• miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Why avoid carbs though?

    Genuine question.
    If we’re talking bad carbs like sugar, that only make you crave more bad carbs, thus pushing you into a calorie surplus, then yes, avoid those.

    But carbs in general? Why avoid them?

    • Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      In the end carbs are just sugars of different complexity. For example add some saliva to starch and you got glucose. Hence white bread, pasta and even potatoes are really bad for your blood sugar.

      You don’t have to avoid them, but carbs are not necessarily part of a healthy and balanced diet. Their only benefit is that they are cheap sources of energy. If you don’t eat carbs the body has to use fat to metabolize sugar which works just as well.

      It is useful to avoid carbs for a diet, because you can remove a lot of calories from any meal by replacing them with mostly vegetables without reducing the portion size at all. Also it helps with cravings a lot.

      • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I think they are super useful as sources of energy for an active lifestyle that includes strenght and hypertrophy training.

        Which in turn is something you should do anyway if you want to lose weight. Well, bodyfat specifically.

        • Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 year ago

          That’s a tough one. Proteins are a much more useful source of energy and nutrients here. There are limits though and then it doesn’t really matter how you get your calories.

          So obviously carbs are cheap food and pack a lot of calories which might be beneficial in this scenario.

          You are right. I can’t argue with that, but I would be careful with this as general advice.

          • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            It’s just that too many people don’t know enough about nutrition and think cutting carbs is magic.

            No, the human body doesn’t need carbs. But I’d rather focus on increasing high quality protein intake than cutting carbs altogether.
            Ideally paired with some form of resistance training, so the body burns fat instead of muscle.

            But at the end of the day, every person should choose a diet that is sustainable for them in the long term. If cutting carbs is what makes someone succeed, then that’s great.

            You just don’t need to avoid them to have a perfectly healthy diet.

            • xerazal@lemmy.zip
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              1 year ago

              Avoid, no.

              Cut down, yes. We overeat carbohydrates, especially empty carbohydrates. It’s a cheap source of energy sure, but if we are inputting more than we are outputting, the excess is stored as fat, which can lead to inflammation and other health issues.

              I did keto for a couple years and yes, cutting out most carbs that weren’t nutrient dense did wonders. Only reason I’ve been moving off of it is because it’s honestly difficult to eat that way in a world of excess carbohydrates. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has added sugars or fillers added in that increase the carb count for cheap. I did it for like 5 years, but it cost a lot of money and time. Money because it’s all about eating whole, nutritious, and organic. Time because It takes time to cook and do meal prep, and sometimes I don’t have that time or energy mentally.

            • Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              1 year ago

              You are right with everything you say.

              Still the consumption of carbs is too normalized. Many people believe that you should have carbs with every meal which is insane. Just look at any restaurant food, fast food and everywhere. Unless you are dieting you for sure don’t have to avoid carbs, but don’t seek them out either.

              I believe this is the single biggest reason for the obesity problem. Most meals really shouldn’t have any added carbs, yet they do.

              • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                May I ask what continent you’re on? That could explain our perspectives on this.

                Different environments create different problems, after all

                • Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  1 year ago

                  Ohh, that’s an interesting take! I guess for large parts of Asia it is a bit different. It is a problem in north America as far as I can tell and in Europe where I am from.

      • Pulptastic@midwest.social
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        1 year ago

        To effectively diet you have to reduce the amount you eat. You can do this through calorie restriction, time restriction, or food restriction. Low carb diets are a form of food restriction that are particularly effective because dropping carbs also drops hunger levels so it is easier to sustain the restriction.

        • Swiggles@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 year ago

          It depends on the meaning of amount. By volume no, you can continue to eat like always if you adjust the food itself.

          Technically yes, it is a food restriction, but in the end it is especially a calorie restriction which is the important part.

          You are absolutely correct though.

      • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yeah okay, that should go without saying. If something is genuinely bad for a person for whatever reason, then of course they should avoid it.

    • jaschen@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Not all carbs are made the same. But generally your body was never built to consume pure carbs. Our bodies are built on fats.

      Drinking a can of coke when you’re hungry and seeing yourself gets more hungry. Eat 2 avocados and you can probably skip the next meal.

      • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Not all carbs are made the same

        Yeah, that’s my point. Take some pasta with tuna and you have a meal that

        1. Consistently supplies energy for the next hours
        2. Satiates you with high quality protein

        Banger meal for when I need to be out and chop wood all day

      • eldain@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        It wasn’t build to consume pure fats either. A healthy mix of complex carbs, protein and fats release energy over a long period of time and satiate the stomach. Cutting sugar, sweeteners and fatty snacks does a lot to fix addictive food behaviour, but it’s hard.

        Fun fact, all your body fat you want to get rid of has to leave through your breath.