To think low carb is just another faddy diet?

[trilobiterevival]

(And it works for some people, much the same as other diets. We know this. And some people are sensitive to carbs, so I am not including them in this AIBU).

But I think most naturally slim/fit people eat carbs. They just don't gorge on them.
Many who go low carb began quite overweight and were probably eating large portions before. Changing their diet and becoming more mindful is likely the reason for weight loss, not the total annihilation of all carbs.
It's all a bit evangelical isn't it?

Plenty cultures enjoy rice, bread and pasta. But I have seen these foods described on MN as.... and I quote.... "nasties'. What utter, utter tripe. There is a huge difference between a serving of wholegrain rice and a sugar festooned donut!

There are healthier carbs than others, like most foods, but it is very easy to locate bread made with only a few ingredients, similarly to what you could make at home. The excuse that all bread is full of sugar and oil is a cop out IMO.

Most people I know who are slim and healthy eat bread or pasta, or both. It isn't the work of satan. It is quite easy to incorporate healthy carbs into one's diet, whether daily or weekly and stay healthy and slim. I wonder if those who claim they can't eat carbs or else they gain a ton of weight immediately are not able to them it in moderation, so it's easier for them to just quit.

For the record I don't favour low fat diets either, I also believe that fat is good for us.

Unless you have a health related issue that requires you to reduce carbs, then I think YABU!

I'm 8 stone 12 at 5' 4" after a two stone weight loss. 52 and post menopause. No belly fat. Fit as a fiddle. I eat carbs at every meal and plenty of them. I don't eat processed food and am vegan, but eat bread, rice, pasta as I wish. I watch my calories but find it makes zero difference where they come from, and carbs give me energy. I've seen a fair few diet fads come and go, always backed up by 'science', but never found any that made the slightest difference. The only thing that's ever impacted my weight is calories in/out.

It seems one of those weird mumsnet things where anything with carbs is considered awful for you. See a recent thread on cereal for example. Where even a cereal like weetabix is considered "junk".

I think mumsnet is not a great place for diet advice generally, there seems to be a lot of odd attitudes to healthy foods like fruit and wholegrains on here.

I can only share anecdotal experience that bread and pasta make me put loads of weight on, since the age of around 36. Prior to that I could eat anything and stay slim.

Carbs are not evil!

I don't eat many high carb food. Pasta, rice, pastry etc are bland and boring. I'd much rather eat veg. The high GI food make me feel uncomfortable and me give sugar spikes and false hunger.

I'm 47 and I've lost quite a few stones over the last couple of years and have always eaten carbs, pretty much at every meal, they aren't the devil.

People with eating disorders are advised not to go on low carb diets. I never had an ED, but needed to lose some weight, so followed the low carb diet recommended here on MN.

I developed severe anorexia, losing half my bodyweight in a year, which then led to self harm, anxiety, depression and a suicide attempt and ultimately lost me my job. I have now more than put the weight back on, and engage in severe bulimia and binge eating.

I appreciate I am an extreme example and may have had a propensity for extreme behaviour before and many people follow the diet very successfully with no I’ll effects. And it was my choice as an adult to go on this diet, so no one is to blame except me.

But yes, I do think that following any diet that almost cuts out a food group completely is faddy, inadvisable and ultimately doomed to fail.

I am aware that this is just my experience. The low carb diet have ruined my life but it needn’t destroy anyone else’s.

Of course it is. There are no miracle solutions to weight loss and all weight-loss diets are faddy.

Cue lots and lots of defence for low carb tho plus a smattering of competitive undereating.

I don't believe in any diet that is unsustainable. And for me, cutting one food group, like carbs, is unsustainable.

But yes, I do think that following any diet that almost cuts out a food group completely is faddy, inadvisable and ultimately doomed to fail.

This.

• ill effects

I agree. Nothing wrong with rice, bread, pasta, potatoes etc eaten in proportion as part of a balanced diet. I eat these things daily and am slim (size 8), I don't have massive portions. Carbs are completely. It's nuts that some people shiver in horror at me having a small portion of pasta or rice with my tofu!

