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!

labeling foods as good and bad isn't helpful and can lead to sending people down road to eating disorders.

You don’t know much about the psychology of eating disorders if you really believe this.

@Againstmachine

You lose any credibility if you are trying to tell people coco pops are a good source of nutrition

You lose any credibility if you are trying to tell people coco pops are a good source of nutrition

You said they have no nutritional value, I never said they are a good source of nutrition.

They clearly have nutritional value, you have zero credibility by saying they don't.

For me low carb means I’m choosing more fresh food. Instead of bread and wraps and pasta I’m eating salads and vegetables and meat. Low carb takes the focus off filler food. I have lost weight this way but I’ve also gained more health and energy. If it’s done right it’s a great alternative to a diet. I still eat 1800 calories a day and it’s hard work to eat that much in fresh food.

@Againstmachine

fortified vitamins and minerals are not the same as ones that occur naturally in foods. Cereals have to be fortified because they literally contain no nutrition on their own, and guess what, the claims the manufacturers make about the health benefits of fortified vitamins and minerals are somewhat debatable. Just because the cereal is fortified, doesn’t mean the iron for example, is bioavailable and easily absorbed by the body.

why not just give children an egg? it’s mental to give children this junk, setting them up for a lifetime of unhealthy habits / diabetes

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25830598/

Low carb takes the focus off filler food

You mean simple carbs. It really annoys me state simple or complex they are VERY different

I can only speak for myself, but low carb for a few years has given me a lifetime of problems. I only had low level IBS before, but eating that way exacerbated it massively to the point where I had a colonoscopy to check there wasn’t anything more sinister going on. I’ve just about gained back some ground now, many years later, but I still have flare ups. Never ever again - a balanced diet for me all the way.

@hamstersarse

Calories have nutritional value, protien and fibre do. And the vitamins and minerals still do, you are completely wrong.

I am eating low carb at the moment. I think some people don’t realise that we still eat carbs, just a lower amount. Keto diet is very strict on hardly any carbs at all. That wouldn’t be sustainable for me, but low carb is. It’s been a revelation in helping me eat healthier and I am no longer craving junk food or sugar.

I did low carb about 10 years ago as I was pre-diabetic and over weight. I lost the pre-diabetes, the weight and blood tests came back to say my good cholesterol was high, bad cholesterol was low.

I've gone back onto low carb recently because, having put weight on over the years even with calorie counting, SW and WW in the intervening years, I felt it works well for me. It's easy - I just eat what I want but pasta, rice, bread, sugar or potatoes off the menu at the moment until the weight is off.

But I have one proviso.

I now know that I can become fixated on any diet. That's why counting calories doesn't work - I'll work out the calories to the final one in everything I eat, WW doesn't work as I start worrying about every point and SW gets me checking every packet of food I buy. I can't live with that sort of obsession or with weighing every bit of food I put in my mouth. It's not healthy and it's not sustainable...for me. Other diets feed into my fear of calories, low carb doesn't. Last time round, unfortunately, I did what a lot of dieters do, lose the weight and then go straight back to the 'old' diet. They (I) forget that it's a change of eating patterns forever. That's why I put the weight back on after SW and WW. I cannot count points or have low fat food for the rest of my life. I can't, it's pants and it feeds my need to control all the time. I need a diet where I just eat the amount I need to feel full.

This time round I'm more relaxed. We went to a friend's a couple of weeks ago - full slap up Sunday lunch with wine, dessert and loads of roast potatoes. Lovely. In the past I'd have panicked about the amount of food. This time I enjoyed it, went back on the diet the next day and have now lost half a stone in a month.

I mentioned this to my sister. She has been low(ish) carb for 25 years, partly due to being gluten intolerant and having coeliac kids so she naturally veers to unprocessed foods. She'll make her own soups and sauces (for example) from scratch, makes her own bread (avoiding gluten) and, sometimes, that means it's lower carbs. She's been a size 8 all that time despite having had two kids in that time. She also has blood tests regularly as our family has history of diabetes. Her cholesterol is also high on the good stuff, low on the bad.

Because she's been doing this for so long she isn't strict keto - more 'lowish' carbs. And she certainly doesn't starve.

So her breakfasts, for example, are never the same each day. She may have some lower carb bread for breakfast (always with butter, never low fat spread) or scrambled egg with tomatoes or mushrooms or Greek yoghurt with fruit. It's as her appetite takes her. She sometimes just has coffee with double cream if she isn't hungry and then she has an early lunch.

She'll have homemade soup for lunch (if she's had bread already she won't have more) or a huge salad for lunch with lots of protein (usually fish or meat - never touches things like quiches or flans because of the gluten) and honey/mustard or ranch dressing or mayo. She'll have a piece of cheese or a piece of apple with peanut butter if she's still peckish mid afternoon because that's filling with just a small piece, then a dinner of protein (skin on chicken for example or fish in a sauce of some kind) with loads of veg and pasta or rice if she hasn't had bread or pasta etc already. Then some darker chocolate or fruit with cream for dessert or a cake that she's made from coconut or almond flour (gluten free) if she wants it. She wouldn't be able to tell you how many calories she's eaten - she hasn't counted calories in over 20 years. If she puts on weight, say after Christmas, she cuts out the carbs and the dessert for a week or two and off it goes. She's in her late 50s now - supposedly a hard time to lose weight - but her body responds to lower carbs very quickly.

