict your carbs (say about a max of 20 grams per day) as in the Atkins Diet, your body can't use carbohydrates anymore as fuel. Your body then uses fat to burn fat. This fat-burning state is called ketosis.
In conclusion, carbohydrates do not make you fat. Eating too many carbohydrates is what causes one to gain fat. This is the same as anything. If you overeat on protein, you can get fat, and the same goes for fat. The body actually works better with a balance of protein and carbohydrates, with some good fats throughout the day.
Yours truly,
James Hallmark
www.jamesfit.com
Post: Umy:
nice article bro, pretty interesting.>
Post: Ironjim:
Thanks Umy :D
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www.jamesfit.com>
Post: superjim:
Yeah, I never really trusted that Dr. Atkins... I seem to remember hearing that he died of a heart attack or something. What I usually try and do is excercise and not eat alot of fat, thats my diet plan. Also can you give some specific examples of foods that have fiber, from those stupid cerial commercials I understand that fiber is in that particular brand of cerial, wood chips, and lettuce I think...... Thanks in advance...>
Post: NeverMan:
Jim, your article lacks entirely too much information to be actually informative. Ignorance should not be spread, no offense, but you seem very narrow minded and ignorant on the topic at hand. You really need to do more research before you try and educate others, this is how ignorance spreads.
It's not that you said anything entirely untruthful in your post, however, you left out A LOT OF INFORMATION, which is similar to paraphrasing, which is why the media is so screwed up.
If you are going to write an article on diets, please be more informative, concise, and a little less bias. Thanks.>
Post: Ironjim:
NeverMan, my article is not biased in the least. I'm assuming you mean that I favor carbs in the diet. I'm simply stated that carbs do not make you fat. That is not being biased in any way, shape, or form. That is simply telling the truth, they don't. Sure, they may not be for everyone due to wheat allergies for example, but those who don't have allergies to wheat and are hard training athletes like martial artists need carbs. Especially the amount of posts on this forum where people say how they need to build muscle. You need carbs to fill up your glycogen stores in order to build muscle. I'm not saying I'm Mr. Knowitall, but I do know what I'm talking about. As a matter of fact, your post is what is lacking. You tell me that I'm ignorant on the subject and that I'm lacking way too much info in the article, yet you don't tell me WHAT is lacking. I've also stated in the article that I try to stay away from the scientific "mumbo jumbo," so that people who are not educated on the subject can get a better grasp of the subject before they do further research, that way they have a foundation of knowledge to build on. Please, think before you post. Thank you.
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www.jamesfit.com>
Post: Ironjim:
Hello Superjim,
Some great sources of fiber are:
wheat bread
rye bread
pumpernickel bread
Wheaties cereal
oatmeal
green leafy vegetables
fiber supplements such as Metamucil
legumes (peas, lentils, etc.)
fruits
brown rice
whole wheat pasta
Thanks for you question 8)
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www.jamesfit.com>
Post: Ironjim:
I forgot to add, I also want to make it clear that although I don't favor the Atkins Diet, I'm not against it at all. While I don't believe that it's good for athletes, I think it's fantastic for sedentary people wishing to lose weight. There are ways to do Atkins so that it is healthy as well. You have to increase your fat intake on Atkins, but you can increase good fats rather than bad fats while on the diet. As a matter of fact, I read somewhere that people on the Atkins Diet actually decreased their cholesterol levels. Dr. Atkins was a great contributor to the health industry, and will be remembered...
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www.jamesfit.com>
Post: NeverMan:
[quote=Ironjim NeverMan, my article is not biased in the least. I'm assuming you mean that I favor carbs in the diet. I'm simply stated that carbs do not make you fat. That is not being biased in any way, shape, or form. That is simply telling the truth, they don't. Sure, they may not be for everyone due to wheat allergies for example, but those who don't have allergies to wheat and are hard training athletes like martial artists need carbs. Especially the amount of posts on this forum where people say how they need to build muscle. You need carbs to fill up your glycogen stores in order to build muscle. I'm not saying I'm Mr. Knowitall, but I do know what I'm talking about. As a matter of fact, your post is what is lacking. You tell me that I'm ignorant on the subject and that I'm lacking way too much info in the article, yet you don't tell me WHAT is lacking. I've also stated in the article that I try to stay away from the scientific "mumbo jumbo," so that people who are not educated on the subject can get a better grasp of the subject before they do further research, that way they have a foundation of knowledge to build on. Please, think before you post. Thank you.
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www.jamesfit.com[/quote
If I stated what was "lacking" I would just write a book instead. A paragraph does not, IMO, sum up "the truth about carbs". Many different books and many different educated people have many differing views on carbs, proteins, and fats. The approved FDA diet is simply out dated and unhealthy.
For starters you stated that the "Atkins" diet has you taken in less than 20g carbs der day, this is true, but only for the first 14 days, then you increase your carb intake by 5g each week until you get to a comfortable level of carbs for yourself (130-160g on average). However, these carbs should not include Simple Carbs (sugars mostly).
Anyone who refers to science as "mumbo jumbo" scares me.
Yes carbs are important in your diet, however, if you are trying to lose weight, ketosis is a great option for a short time fix. Sugars should be avoided at all costs.
It is not impossible to gain muscle while avoiding carbs, I have been doing it for a long time. I currently lift wieghts and train on bags and pads and I take in less than 40g carbs a day.
I didn't mean to offend you, sorry. Just thought that it was unwise to post a little something about a huge topic.
ps. As far as the ignorance of people against low carb diets, a lot of people are under the impression that you eat a lot of fat on these diets (like a lot of bacon, cheese, etc,etc - this is not true) and also then they base their facts against the FDA recommended daily pyramid (blah blah blah) studies which shows what a high protein, high fat, high carb diet does to a person, however hardly any studies have been done by the FDA showing what a high protein, moderate fat, low carb diet does to people.
Ultimately, the bottom line is burn more calories than you eat.>
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