One of the problems with "diet talk" is that nobody seems to
agree what "low carb" really means... One person may think of "low
carb" as an Atkins style diet with as much fatty sausages, hotdogs,
and nitrate processed meats as you want and virtually no
carbohydrate based foods at all.
Another person may view "low carb" as 40% of daily calories coming
from carbs instead of the traditionally recommended 55% to 60%.
If you think about it, in a 40/30/30 type of diet, the majority of
the calories are coming from carbs, so that obviously can't be
called "low carb"...yet some people do call it that.
Because of these drastic differences in how different people view
the term "low carb", clients are confused as to what is
recommended.
First of all, I don't recommend "low carb" or "high carb" per se...
I don't think it's vitally important to have any sort of exact
ratio. I think everyone needs to explore for themselves how they
feel at different ratios of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
After all, the most important aspect to your success is your total
calorific intake vs your calorific expenditure over a given time period.
But where carbohydrate intake becomes important is in how it can
affect your hormones and blood sugar in your body and stimulate
cravings. You could tell someone to eat 2500 calories/day of a
higher fat and higher protein content combined with reduced carbs
and they may actually finish the day at 2500 calories because their
appetite is satisfied.
However, tell that same person to eat 2500 calories per day in a
high carb fashion, and they may end up eating 3000 or more calories
per day because the higher carbohydrate diet stimulated their
cravings and they ended up overeating.
If you throw a big steak in front of someone and a
big pile of vegetables, their appetite may well be satisfied when they've done for hours afterward. However, you throw a big plate
of pasta in front of someone, they may devour the entire plate, and
then head back for seconds and maybe even thirds.
This is what happens for a lot of people... once you start eating
large portions of carbs like pasta or rice or cereals, it becomes
hard to stop and then you're craving more carbs an hour later too!
So what I've found to work best for most people
in the past is to eat in a "controlled carbs" manner... this
doesn't mean atkins style... it means very reduced grains, zero
refined sugars (to the best of ability of avoiding), and instead,
getting almost all of your healthy carbs from vegetables, fruits,
and maybe beans on occasion.
This ends up being very similar to the hunter-gatherer type of diet
of meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, and veggies, which I believe
is the healthiest way to eat.
Sometimes it just takes thinking a little differently about the way
you eat and what's considered "normal" in order to get rid of some
of the useless grains and sugars in your diet.
For example, why do we need to eat a burger on a bun? Most people
don't even think of doing it any other way because that's what's
"normal".
Think about breakfast......
do you really "need" the toast with your eggs, or can you do much
better with loads of veggies with your eggs instead?
Whats good for breakfast?
Whole eggs with cheese and loads of veggies, avocado, and some green or white tea with a little raw honey.
So I get my carbs from the veggies and the little bit of raw honey
instead of from the typical toast and orange juice that loads you
up with extra carbs.
...Just some ideas in case it helps you to think differently about
where you get your carbs from.
Food for thought?
This material is for guidance only and does not constitute medical advice, just thought provoking ideas.
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