Do You Really Need Carbs?

Nutrition
41

[quote]spadesofaces wrote:
bkmacky9288 wrote:

For some reason this straight forward ‘duh’ explanation really helped. Honestly I don’t respect my own knowledge comparatively to authors on this site. I read and then say oh man they know better than I. But seriously, I know carbs are more efficient with protein around the W/O and I know that I feel great on a high fat diet. So this is what works for hit the heavenly music Eat fats up to pre-W/O ingest protein(w/BCAA’s)+ carbs PWO and a PPWO meal on strength training days then eat fats rest of the day. If I’m gaining more cals, if cutting cut cals and cut one or two PPWO (carb) meals on strength training days. Done.
Sometimes it just takes a nice whack on the head to figure things out. Thank all yous for your patience.

This is essentially what I do.

I’m lifting every other day right now to gain while minimizing fat gain. On lifting days I wake up, and eat mostly carbs and protein.

for example:

breakfast- oats/milk + protein powder
training- 1 serving SURGE during
lunch- chicken + rice/beans
snack- Jerky + milk
dinner- turkey sandwich
snack- tuna + almonds/cheese
pre-bed- cottage cheese + choc Metabolic Drive + natty PB

Then on a non-lifting day I’ll have P/F all day; eggs, cheese, fatty meats (beef, salmon), and I’ll probably eat a couple hundred less calories, determined by hunger. Lifts in the gym going up, scale weight going up, visually fat staying the same; I’d say its working.[/quote]

You’re eating like a predator and that’s good. Scavengers just eat without thought and whatever they stumble across. But does your digestive system like being ‘on’ all the time? Watch out for ulcers and high blood pressure, as your body tries to adapt. Cholesterol will also rise, as your body acidifies. Cancer flourishes in an acidic environment. Monitor your health CLOSELY.

42

[quote]JMoUCF87 wrote:
spadesofaces wrote:
The average McDonald “grazer” is fat because of food quality, not faulty eating patterns.

while i agree with most of your points, people are fat because of food QUANTITY not quality.[/quote]

I have to disagree here. calorie quantity perhaps, but not food quantity. There’s a difference. One thing I notice from working with overweight people, is that they don’t eat often, and they don’t eat a lot food wise. It’s more low quality garbage and not much of it, but high calorie.

43

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
The answer lies in your teeth. Most of your teeth are grinders, meant to grind mostly fruits. The few teeth at the front are for tearing at fruit and a small amount of meat. This is how chimps eat and what they eat as well (we share about 99% DNA).
[/quote]

Faulty logic here… we have a variety of teeth to enable us to eat a lot of different things, in order to survive. That doesn’t mean we should eat a certain way for optimum health, or optimum looks/performance. We have different types of teeth so we can adapt different diets easily if we need to. I don’t see how this topic is relevant on a bodybuilding forum.

44

[quote]esk221 wrote:
Furthermore, I’d much rather have oatmeal for breakfast than a handful of almonds.[/quote]

Almonds are not carb-free. Maybe you should have said Eggs.

45

To the OP, I also seem to do well on a very low carb diet. I think one thing to watch out for… food with carbs (such as fruits and veggies) may have compounds, enzymes and so on, that may be beneficial to our health. You can probably skip noodles and bread, but it’s probably smart to get some fresh whole foods in your daily diet too (and you can do that while still being low carb). I’m sure you know this already.

Despite the availability of Vege Fuel and Superfood supplements (etc) you cannot get a optimal diet on supplements alone, IMO. Whole fresh foods have their place in a daily diet. On the positive side, it’s pretty much impossible to get a carb overload eating fibrous veggies like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, etc etc. Some fruits have a lot of sugar (grapes) or starches (bananas), so they can be more iffy. And there are starchy vegetables to watch out for - potatoes, peas, corn, most squashes.

I guess what I’m saying is that you can be extremely low carb and still eat a diet that is considered well-rounded and healthy, based on traditional concepts about food choices. The idea that eating low carbs automatically results in a lack of vegetables or fruit is a non-starter (Headhunter’s comments). Those two concepts are not necessarily related, unless you are making faulty food choices on a long term basis.

46

[quote]bkmacky9288 wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
My question is, why wouldn’t you want to eat carbs? They taste good, improve performance in the gym, fill out your muscles and allow you to hold a pump, keep your hormones humming along, and they’re filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber (well, the unprocessed ones are at least).

COULD you survive eating 0 carbs? Sure, but it would be a pretty lame existence if you ask me.

