Why do carbs have such a bad reputation?

Question

I've heard the talk, carbs make you fat. They turn into glucose which is sugar and makes you fat. If you only eat fat and protein then you'll lose weight.

Wrong! What you'll lose is muscle! Carbs are made of monossacharides and dissacharides. Monossacharies means there is one sugar molecule in the food. Glucose (blood sugar), Fructose (fruit sugar) and Galactose. The dissacharids are two sugars put together (Glucose + another sugar.) There are three of these, sucrose (glucose+fructose), lactose (glucose+galactose), and maltose (glucose+glucose).
The complex carbs are polyssacharides (lots of glucose together).

When we eat carbs the glucose goes to our blood then to the cells. The others go to our liver and turns into glucose then go to our blood, then to feed our cells and central nervous system. What we dont eat is stored as fat. If we dont get enough then the body takes galactose from our muscles and turns it into glucose. So why not just eat the carbs and get fiber?

I do agree that the modern diet has too many refined carbs. I'm all about the whole grains. But the no-carb diets send people into ketosis! The body needs carbsm, glucose is the perferred energy source for all cells.

Answer 1

Yeah, exactly you lose MUSCLE. Muscle weight MUCH MORE than fat. Therefore you lose weight but your midsection never shrinks.
I always thought that low carb diet was the DUMBEST thing ever. The guy that invented it dropped dead of a heart attack.
How couldn't people see through this ridiculous garbage? I see things on restaurant menus that state (Low Carb). The meal is a hamburger without the bun. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Are you kidding me? Like it's the bun that makes you fat and not the fried hamburger loaded with grease, fat and cholesterol.

Carbs will make someone gain weight if they just sit on their bum all day. Carbs are an ESSENTIAL part of an everyda diet, especially if you work out. The body uses carbs and glucose as energy, without them your body uses muscle for energy.

Therefore losing muscle will make you lose weight, but you'll become a weak, soft pile of skin and fat.
Perfect example. I'm 6'0 216 lbs yet my waist is 32 1/2 inches. My friend is 6'2 185lbs and his waist is 37 inches. I'm over 30lbs heavier, shorter and yet my waist is 4 1/2 inches smaller than his.
THANK YOU for your great question.

Answer 2

While you seem well versed in the terminology, you are over simplifying the whole process. The main issue is not carbs versus protein. The issue is processed foods and especially processed flour and corn. By making these easily digested by the body we are overwhelming the organism with glucose which then eventually results in stored body fat and eventually glucose intolerance. A healthy diet includes plenty of carbohydrates, but uses complex forms that take time to digest and are absorbed into the blood stream much slower. A balanced diet has both protein and carbohydrates, and a healthy diet uses unprocessed forms of these nutrients. Things like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other man made inventions to make food cheaper, last longer, and appear better are the culprits.

Answer 3

While what you wrote is true, proteins are needed for muscle building. When we starve the body of carbs (simple carbs especially, which is what the modern food mostly consists of), the body takes the blood sugar needs from the stored reserves and thus fat is reconverted into sugar. So, Atkins and other low carb diets work. No doubt.

Fiber is very important in any weight loss plan and yes, low fat diets also work but a bit more slowly.

Answer 4

this comes from this so famous diets and all this tendency of low carbs... when we have carbs simple carbs, they make our body produce insulin to transport glucose to our muscles to be converted into glycogen, this is the way it's stored in the muscles... but, if you eat too much carbs, your body does not store it as glycogen anymore and stores it as fat... and insulin lows lipolitic enzymes... this means when you have carbs in excess, insulin makes it difficult for your body to use stored fat.

Carbs then, make our pancreas secrete insulin, and insulin transports glucose, but also aminoacids to our cells, so when you eat protein, carbs help proteins get to the cells.

Glucose in our muscles is stored as glycogen, not as galactose, when we need it we convert it back to glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis...

There are many kinds of carbohidrates, we have the soluble carbohidrates (mono-di-polisacharides) and non soluble carbs, fibers... when we have fibers, yeah the are carbohydrates but our bodies can't use them to obtain energy (we lack an enzyme some insects do have to digest it). So the way fiber comes in... goes out, it helps pushing some waste material in our intestinal tract.

We need to have complex carbohydrates, as our body needs more time to split its molecules, so we have an energy source for longer... if we have simple carbs, those are split up immediatly, and if we don't burn that glucose right away (as during exercise) then we store it as fat.

We can't let carbs out, we need to measure the amount we have and avoid simple carbs.

Maybe you want to take alook at the krebs cycle... look it up in a biochemistry book, it explains where, how and what you get when some sugar is broken down.

Answer 5

you are supposed to get 6 servings of grains ( carbs) a day...but the majority of what you eat should be fruits and veggies...your meat should be the width and depth of a deck of cards. all of these foods are good for you, but only in moderation. too much of anything is bad for you. the carbs are meant to give you energy, so when you eat a pasta meal for example, you have to be active enough to burn off the excess carbs that your body does not need, otherwise it will store it away for "hard times" MODERATION is the key word here... so instead of piling your plate with carbs, pile it with leafy greens and fruits instead. also, instead of a baked potato, eat a baked sweet potato...they are a much better source of carbs, and it won't take a toll on your waste line either. plus sweet potato's are packed full of all kinds of vitamins, than a regular potato. I doubt I have answered your question or your statement, but hopefully this will help.

Answer 6

Carbs have gotten a bad "rap" because in todays fast and snack food crazed society, many of these foods contain simple carbs which contain very little nutritional value. That coupled with the fact that most Americans eat too much food, much of it in that "simple" carb variety, leads to incorrect idea that carbs are bad. As you mentioned, carbs are important in a healthy diet, containing fiber and other important nutrients.

Answer 7

the carbohydrate consumption has the greatest impact on serum glucose and insulin levels which directly effect insulin sensitivity. controlling insulin is the key to controlling body fat levels.

most people simply consume way to many carbs for their level of daily activity along with consuming the wrong types of carbohydrates.

Answer 8

get a bad name because someone decided to lump them all in a category. carbs are not bad in themselves, if you eat too many calories then you gain weight. if you only eat food with not nutrition in it, just empty calories then you don't fee your body the nutrition it needs. there is just a wide variety of carbohydrates, alot of them empty but alot of them full of good stuff. its just easier to create a diet that says don't.