So that's my aim when the weight's off. Have potatoes a couple of times a week - who can live without chips forever? Same with bread - love my toast but I also enjoy the low carb breakfasts I have now. Pasta once a week, fine. But I've realised I don't need carbs of that sort every day. My energy levels are better now, I don't fall asleep after Sunday lunch like I always did even on SW or WW. And I'm sleeping like a baby for some reason.

So, yes, low carbing can become obsessive, but so can counting calories (after all you're measuring every bit of food you put in your body) or WW (allocating a point to things) and SW with their syns. I had strawberries and double cream for dessert last night. No idea how many calories and I don't make a note of anything about it anywhere except it was delicious. I also had a low carb curry and a cheese salad with a homemade ranch dressing for lunch. Again, no idea of the calories and I don't weigh anything except me.

When my weight is down I'll reintroduce pasta etc gradually and monitor what works and what doesn't. I'll keep the 'doesn't work' carbs down to a minimum each week as I know I don't need them every day - if I'm not missing them now, why would I need them then?

It may not be your intention but this is so patronising. Low carb eaters are not thick. They may make some errors at first but tend to find the balance as they get more familiar what they can eat and which carbs keep their blood sugar stable. Nutritional benefits can be meaningless if your blood sugar is spiked

Agreed. I dont eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta. & I don't want to, either. There's lots of other foods to eat. People spend far too much time food-monitoring others when they could be getting around their own food related business. Including addressing why they don't/can't instead of deflecting via watching others

I like looking and feeling good, feeling lighter on my feet, painful knee feels so much better, lowering carbs stops you wanting to snack - which is a plus for me as I've a big appetite and snacking was my downfall. & no more big bloated stomach.

Its a way of life for me, not a diet. Im happy with that.

Oh yes @DeeCeeCherry, the knees! I have had a painful knee for months. Clicks going up stairs, painful coming down. Actually I should say I had a painful knee. Two weeks into low carbing it stopped hurting (and only 4lb off at that point so I'm not convinced it's weight related as I still have almost two stone to lose). Possibly coincidence, but I've used nothing on it and the only change is the diet.

I'm not a dieter and I've never tried a fad before, but Ive just done one week of low-ish carbs (no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes) to see how i felt and I'm amazed by how much more meat I ate.
So back I go to my normal diet, comprising a mix of all foods and sensible portion sizes.

Dont know if this has been said as haven’t read every comment but one of the reason low carb works for people is calorie density and satiety levels.

Vegetables and protein and fat to en extent are generally better at keeping you full and satisfied for longer.
Carbohydrates like pasta and rice and bread are generally higher in calories when you look at portion size and calorie density.

200 cals of pasta is barely anything and it’s not even a full plain bagel. But 200 cals in lean fish, chicken or other lean protein plus some green veg is quite a lot.
The water content is much higher and is therefore going to keep you fuller longer.

of course carbs aren’t the enemy, they should be a part of a balanced enjoyable diet but there are plenty of science based reasons that protein and fat, along with vegetables, salads and fruit offer a better weight loss alternative to say high carb, low protein - regardless of the calorie intake

not all calories are created equal when it comes to how much it will fill you up.

Oh also it’s definitely not a “fad” as slimming world did the old “red” days back in the 90s. Atkins came along in the early 2000s and now
obvs Paleo and Keto have replaced them.

Something which has been part of mainstream culture for 30 Years can’t be considered a fad. It’s an approach. One of many.

Calories have nutritional value?
Now I’m sure you don’t know what you are on about.

A spoon of sugar has calories and gives you energy, but no nutritional value

Atkins is from 1960's.

I read Dr Bernstein's book on Diabetic Low carbing when it first came out in 1997.

Generally I agree everything in moderation, unfortunately low carb works for me, I suspect due to PCOS and insulin resistance (diagnosed). I do still eat carbs but in moderation, not every day and whole grain where possible, for me carbs are where it's easiest to be overly generous with portion size so I'm most cautious with that. I would never restrict carb intake for my Dc! I also have a colleague who is very slim, no underlying health issues (we've worked away a lot together and she's pretty open) she doesn't eat traditional carbs at all (I'm aware there are incidental carbs, but I mean pasta, rice, bread of any kind, potatoes etc), we'll eat out for dinner she'll have fish and veg, if it comes with two steamed new potatoes for example she'll ask them not to put them on the plate, she doesn't even eat roast potatoes at Christmas! She says it's a diet and she's sticking to it, I'm not sure that's completely healthy.

Yes, low carbing really is a fad

But you're a diabetic, many of whom have probably done a course like DESMOND or as you say, discussed your diet at length with professionals.

Being an expert patient isn't in any way comparable to someone who just decides to low or zero carb because they want to lose weight.

Being an expert patient isn't in any way comparable to someone who just decides to low or zero carb because they want to lose weight

The same principles apply. Unless you’re seriously suggesting that low carb is good for an “expert patient” and bad for someone using it for weight loss. Maybe it’s a bit like the Downing Street parties - illegal for civil servants but legal for the PM.

You know as well as me that isn't what was meant. And anyone who has a medical condition such as diabetes who has undertaken one of the relevant PH courses and/or discussed carbohydrate intake at length with a medical professional is likely to have a greater understanding than someone who hasn't done any of those things (which lets face it is most people).

I've absolutely no idea what you are on about with your bizarre analogy.

I think a carb heavy diet can make quite a number of people gain weight. So I think there is something to be said for low carb diets

I do feel as though you have a very limited view point OP. This way of eating works well for some people, it improves their health and well being. It isn't for you and that's fine. DH is obsessed with fat being the bad guy, I disagree with him and his very sweet tooth, guess which one of us is diabetic ?