Carbs leave me ravenous for more. They make me extremely hungry and never turn my hunger off…so I don’t like what they do to me[/quote]

probably because your carb timing is bad and/or the carbs you’re taking in are simple ones- they just spike your blood sugar and then get stored (probably as fat), then leave you feeling incredibly hungry (hypogycemia). look into some info on proper carb timing and simple vs.complex carbs.

if you are like most people on here, you want to perform as well as possible as often as possible. you probably take a variety of supplements to assist you in this regard. until your nutrition is dialed, none of that means squat. just money going into the metabolic fire…

if you’re looking for a shortcut to an easy nutrition plan that builds muscle and burns fat without putting in the effort, you’re looking for something you won’t find. put in the time to do the research and keep records so you know how your body reacts to what macro nutrient ratios consumed at what time (pre and post workout, for example) and dial your intake to match.

47

[quote]esk221 wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
My question is, why wouldn’t you want to eat carbs? They taste good, improve performance in the gym, fill out your muscles and allow you to hold a pump, keep your hormones humming along, and they’re filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber (well, the unprocessed ones are at least).

COULD you survive eating 0 carbs? Sure, but it would be a pretty lame existence if you ask me.

Yeah, plus a life without oats, sweet potatoes, rice, Lucky Charms, bread, etc. Is a life I don’t want to live![/quote]

X10000000…i work at mcdonalds, and ive “carb cycled” all weekend cuz i get breakfast leftovers on carryover!!! yayy biscuts!!!

48

[quote]toocul4u wrote:
Bill Roberts wrote:

As to the reason why this is so: the body’s ability to burn protein is limited. No matter how much protein one consumes, one cannot meet maintenance requirements

i just can’t follow what is meant by this[/quote]

“the body’s ability to burn protein is limited”

This means that the body can’t burn protein to meet all its caloric needs. Instead the amount it can burn is less than that.

“No matter how much protein one consumes, one cannot meet maintenance requirements”

This is in reference to a possibility that was being talked about, a protein diet only supposedly being able to meet all needs.

It says that even if you consume lots and lots, that doesn’t mean the body can burn it all. It can’t burn enough protein to meet all the needs of life. This is why people wasted away and died from trying such diets due to only lean meat being available to them.

So it is wrong to say that protein is all that is required, so far as macronutrients. Which means the group of fats, carbs, and proteins.

49

spadesofaces wrote:
The average McDonald “grazer” is fat because of food quality, not faulty eating patterns.

while i agree with most of your points, people are fat because of food QUANTITY not quality.

JM…I’m not disagreeing with you on your point, but I’d like to know your opinion on this (I’m just playing devils advocate here, just wondering opinion) so you’re saying it’s quantity that makes you fat, not quality, take person 1 and 2. Let’s call person 1- Tim, and person 2- John

Tim and John are 210 lbs, 17% body fat, both have desks job, don’t get that much activity, maybe a jog here or there. Their caloric intake in order to keep their weight of 210 lbs (just making this up) is 1,700 calories.

Tim for 2 weeks, eats 2700 calories worth of McDonald’s every day, and eventually weighs 214 (random) and looks fatter.
John for 2 weeks, eats 2700 calories of ONLY salmon, olive oil, chicken, avocados, almonds, and blueberries, and eventually weighs 214 but doesn’t look “fatter”…thoughts?

50

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
bkmacky9288 wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
My question is, why wouldn’t you want to eat carbs? They taste good, improve performance in the gym, fill out your muscles and allow you to hold a pump, keep your hormones humming along, and they’re filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber (well, the unprocessed ones are at least).

COULD you survive eating 0 carbs? Sure, but it would be a pretty lame existence if you ask me.

Carbs leave me ravenous for more. They make me extremely hungry and never turn my hunger off…so I don’t like what they do to me

The binge instinct is perfectly normal. You should accept it and binge in the early evening, after underfeeding yourself all day (when you’re supposed to be hunting/gathering). Follow nature; ignore experts who try and tell you to go against nature.

When in nature did we ever add up our calories, divide by 6, and eat meals like that? Never.
Why do people get sleepy after a big meal? Why do simple carbs trigger a huge burst of insulin?

Listen to who and what you are and those questions get answered.
[/quote]

That’s the thing…I’m not undereating at anytime…I just don’t feel full until my stomach isat capacity…and then Im not even satiated.

