How many of you follow a low carb diet?

[Housewife2010]

I've just been looking at lowcarbotopia.blogspot.co.uk.
So many of the diet rules have changed since I was growing up, but I really don't think I could give up my potatoes & enjoy green vegetables. But, I would like to be thin.

Thanks so much for the penny drop moment BIWIB I have had an egg and wholemeal bread for breakfast and will drop any other bread out today will try just a small amount of fruit.

The strange thing even when I felt dreadful when low carbing before was I had a really clear head and felt if the weakness had gone I could see how much better I would feel.

So I will work out a more gentle approach to get started. Thanks again

Haven't read whole thread.

I don't eat a low-carb diet. I eat all food groups, in moderation. My weight has always been stable and my BMI is 21-22 (only varies by the odd kilo).

I don't claim to know or understand about low-carb diets but my instincts tell me that cutting out whole food groups is difficult, logistically. And I have always felt that anything involving deprivation is unsustainable.

BUT I probably don't eat that many carbs. I always eat wholemeal bread (2 slices a day), sugar-free muesli for breakfast with lots of nuts, and pasta/potatoes/rice do figure in my diet every day but not as a the biggest thing on the plate. I eat tons of veg, cannot imagine giving up fruit (that I love) and I aim to eat protein with every meal or snack.

All of the above is focussed on eating a healthy balanced diet and I guess that it works for me because my weight is stable and healthy.

I don't want to disregard low-carb diets because I have never tried one, but I wanted to offer another perspective.

FWIW I never count calories or "diet" in any deliberate way. I guess I am busy and active and have never been an emotional eater.

nature I think the difference between you and others on here is the fact you have a healthy weight, always have. Which means that the way you are eating is probably balanced enough.

As far as I am concerned, low carbs isn't about cutting whole group food from your diet but about going back to a 'balanced diet'.

Eg: I've put a lot of weight on when I was extremely tired. The sugar was giving me the boost I needed to be able to carry on. Similar I suppose to people reaching to a cup of strong coffee.
So i really needed to go back to a diet that didn't involve so many carbs. And a low carb diet is doing that for me.

I really think sugar is addictive though. Since I've cut all sugar out, I've realized I am not craving it as much. And I now actually find apples very sweet whereas they felt very 'bland' before.

naturelover - low carbing absolutely is not about cutting out a whole food group. It is about altering the ratios of fat/protein/carbs so that carbs are the lowest, as opposed to the highest.

You are very lucky that you are a healthy weight and that you don't need to diet. Many people are not so. And anyone who has tried to diet through 'conventional' ways - eating low calorie/low fat foods - will tell you of their struggles to succeed. Constant hunger and a growing obsession with what you can and can't eat. Being told that all you need to do is exercise more and eat less is such dispiriting advice - because, ultimately, it's not the way to do it!

And if you take a step back and look at what a high carbohydrate diet can do to your health - it's truly shocking. As well as obesity, and ultimately diabetes, it is also implicated in hypertension, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimers.

Lots of reasons to cut down on carbohydrate in the diet.

Nature The other point about the fat:carb:protein ratio is that everyone is different and while some people can have a stable weight whilst eating a fairly high percentage of carbs others can't. If you can eat lots of carbs without gaining weight that means that your diet works for you but that doesn't make it workable for everyone else - our bodies all respond differently.

When you finally reach your goal weight through low carbing, to maintain you then need to discover how many grams of carbs you can eat without gaining or losing and roughly stick with that - and this level is different for everyone.

Hi! I've just logged on to my (very new) blog (lowcarbotopia.blogspot.co.uk/) and discovered all the traffic coming from here. How exciting!

I must read the whole of the thread. So pleased to have started some thought-provoking debate. Have to say that low carb works really really well for me.

Thanks for the original link, housewife2010. It's brilliant to know someone is reading my posts and finding them food for thought!

I dont follow a low carb, but then again I am a nutritionist.

I do hit under 150 g CHo a day in my own diet though and thats not really very high

Imnotbatman - if you are a nutritionist, what is your view of the work of Dr John Briffa, Gary Taubes and Zoe Harcombe, all of whom advocate low carb/high fat?

You may be better to look at Bill Shrapnell's blog as well...all good stuff and how I think

and poor old Dukan ...struck off this week

Imnotbatman don't know about your training but the only people who a re really qualified are dietitians- with a BSc/MSc in the subject. Too many people have jumped on the " nutritionist" bandwagon having studied a distance learning course for a few months. Some peeps think that nutritionists and dietitians are the same- they aren't.

Im a dietitian (pg with an undergrad in nutrition ) ;)

Eh? I read your posts earlier - not sure why you wanted them deleted?

Thanks for the extra info, though. Will have a look at those references too.

I'mnotbatman in your deleted post you said Zoe Harcombe had been discredited on the Bad Science website - I'd heard that before but when I looked I could only find a reference to her lack of formal qualifications but no critique of her knowledge or views -- maybe I missed it but their comments seemed more akin to the tabloid press. I would have been more convinced had they been able to do a proper analysis on her approach - would be interested in a link if you have one.

Unfortunately I missed batman's post, but I just wanted to say that in the country I live in - some dieticians are taking a low-carb approach - especially for the treatment of Syndrome X diseases and fertility issues! This must fly in the face of traditional teachings in the subject...

I suspect Imnotbatman may have asked for her posts to be deleted because they were critical of Harcombe/Taubes/Briffa. Which is a shame. I was keen to get a perspective from someone who works in nutrition - either positive or negative.

Here is the Bad Science article referring to Zoe Harcombe

A bit of a disappointing blog post, I thought - Goldacre condemns her for her PhD claims (quite rightly - a la Gillian McKeith), but then uses this to dismiss her argument, which seems a bit silly.

Gary Taubes book is extremely well referenced and backed by science. It was hard to read because it went against everything I'd been brought to to believe. I always thought that wholemeal/low fat choices were very healthy.

I also wasn't sure if you could live with refined sugar .