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!

And also to add, plenty people on this thread have said that when they ate carbs they 'stuffed themselves with biscuits, cakes, pastries, huge pasta meals and other doughy delights.

I would also like to see evidence that a portion of carbs mixed with a meal of fat and veg is proven to be bad for our health. I have read many posts on MN stating that a carb should never be combined with a fat.
Jesus wept, having a portion of bread with chicken breast on it is NOT the same as a bucket of ice cream, or a donut, or a pile of pasta shapes soaked in wet cheese.

This is not how I perceive carbs. I see small portions of healthy pasta, good bread and some types of rice. If that is what people think carbs are, no wonder they lost weight when quitting them.

Also, past is NOT devoid of nutrition. It contains protein, fibre and often iron. You just don't need to fill your plate with it until it is overflowing.

Context.

For me I find eating sugar/higher GI carbs particularly bread makes me more hungry and crave said carb more. I also feel more anxious on such a diet.

I don’t think it’s a fad - we aren’t designed to eat processed grains/sugar/sweeteners in the quantities we do.

If I could eat one slice of toast and stop I would but I can’t so I just don’t eat it anymore

But by that estimate, i could also say you would gain weight eating 3000 of cheese/cream/butter as opposed to 3000 cals of lettuce.

You only added the 'pizza' part to demonise carbs.
The cheese on it's own would throw you over.
But cheese is not a carb so it wears a halo, regardless of calorific density.

I eat a carb with each evening meal, a small one, and always feel full.
I am intrigued by these people who need a fuck ton of bread to feel full.
One poster said she couldnt have one slice of toast or else she was thinking of bread all day.

How do so many of us manage to eat a slice of toast, feel satiated and not binge the rest of the day? I would imagine if you are already overweight and have disordered cravings for food, going low carb only offers a temporary fix.

I would suggest she had far more issues with food than carbs alone.

@LetSophieGo I'd bet you could eat 3000 calories worth of pizza significantly easier than you could eat 3000 calories of cheese. The fact pizza is high carb is relevant because eating alot of carbs doesn't create the hormone signals to stop eating in the way that eating the equivalent amount of fat or protein.

Good for you that you can stop but many people can't. A recent BBC programme showed that the presenters brain showed long term (permanent?) changes following a period of eating highly processed foods. People who struggle with refusing carbs aren't just lacking will power, their brain might literally be wired differently to yours.

@LetSophieGo what about people who say a Chinese meal leaves them hungry? I'm fine with Chinese food - doesn't cause a blip for me at all. But my slim BIL has to have a sandwich after Chinese food and it's now been found he's allergic to MSG...

I can't understand how people eat their way through a box of chocolates in a couple of days at Christmas. Our After Eights last into the New Year! I can easily have just a square or two of a normal chocolate bar then leave it for a few days on ordinary days too. My boss 'has to' eat the bar if it's open...but she's slim so, what, that doesn't count?

I have slim friends who will refill bowls of ice cream until the tub is finished. I don't.

How are those people not having issues with food but the person who can't stop at one slice of bread is? If that person said they could easily eat another biscuit no-one would make a remark because we hear that every day.

But it's still a food issue if that a person can't stop at one biscuit or has to eat a whole bar of chocolate or refills bowls of ice cream isn't it? Slim or not.

So there are a lot more people in this world for you to be intrigued by than just the people for whom bread is a 'switch'.

If you are following a low-carb diet on medical advice because you have pre-diabetes, what could possibly be wrong with that?

Faddy doesn't come into it.

But apparently that’s completely different. It’s when low carb’s used for weight loss that it’s faddy it seems. Don’t ask me how that works because I genuinely don’t understand.

There are a few posters who don’t do low carb but say they are slim anyway, which obviously is great and working well

But I have wondered what the extent of the obesity crisis would be if low carb was more standard

We get pretty full on marketing re processed carbs being healthy - cereal, high sugar yoghurt, juice. And sugar cycles can be hard to break. If everyone did unprocessed, lower carb would we see a shift I wonder

You only added the 'pizza' part to demonise carbs.

I do not demonise carbs. All of my meals have carbs in them - generally from vegetables (including beetroot, squash etc), some fruit, also some nuts. I sometimes eat pulses (beans, lentils etc). And I don't care what other people eat. I never try to persuade anyone to eat differently. But I am healthy and happy with what I choose to eat.

I totally agree. I eat carbs with every meal I think and I’ve lost 3.5 stone this year. You don’t need to cut out an entire food group, you literally just need to stop eating so much and actually exercise.

But I have wondered what the extent of the obesity crisis would be if low carb was more standard

Obesity rates are much lower in countries that eat lots of carbs including rice, pasta, bread etc. Our issue is caused by snacking and being lazy imo and I include myself in that before I lost the weight. I’ve lost weight by cutting out snacks unless it’s a piece of fruit or yoghurt and exercising a lot every day. People need to move more and eat less, not less carbs just less food!

