To be confused about carb heavy diet?

[GreenestValley]

Just reading a thread on here about weight loss and diet. Many posters commenting that the Op in that thread has a very carb heavy diet.

I feel quite confused about it as I always thought carbs were an important part of a balanced diet and a source of energy. Obviously not too much white bread, white pasta etc, but from a personal perspective I have to have a fairly carb based diet or else I get hungry and end up snacking. And I’ve always had a normal weight.
I was also under the impression that the “low carb” diets of the early 2000s eg Atkins etc that were very popular, were kind of debunked now.
Am I missing something? Do carbs affect some people differently to others? Would welcome a bit of de mystifying here if anyone has expertise just for my own understanding!

[quote justanotherneighinparadise]@hamstersarse how are you measuring your body fat?[/quote]
Smart scales

I know they are not completely accurate but I have used the same measure the whole way through so at least it is consistently inaccurate

@hamstersarse

Dr Zoe Harcombe Dr David Unwin Prof Tim Noakes Dr Paul Mason Gary Taubes Stephen Phinney Ivor Cummins Dave Feldman Dr Eric Westman Prof Grant Schofield Gary Fung

All of these medics / scientists have researched low carb thoroughly. Some posters seem to dismiss anything on YouTube but lots of their lectures can be found on YouTube or Podcasts

Did you mean Dr Jason Fung, @hamstersarse?

I'd also add Dr John Briffa to that list (although he doesn't appear to be very active these days)

... and Dr Jeff Volek, who has been a very active researcher alongside Dr Phinney for many years now

... and Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, who is behind Diet Doctor

And, of course, Professor John Yudkin who was writing about sugar and low carbohydrate diets in the 50s, 60s and 70s. His book 'Pure, White and Deadly' was published in 1972. Unfortunately his views were so diametrically opposed to the nutritional advice of the time, he was pilloried by other scientists, and his career was destroyed.

interesting article about him here

@justanotherneighinparadise We're making the same point, but you're doing a better job of it than me! That's a much better way of explaining it.

Oh, and I'd also add Nina Teicholz to that list - not a medic, but a journalist who has written a supremely well-researched book, 'The Big Fat Surprise'. She's on YouTube as well as doing Ted Talks.

@BIWI

I did mean Jason Fung

It was late

*comparatively

There is another fantastic low carb doc called Andy Phung. He’s producing some brilliant data at the moment.

Thanks @justanotherneighinparadise - haven't come across him before!

it's more that if you lower carbs, you get less hungry, so you're much less likely to accidentally consume too much.

This. I think people do inherently/subconsciously understand about fat being more filling than carbs, but they can't see it, or don't want to.

If you put 4 chocolate digestives and a block of cheddar of equivalent calories (i.e. a pretty big chunk!) and asked people to indicate how long after eating they would be hungry again I'm sure they'd almost all say the cheese.

Plus I bet far fewer of them could actually eat that much cheese without really wanting to stop because they felt full, yet I expect most could happily munch through 4 biscuits if they were asked.

However when you ask them to accept that fat makes you feel more satisfied/full for longer and therefore less likely to snack/take in additional calories a short time later, they don't seem to be able to see the connection.

I'm sure they'd almost all say the cheese. ... left them fuller for longer! (posting and cooking, bad combo)

Take 3 - if you showed them the biscuits v the cheese, I'd bet that the vast majority would know that they would feel full at or before before they'd finished the cheese, but that the equivalent calories of chocolate biscuits wouldn't leave them as full, or for as long.

And let's not forget, it's not just about fat being more satiating - it's also about your hormonal balance.

When your blood sugars are stable, the three key hormones insulin, grehlin and leptin are also balanced - these hormones control your appetite and hunger levels. When they're balanced, you aren't hungry.

Hunger (at least in the Western world) isn't about having an empty stomach!

That biscuit vs cheese scenario has made me think about how this has left the door wide open for marketeers / advertisers of junk food to go for the 'snack' label.

"It doesn't fill you up, it's just a little something to take the edge off" is actually the messaging they use.

Damn them

Hunger (at least in the Western world) isn't about having an empty stomach!

So true. I realise this might not be the case for everyone, but sugary and processed carbs actively seem to make me hungrier than I was before eating them. I can go without breakfast and I'm really pretty hungry by midday. If I have a bowl of cereal or some toast and jam at 7:30 I feellike a snack by 9:30 and am ravenous and a bit shaky by about 10:30! No breakfast, or a bowl of nutty unsweetened muesli, or eggs etc and I'm fine.

Absolutely. It's also worth reading 'Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal', by Professor Terence Kealy who explains the scientific reason for this.

Right, that's making me think I should go back to the 16:8 fasting and skip breakfast then. Thanks for the link BIWI. It's good when you read advice that confirms what you've observed from your own experience. I only tend to find skipping breakfast hard for a couple of days, then after that I don't miss it at all.

This morning was the first day I was child free since lockdown (both children now at school full time). I had a coffee made with coconut milk at 7am and then spent a glorious morning exercising in the sunshine. Had lunch at 12.30pm. So I’d food fasted for 20 hours at that point and felt 👌

I don't eat many carbs now as I'm controlling my type 2 diabetes through diet.

Still haven't lost weight though, but my blood sugar, cholesterol and bp are perfect.

Well done on your health stats @Babysharkdoodoodood

That’s the main thing!

I’m sure the weight loss will follow. Your body may take a while to heal before it’s gonna let you drop the weight!

Thankyou for that link @BIWI
I never eat breakfast, get up early, have a cup of tea and run 10 miles before work, then eat a low carb lunch at 1pm so a 16 hour fast each day. Once you get used to fasting your body finds it easy.

Blimey @Jemenfouscompletement - if you really have that level of self discipline, I hope you are rewarded with the body of a Hollywood A lister. That is a LOT of work to stay slim.

That is a LOT of work to stay slim.

Not to minimise Jemenfous' efforts, but maybe they're not all in aid of staying slim or looking like an A-lister, but about health and wellbeing. And maybe it doesn't feel like work. Lots of people run because they enjoy it (I really miss it since injury niggles stopped me). And, like she says, skipping breakfast isn't hard work at all once you're used to it.

Cue Jemenfous coming back and saying "Nah it's all about the beach body!"

I wish I loved running. I've tried, but I just don't like it. I never get the so-called 'runner's high'.

it's more that if you lower carbs, you get less hungry, so you're much less likely to accidentally consume too much
Not the case for me at all. As OP, carbs fill me up, high protein meals don't at all.

The only 'diet' that works for me to maintain my weight is fasting. Always had.