51

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
spadesofaces wrote:
bkmacky9288 wrote:

For some reason this straight forward ‘duh’ explanation really helped. Honestly I don’t respect my own knowledge comparatively to authors on this site. I read and then say oh man they know better than I. But seriously, I know carbs are more efficient with protein around the W/O and I know that I feel great on a high fat diet. So this is what works for hit the heavenly music Eat fats up to pre-W/O ingest protein(w/BCAA’s)+ carbs PWO and a PPWO meal on strength training days then eat fats rest of the day. If I’m gaining more cals, if cutting cut cals and cut one or two PPWO (carb) meals on strength training days. Done.
Sometimes it just takes a nice whack on the head to figure things out. Thank all yous for your patience.

This is essentially what I do.

I’m lifting every other day right now to gain while minimizing fat gain. On lifting days I wake up, and eat mostly carbs and protein.

for example:

breakfast- oats/milk + protein powder
training- 1 serving SURGE during
lunch- chicken + rice/beans
snack- Jerky + milk
dinner- turkey sandwich
snack- tuna + almonds/cheese
pre-bed- cottage cheese + choc Metabolic Drive + natty PB

Then on a non-lifting day I’ll have P/F all day; eggs, cheese, fatty meats (beef, salmon), and I’ll probably eat a couple hundred less calories, determined by hunger. Lifts in the gym going up, scale weight going up, visually fat staying the same; I’d say its working.

You’re eating like a predator and that’s good. Scavengers just eat without thought and whatever they stumble across. But does your digestive system like being ‘on’ all the time? Watch out for ulcers and high blood pressure, as your body tries to adapt. Cholesterol will also rise, as your body acidifies. Cancer flourishes in an acidic environment. Monitor your health CLOSELY.

[/quote]

After eating like the majority of T-men my blood pressure and cholesterol levels (the bad kind) hav gone done so my ancestors must’ve been scavengers :wink: And I’m hoping my 10-15 servings + 1 serving of Superfood a day is keeping my acid levels balanced!

52

[quote]K2000 wrote:
To the OP, I also seem to do well on a very low carb diet. I think one thing to watch out for… food with carbs (such as fruits and veggies) may have compounds, enzymes and so on, that may be beneficial to our health. You can probably skip noodles and bread, but it’s probably smart to get some fresh whole foods in your daily diet too (and you can do that while still being low carb). I’m sure you know this already.

Despite the availability of Vege Fuel and Superfood supplements (etc) you cannot get a optimal diet on supplements alone, IMO. Whole fresh foods have their place in a daily diet. On the positive side, it’s pretty much impossible to get a carb overload eating fibrous veggies like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, etc etc. Some fruits have a lot of sugar (grapes) or starches (bananas), so they can be more iffy. And there are starchy vegetables to watch out for - potatoes, peas, corn, most squashes.

I guess what I’m saying is that you can be extremely low carb and still eat a diet that is considered well-rounded and healthy, based on traditional concepts about food choices. The idea that eating low carbs automatically results in a lack of vegetables or fruit is a non-starter (Headhunter’s comments). Those two concepts are not necessarily related, unless you are making faulty food choices on a long term basis.[/quote]

I’d rather ingest one serving of Superfood and pop some enzymes and take a fiber supp than buy $50/week in veggies, alone. It’s a money thing for me. And yea, if I’m out somewhere and there are trays of frutis and vegetables, then everyone better know to get there share first cuz I’m gonna just take the tray to my seat. But honestly, from a money POV supps really are best for me as a college student. I’m trying to fill in for all the veggie and fruit benefits by getting vits.&mins. from the superfood, enzymes from my enzyme supp, and fiber from my fiber blend and flax. Anything missing?

53

[quote]climberw wrote:
bkmacky9288 wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
My question is, why wouldn’t you want to eat carbs? They taste good, improve performance in the gym, fill out your muscles and allow you to hold a pump, keep your hormones humming along, and they’re filled with vitamins, minerals and fiber (well, the unprocessed ones are at least).

COULD you survive eating 0 carbs? Sure, but it would be a pretty lame existence if you ask me.

