'Carbs' or Carbohydrates

[GirlinContempt]

for all you unhipsters. I've been curious for a long time.
Who here actually knows what they do? How much your recommended daily intake is? What sort of vitamins, minerals, etc can be found in 'carb' foods that maybe can't be found in others?

Basically, any details at all.

And no cheating.

[Lex]

1. There are all KINDS of carbs.

doughnut = carbs
apple = carbs

[GirlinContempt]

2. Of course there are

[Lex]

3. Then, of course, there would be all kinds of minerals, vitamins,

fiber, etc. depending on the carb in question.

[GirlinContempt]

4. pick one.

[Lex]

8. I had enough of the Socratic Method to last a lifetime.

nt

[GirlinContempt]

14. It doesn't matter which one you pick

I'm not picky. But, whatever.

[wildhorses]

5. sorry,

carbs is carbs...

your body uses carbs and, what it doesn't use it stores as fat.

quit eating carbs and, your body is forced to use stored carbs (fat) for energy.

really is that simple.

[GirlinContempt]

6. Wrong.

[wildhorses]

7. it may be wrong but, it is working for me

i have lost weight like a mofo

[GirlinContempt]

13. Ok, but that's not why you're losing weight.

Cutting 'carbs' causes your body to metabolize protein from your muscles. It also causes dehydration, most alarmingly, metabolic dehydration. Even when your brain DOES move on to your fat stores for energy, parts of your brain still can't work off of it. So parts of your brain and nervous system are working off of muscle. Most of the weight loss associated with low carb is actually a loss of muscle and water. this can actually slow the metabolism. Studies also show that people on low carb diets tend to just consume fewer calories.

[wildhorses]

15. vitamins and minerals and protein

and, i am eating calories like a mofo. and, my muscle mass has NOT deteriorated ymmmv

[GirlinContempt]

16. If you aren't eating carbs

your muscle is being depleted. Or, if you aren't eating enough carbs. Just because you don't notice it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

[wildhorses]

17. i am eating carbs ---

you have to have carbs just not as many as the 'pyramid' shows. trust me. i have not lost muscle mass.

the pyramid is upside down....pretty much

[GirlinContempt]

How much do you have to have, then?

[wildhorses]

24. what is your objective?

you have lost a bunch of weight, right?

seems like i remember a thread about some medication?

sorry, i have forgot the details...

anyway, once you get to your optimum weight...then really 25-30 is plenty

[GirlinContempt]

25. I'm sorry

25-30 what? Sorry, I'm just not sure of the measurement.

Yeah, I lost weight, but not on a low carb thing. No way not for me.

[wildhorses]

29. grams

sorry

[wildhorses]

26. sorry, wrong placement

n/t

[Left Is Write]

41. Not quite accurate. The body stores unneeded CALORIES as fat.

Those could be calories from any source.

When a low-carb diet is used to promote ketosis, the body is not using fat stores for energy. It's using muscle - not a good thing.

It's not accurate to say "carbs is carbs" either. There's a difference between complex carbs and simple carbs. Strawberries and oatmeal, for example, are not the same as white bread and cookies.

[AlCzervik]

9. fiber is in carbohydrates and not in protein.

[Lex]

10. I try so hard to keep any carb intake to higher fiber carbs.

I pretty much gave up entirely white sugar, white flour, white rice.

[AlCzervik]

11. i made the mistake of buying low carb tortillas, i read the calories info and the carb info

and that was it so i make a rollup thing with them and about 30 minutes later i'm dying, like omg WTF is wrong with my stomach. I crawl over to the counter and read the package, in one tortilla there were 2o grams of fiber, you only need about 30 for the day so you can imagine the misery, someone here found me a fix, club soda, it made it all better but i have never bought those low carb tortillas again.

[Lex]

12. Ouch. Oh my.

I've made some good rollup things with a big pieces of romaine lettuce. yum.

[Lethe]

18. i always heard that carbs are totally unnecessary for humans

if you eat 0 dietary carbs, you can still live and thrive because your body can make carbs from fat.

of course i wouldn't want to try, i love fruit and pizza :P

[GirlinContempt]

20. But carbs feed your brain.

[Lex]

23. What about kids who are put on essentially no-carb diets

to control epilepsy. Does brain development stop? No.

[GirlinContempt]

30. Did I say brain development stops?

No. I said carbs feed your brain. Your brain LIVES on glucose. It consumes around 20% of your energy.

[Lex]

32. OK then, if your brain LIVES on glucose, how come these kids

on no carb diets to control epilepsy have no brain development or cognitive development problems?

[Lethe]

33. cause your body converts stored fat to glucose

in the liver.

[GirlinContempt]

35. Your body uses proteins.

You don't even start in on the fat stores until carbohydrate deprivation is chronic. And parts of your brain and nervous system can't survive on stored fat, they metabolize muscle proteins.

[wildhorses]

28. protein feeds your brain ---

damn, girl it has been a while since i had physiology.

[GirlinContempt]

31. Huh?

[wildhorses]

34. amino acids

we are simplifying all this ....

trust me carbs ain't all that.

