Wheat Belly

[IRescue452]

You know something I don't understand... why do people confuse grains/wheat with carbohydrates in general? Carbohydrates are just an organic compound containing hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. They're found in tons of stuff, even meat. Musle meat doesn't store carbs for very long and in high numbers so its often called "carb-free" but yes, there are carbohydrates in it. Fruit too. There's 24 grams of carbs in a banana. There's 13 grams in half a cup of grapes. There's 15 grams in a slice of white bread. So you're better off eating the bread in a low-carb diet than a banana, assuming the carbs are all you're concerned about. I hate when people refer to carbohydrates for grains and starches exclusively.

[dab_20]

You know something I don't understand... why do people confuse grains/wheat with carbohydrates in general? Carbohydrates are just an organic compound containing hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. They're found in tons of stuff, even meat. Musle meat doesn't store carbs for very long and in high numbers so its often called "carb-free" but yes, there are carbohydrates in it. Fruit too. There's 24 grams of carbs in a banana. There's 13 grams in half a cup of grapes. There's 15 grams in a slice of white bread. So you're better off eating the bread in a low-carb diet than a banana, assuming the carbs are all you're concerned about. I hate when people refer to carbohydrates for grains and starches exclusively.

This is true, anything that contains sugars are carbohydrates. I didn't know that meat contained carbohydrates, though.


And since the Atkin's diet was mentioned; Atkins, or any very low carb, high protein diet, is BAD! If your body does not have appropriate carbohydrates, it has to resort to using protein for energy. This is NOT an ideal energy source and can be very hard on the kidneys!

[K9soul]

And since the Atkin's diet was mentioned; Atkins, or any very low carb, high protein diet, is BAD! If your body does not have appropriate carbohydrates, it has to resort to using protein for energy. This is NOT an ideal energy source and can be very hard on the kidneys!

That's because people don't do it right. If you actually read his book you'd see that he only advises cutting NET carbohydrates (carbohydrates that are left after subtracting fiber from the total amount) strictly for 2 weeks to basically break the body's dependence on them for energy so that you are burning fat and calories instead, and then to add them back until you are at a reasonable level balanced with protein. Everyone's ideal level is different, dependent on lifestyle, age, activity level, and gender. You are only supposed to eat higher protein during the time period that you have cut the carbohydrates low.

Most people don't really read the details about things like Atkin's or South Beach, but that is why they are BOOKS and not a single page. No one tells people to simply go cut out all carbohydrates and eat high protein as a long-term diet.

This Q&A article addresses some of what I mean as well as some common misconceptions: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...-carb-dieters/