Carbs leave me ravenous for more. They make me extremely hungry and never turn my hunger off…so I don’t like what they do to me

probably because your carb timing is bad and/or the carbs you’re taking in are simple ones- they just spike your blood sugar and then get stored (probably as fat), then leave you feeling incredibly hungry (hypogycemia). look into some info on proper carb timing and simple vs.complex carbs.

if you are like most people on here, you want to perform as well as possible as often as possible. you probably take a variety of supplements to assist you in this regard. until your nutrition is dialed, none of that means squat. just money going into the metabolic fire…

if you’re looking for a shortcut to an easy nutrition plan that builds muscle and burns fat without putting in the effort, you’re looking for something you won’t find. put in the time to do the research and keep records so you know how your body reacts to what macro nutrient ratios consumed at what time (pre and post workout, for example) and dial your intake to match.
[/quote]

Actually I was doing carb-ups for the AD. Im cycling off and into carb timing startin Monday. And no I my supps list is low, Superfood, enzymes, whey, creatine, Flameout, and Surge. Yea so tis weekend i recorded my caloric intake for my final carb load this weekend and it really kept me on track and clean. It’s really hard to eat a lot of quality carbs. Makes me happy to prefer a high fat diet over the carb type.

54

I once read that the brain can only use glucose as its source of energy, nothing else.

55

[quote]K2000 wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
The answer lies in your teeth. Most of your teeth are grinders, meant to grind mostly fruits. The few teeth at the front are for tearing at fruit and a small amount of meat. This is how chimps eat and what they eat as well (we share about 99% DNA).

Faulty logic here… we have a variety of teeth to enable us to eat a lot of different things, in order to survive. That doesn’t mean we should eat a certain way for optimum health, or optimum looks/performance. We have different types of teeth so we can adapt different diets easily if we need to. I don’t see how this topic is relevant on a bodybuilding forum.

[/quote]

We evolved in a particular manner. Those who ate in a certain way were more successful than those who didn’t. Since most of our teeth are for chewing fruit, that’s the most successful diet for humans — mostly fruit, some veg, some meat. For BB, increase the meat.

An important point is COOKING. Vegetables have to mostly be cooked (pre-digested) for us to consume them. This suggests that vegs might NOT be optimal for us. Fruit, on the other hand, is easily digested by humans. What’s that suggest?

Ideally, most meat should be eaten raw but that’s not possible nowadays. Organs are preferred over muscle meat but again that’s impractical.

Eat fruit all day, workout, then have a huge steak dinner with salad.

56

[quote]bkmacky9288 wrote:
JMoUCF87 wrote:
leptin is primarily impacted by calorie and carbohydrate intake, fat has little impact.

insulin (a key anticatabolic hormone) is also effected by carbohydrate consumption.

SHBG binds up free testosterone when carb intake is low (one of the reasons some people experience low sex drive on low carbs).

serotonin is also effected by carb consumption, often leading to insomnia or poor sleep quality on extremely low carb diets.

carbs also influence fullness signals after a meal, with numerous studies showing carbs having a more satiating effect than fat in the short term (fat impacts long-term hunger more). Protein, however, is the most satiating nutrient of all.

I find this amusing because following a very low carb diet (~30 grams net) I’m sleeping better now than I ever have. I’m never hungry and carbups leave me thirsting for more and more without ever feeling satisfied. As for sex drive.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA try to keep me away from the lady populace! I dare ya![/quote]

Different folks, different strokes. If that’s workin’ for ya man, that’s the way to go. I would recommend experimenting with different macro breakdowns until you pitch a balance that works great for you. Everyone’s a little different!

57

[quote]Kaizen08 wrote:
I once read that the brain can only use glucose as its source of energy, nothing else.[/quote]

yeah, i think only glucose can pass the blood brain barrier. it’s not much, and could be derived from gluconeogenic aminos in certain circumstances i think

58

[quote]toocul4u wrote:
Kaizen08 wrote:
I once read that the brain can only use glucose as its source of energy, nothing else.

yeah, i think only glucose can pass the blood brain barrier. it’s not much, and could be derived from gluconeogenic aminos in certain circumstances i think[/quote]

I believe I have read in mlutiple places it can also function on ketones.

59

[quote]bkmacky9288 wrote:
I’d rather ingest one serving of Superfood and pop some enzymes and take a fiber supp than buy $50/week in veggies, alone. It’s a money thing for me. [/quote]

I’m talking about eating a big bowl of broccoli (maybe a buck-fifty), half a head of cauliflower (same), that kind of thing. You can get a whole bag of vegetables for 15 bucks… more than I can eat in a week without some spoilage.

But your strategy of cramming salads at the cafeteria makes sense for a college student.

I just don’t believe that powdered vegetable or fruit concentrates or supplements are a long term replacement for whole veggies.

60

$50 per week in veggies? Where you shopping dude, Whole Foods?