You don’t need to but some people find it works best for them. What is the problem with doing what works for you and not criticising people who are different? How insecure must you be to do that?

I think the thing is that everybody is different and our issues with food are both physical and emotional to different extents. I am a bit of a compulsive eater which is a behaviour that I picked up from my parents as a young child. My whole family are like that and are quite large as a result. I have always been slimmer than them because I enjoy exercise and choose to exercise regularly and the rest of the family hate exercise so do very little. That said, I still struggle with my weight to an extent and find that low carb is the only way to eat that works really well with my psychology. If I am not eating complex carbs, for some reason I don’t crave as much food and I don’t feel as hungry all the time. I can only assume it’s because of the high fat content. If I eat a slice of toast or a portion of chips or a packet of crisps or some rice with my salmon, I get hungry quickly and immediately want more carby foods. The same happens with sweet food.

Low carb helps me to make healthier choices and to control my compulsive eating without any effort - I’d say that’s a win for my brain and my body. I eat loads of veg, healthy fats, protein, and there are some carbs in the veg I eat. I also do come off plan sometimes so I’m not the boring food phobic person at parties or restaurants.

I don’t really see what is wrong with my way of eating? And I certainly don’t think everyone should eat this was because not everybody needs to. My partner is naturally slim despite eating loads of carbs and sugar alongside an otherwise balanced diet. It’s just how she is (God knows how - she is very lucky). I wouldn’t suggest that she ate like I do unless she had a health condition that it could help. I don’t force my diet on anyone or expect them to follow it, and I really enjoy my food.

I went low carb for a few years and felt GREAT. I didn't lose any weight, but got to eat enormous portions so it satisfied my greed. I think part of the good feeling was because instead of eating an empty carb, I was getting the same amount of calories from healthier foods with more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in. I only stopped because I was told it's unhealthy in pregnancy.

The ketogenic diet was originally used to treat epilepsy. There is no doubt that carbs have a unique impact on our health, they are different to other macros.

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00005/full

It has also been linked to tumour reduction for cancer patients

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212877819304272

I've been low carb or keto for years, and I know i feel better. I had done 40 years of calorie restriction and low fat and I can see and feel the difference in my health. I don't get sick, I have more energy, I am never bloated, and my skin and eyes are clear. In saying all of that, there are absolutely signs that low carb is being fad'ed. There are 'keto' products in the supermarket that are revolting toxic messes and that makes me a bit sad when things get hijacked by marketing. I just eat natural animal protein, raw dairy, eggs and some veg. Like our ancestors did. None of the 'keto' fake products. Which means I also eat berries, some seasonal fruits like apples and pears, even potatoes, so long as they are not fried or mixed with processed oils, and I occasionally eat some sour dough bread (so long as it is not the supermarket version which is now full of shit - there should be 4 ingredients!).

Basically it is natural food for me.

I don't feel like I miss out, I wouldn't get pleasure from a pizza or pasta - indeed when I have done 'polite eating' of these sorts of things, I just feel bloated and unsatiated - it doesn't feel like a proper meal because it isn't

It’s true countries such as Japan have very low obesity rates although iirc recent changes in China with more western diet has seen obesity increase markedly

Western societies have high obesity rates - U.K., Aus and US aren’t the highest but a lot higher than say Japan or even France

It’s so hard to tackle but feels like it needs a big shift

You're totally right OP, my lovely and also very handsome PT (irrelevant but whatever), has me eating more carbs that I probably did before I started this getting fit project of mine. I've lost about 12 pounds already. I eat lots of good fat too. He said low carb never works long term. I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything. It's great. I eat more protein and I work out lots more. Never going back to dieting again.

What I'm doing is definitely healthy eating. It's also so much straight forward than all those syns, and 'allowed' or 'good' foods or whatever.

Well, @Knittingchamp your PT needs to meet my sister who's low(ish) carbed for 20 years and never fluctuated from a size 8. She'd laugh in his face at 'not working out long term'. I think 20 years is pretty good...

She has one type of 'carb' a day - so if she has toast she won't have pasta, if she's planning on pasta she won't have cereal. And if she does feel heavy (after a holiday or whatever) she'll cut pasta etc for a week or so and the weight is gone. She stirs up the breakfast she has every day, toast one day, egg and bacon the next, cereal the next so she gets balance across the week.

She makes her own cakes and bread as she's gluten intolerant and her kids are coeliac . She'd rather eat veg than pasta as she feels less bloated.

She doesn't go to a gym but does walk for miles at a cracking pace so is always on the go.

It works for her and I'm glad your PT's diet worked for you. At the end of the day that's all that matters.

He said low carb never works long term.

He’s talking out of his arse. I’m the living proof of it. Low carb since 2008, 20kg off and stayed off.

Exactly!

It’s a dietary requirement for me as I’m T2D. Wasn’t overweight when I went low carb and am not overweight now. Did overdo the carbs at weekend though and my stomach feels dreadful now! So, no, not a faddy diet here.