I'll also say this: I had a lot of success with the original Atkins in the late 90's. They can be very effective.
The problem is sustainability. I've found it easier to be appropriately medicated for metabolic issues and eat according to calories in/calories out than it would be to avoid carbs forever.

This is why slimming world has been such a revelation for me. I’ve suffered for years with eating disorders and tried every diet going.
slimming world is the only plan I’ve followed where I don’t have to cut anything out. It’s just made me a lot more mindful of what I choose to eat. I’m still enjoying all the food I love, but in different forms or different quantities. It’s still early days but I’ve lost 7.5 pounds so far in just 2 weeks!

Yes! I am slim. I eat rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. I just don't eat mountains. I also try to make sure at least a third of my meal is veg.

I agree making carbs a 'bad food' is disordered thinking.

Bread I do have to avoid because it makes me hungrier but only white bread. I could easily get through a loaf of thick white bread, toasted with butter and jam! Yet only a slice or two of wholemeal and I'm done.

I did lose a lot of weight and definitely fell into disordered thinking but the truth is, if you eat a varied, full of veg, healthy diet with fats, carbs, fruit, lean protein etc and watch your potions, you can eat anything and stay slim.

I've never regained weight I've lost - if I've over indulged, I bloody enjoy it at the time and simply cut back for a day or two.

Slimming World talks about 'syns' FFS. Any duet that makes moral judgements about a food item is the very definition of unhealthy. Should be banned imo

I eat carbs but find portions hard to judge so they’re pretty much the only things I always weigh. I don’t quite know what I’d eat as a low carb veggie. I can see that a low carb diet works for some bit it’s not for me.

I think that low carb is often recommended as a weight-loss diet because it’s very easy to eat a lot of calories in pasta or bread and not really notice it. Cut them out, and it becomes a lot more difficult to overeat on basically proteins and vegetables.

I don’t think refined carbs are bad, but neither are they the sort of things we evolved to eat, either: grain-based diets are only as old as human agrarian history is. Limiting them and relying on unrefined carb sources like roots, pulses, vegetables and lentils instead is healthier (and the basis of low carbing, as opposed to no-carbing or keto.)

But as your post says, most slim people eat carbs.

A lot of the people who have resorted to Keto are not naturally slim people. They have previously been obese and overweight. They have issues with insulin resistance and can’t eat intuitively because when you have food issues, it’s literally off the menu.

If you have these problems- a lifestyle centred around good healthy fats, protein and lots of veg is not a bad thing.

I am one of the aforementioned people and I can’t eat carbs with every meal unless I calorie count which is miserable and triggering. I am currently 8.5 months pregnant with morning sickness still and I am eating whatever I can stomach- but I’m looking forward to going back to my way of eating. You call it ‘faddy’ but my diet of Greek yogurt and berries, salads with avo oil and protein and meat and veg for dinner is much more nutritious than one completely reliant on grains.

two things

1. low carb can definitely help with borderline type 2 diabetes because all carbs raise blood sugar but some carbs have lower GI indexes so not all carbs are equal and even for diabetics carbs are not banned but to keep them lower and certainly occasional cake chocolate is allowed


2. high carb diets are cheaper; rice pasta and bread are staples world wide as they are the cheapest food. Poor people ate/ eat more of them to stop being hungry as the protein veg etc are more expensive

I think carbs covers quite a big range of foods from cake to a wholegrain seeded slice of bread so I dont think all carbs are equal in terms of the calories in a portion, how full a portion makes you feel or what they do to your blood sugar.

I eat carbs at every meal and have lost weight but I do measure them out and pick them sensibly.

I think for the majority of people, low-carb is unsustainable. Cutting out food groups just isn’t a great idea.

The only thing that's ever impacted my weight is calories in/out

Same. This is true for everyone really. Some people just reduce their calorie intake by not eating carbs.

No. I think the OP is offensive. Anything extremist isn't good. All those that have had ED's isn't good.

I'm sure it doesn't suit some. For type 1 diabetics low carb is often recommended, less hard core white carbs, eg white rice for eg that can make blood sugars spike.