[GirlinContempt]

36. Amino acids aren't simplifying it.

Carbs are broken down in to glucose. Your brain, nervous system and muscles all need this. If your body is not getting this, it will initially use stores in the liver, then muscle proteins, then a combination of stored fats and muscle protein. This diverts muscle protein from it's normal 'jobs'.

[Lex]

22. I'm sure that back in the day the Eskimos didn't eat a lot of carbs.

And some children in the US are put on a no-carb diet to control epilepsy with success.


I'm not saying a no-carb diet is the best kind. I'm just saying your brain won't die and you will still have energy and thrive.

[deucemagnet]

19. I remember most of the biochemistry, but not much of the nutrition.

Basically, carbohydrates are sugars (such as sucrose or maltose) or polymers of sugars (such as plant starches or glycogen). Carbohydrate in the form of blood glucose is the sole source of energy for your brain under normal circumstances. Carbohydrates can be used directly for fuel via the glycolysis, stored as fuel in muscle tissue as glycogen, or stored as fat (when eaten in excess).

On a low-carb diet, carbohydrate intake is not sufficient to fuel the brain, so the body enters a state known as ketosis, in which the brain is fueled by acetone and an aldehyde (I can't remember which one) obtained from the hydrolysis of stored fatty acids. So, when you're on Atkins, your brain runs on the stuff you remove fingernail polish with, and a compound similar to that used to embalm bodies.

I can't remember exactly what the recommended intake of carbohydrates is, but I know it should account for the bulk of calories consumed. Fat should constitute no more than 30% of caloric intake. We eat far more protein than we need. I believe most normal folks (not athletes) can get by perfectly fine on about 5% calories from protein, but the RDA is higher than that, and average American intake is higher still. I'm drawing a blank on the vitamins and minerals.

That's about all I can remember without cheating. How'd I do?

[GirlinContempt]

21. Pretty good

:)

I've just been curious for a while now, because a bunch of people (most notably my Dad) bought in to this whole anti-carb craze. My knee-jerk reaction was "that just can't be good". Especially since most of the people I talked to (most notably my Dad) couldn't actually tell me how many carbs dietitians recommended, or how the process really worked. I started looking in to it a lot more, and I still go with my knee-jerk reaction, because I think it's been backed up.

[deucemagnet]

27. My college biochem professor was no fan of low-carb diets,

and neither am I. Don't feel bad if your Dad doesn't listen, though. My parents usually ask me and my sister health-related questions, then believe whatever they want to believe if they don't like our answers. My sister is a registered nurse, and I have a PhD in microbiology, but parents will be parents. :crazy:

[lizerdbits]

37. I thought what happens on Atkins

and you may have a better biochem memory/background than I do, is that due to lack of glucose muscle is broken down and glucose is made by gluconeogenesis from amino acids. Apparently Atkins believed that the large amounts of protein would replace the AAs used from muscle and prevent net muscle loss. (My doctor told me never to do really low carb because I exercise a lot and the combination of those 2 could result in major kidney problems.) Someone (not you) said you can make glucose from fats. I thought that fatty acids were broken down to acetyl CoA which are then used in the TCA cycle so you can get ATP out of using stored fat but you can't get glucose.

Am I wrong? It's been a long time. :)

[deucemagnet]

38. Well, it's been a really long time since biochem,

and gluconeogenesis is a dim memory. I've never read Atkins book, but I know that the diet is supposed to induce ketosis in the early stages of the diet. I guess the glucose created by gluconeogenesis of the extra protein is enough to prevent muscle loss, but insufficient to fuel the brain. You're correct about fatty acids being broken down into acetyl CoA for the TCA cycle. Beta oxidation, I think they called it.

As an interesting aside, if you're using acetyl CoA from stored fat as your primary source of energy, you'd only burn fuel during aerobic respiration. During anaerobic exercise, you'd probably have to rely on glycogen stores that are depleted from the low-carb diet, and probably burn out pretty quickly.

Anyway, biochem was a long time ago, and I'm just a humble microbiologist, not an MD. I feel a little out of my element, and I might say something stupid soon. I think I'd better shut up and stick to studying germs. :)

[derby378]

39. Be vewy, vewy quiet - I'm carbo-loading

rBGH-free chocolate milk right out of the carton. So sue me.

:silly:

[Left Is Write]

40. I try to do about 20/60/20 -

Meaning I get 20% of my calories from protein, 60% from carbohydrate, and 20% from fat. How that translates to someone else's recommended daily intake, I have no idea. Sometimes I don't get enough protein, but I'm working on it.

Carbohydrates supply necessary energy to brain and body. Some are good for you, some are not. Complex carbohydrates contain fiber and digest more slowly than simple carbohydrates, thereby keeping the body fuller longer. (Shredded wheat = good breakfast; cinnamon roll = not-so-good breakfast).

Calories come from only those three sources - carbohydrate, fat, and protein. In my opinion, it is never a good diet to restrict one nutrient group severely. Bodies need appropriate amounts of all three.

[swag]

42. Hi.

How are you?