Carbs turn to fat!
 

-Why oh why must people keep saying this. For example i'll end up talking nutrition with someone in real life.

They will say "the carbs you dont burn off turn to FAT"

why must people have this mindset that carbs in specific have some special ability to turn to fat...

carbs are food,as a matter of fact they are the primary source of energy for humans. Food in general can be converted to fat when extra is consumed. whether its protein, dietary fat or sugars...

-Another thing, people like to say carbs cause alot insulin to be released causing fat storage. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the body storing part of your meal as body fat. The body constantly stores and burns fat throughout the day... The only reason someone should should be extra careful with carbs is if their body has blood sugar control issue such as diabetes.

If the body didnt store any fat when digesting your meal it wouldnt have any good fuel reserves for when your tummy is empty....




-Now i dont see a problem with average joes believing nutrition myths. But the people i hear saying this stuff usually claim to know about nutrition and are attempting to teach these myths to other people, lol.

I have a friend who wouldn't eat anything that contained any degree of fat. After several years of denying his body the proper nutrients his body basically started to devour muscle tissue instead.

He started out looking like someone who could pose for the cover of Men's health or a muscle magazine, since he was completely ripped. He wound up losing over 50 pounds and most of his muscle mass. And, he was so thin at one point that he looked like he had either been a prisoner of war or a chemo patient.

It took months and many doctors to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. Then they linked his health issues to bad nutrition.

His wife was just as bad. She was nine months pregnant and out power walking when her water broke.:rolleyes:

There is something called over doing it. Some fat/carbs in your diet is a good thing.

I've actually read that Almonds are a very healthy snack because they contain a healthy balance of carbs and protein plus a good amount of fiber.

balance in all things.

and the fat you don't burn turns to fat, and the protein you don't burn...

I have diabetes and take insulin (type 1). For kidney health I cut my animal protein down from 100 g/d to 30 g/d, added plant protein 30 g/d and replaced the rest of the daily kcal with carbs. No change in weight (80 kg) and my daily insulin dose actually went down 20% even though I'm eating 40 g/d more carbs. People who buy into this 'carbs are bad, make you fat' are shocked that I can eat so many carb calories and not gain weight. A bicycle is a great way to burn the fuel.

It's not that carbs get converted to fat that's a problem. It's that if you get an insulin response, when the carbs gets converted to fat and stored, your blood sugar goes down and you get hungry again. That's the problem with simple carbs.

Exactly, why is that? Keep learning.

Calories in < Calories out works, but...

Short answer, it doesn't really matter where your calories come from, but...

Long answer, calories are not equal due to several factors. However, net caloric balance is still the main driving force in weight management; which brings us back to the short answer.

It gets really ugly when you start to consider foods effect on hunger / satiety...

+10000

it gets truly ugly when you start to consider hormonal effects of food, nutrient density, vitamin and mineral dificiencies within the diet as a whole...etc, etc, etc. On can easily spend an entire lifetime trying to get a better understanding of it all.

Many women RUN through their pregnancies. I hate to tell you but you're a fool if you think power walking is unhealthy during pregnancy its very healthy to remain active. My next pregnancy despite osteoporosis and arthritis I'm going to be one of them. At 8 1/2 months pregnant I will be doing 5ks, maybe not fast 5ks but a 10 minute mile isnt too strenuous. Exercise is good for pregnant women, running is fantastic. Its actually a horrible idea for an active woman to quit her activities while pregnant. It sends the body into shock, and she's likely to gain a lot more weight too. Plus babies of runner mama's tend to sleep through the night sooner, they soothe themselves better, and start talking sooner. The mother also loses her pregnacy weight much faster, and has easier faster labors. I hate to tell you but exercise is now reccomended during pregnancy. I'm even looking at reccumbents a little now so I can price them out since I'm hoping in a couple of years pregnancy will be on the table.

All athletes need a recovery time. If I was pregnant [which I can't be] I would not be exercising at 8.5 months of pregnancy, I would be recovering [then drinking beer after the baby is born]. I understand what you are saying but common, running at 8.5 months? Let us know in a couple of years. I know my wife had dreams of being pregnant and when she was at 8.5 months all she said was get this thing out of me. I will not comment anymore since I would not want to hijack this thread.

It shoulda broke at a different time?

I've got a video of the women from runningskirts.com running a 5k 8.5 months pregnant :). They were runners prior to pregnancy. Let me tell you I'm not doing bed rest again no thanks. Been there done that was miserable. I'm a high risk pregnancy case and frankly I'd rather be happy and healthy than in a bed. If pregnancy doesnt work out a second time for me itll be adoption. Plenty of beautiful children to adopt. Ideally I'd rather not go that route but itll be what itll be. Plus I blame 90% of my issues due to crappy doctors maybe if they hadnt put me on restricted movement then bed rest we woudlnt have had toxemia.

Info supporting athletics while pregnant:

http://www.dailyruns.com/trainning-while-pregnant/

http://prenatal-health.suite101.com/...while_pregnant

http://www.pregnancytoday.com/articl...pregnant-2251/

http://www.runningskirts.com/PregnancyFitness.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAF_5XxOKg4

The new report circulated earlier this week reccomended women stay active during pregnancy with similair if not the same activities as prepregnancy. I'm not advocating most women run during pregnancy. However I run on average 15-25 miles per week. I also cycle about 40-100 a week. Quitting that kind of training would be stupid. I did not do these activities prior to my daughter. Will I be running fast 5ks? Hell no! Setting land speed records in metric centuries and centuries? Hell no. You can however still do them while pregnant, and I intend to arthritis and all.

"Because the simplest, best thing most Americans can do to cut calories is to give up sugared soda and bread products. " Wrong. We have proven, conclusively, that if you tell us not to eat one thing, we will just eat another. The best thing that Americans can do to cut calories is to cut calories. - TF

Who is this "we" who's "proven conclusively"?

Plenty of folks have achieved weight loss success by identifying their "substance abuse" foods, and their "empty calories", and cutting those out of their diets...or, at least, greatly limiting them.

Foregoing sugared sodas could help the country achieve better health precisely because it does "cut calories".

Health authorities are also considering "sugar taxes" to help promote healthier choices. A one cent per ounce tax is being considered for sugared sodas...it's estimated that it would raise significant revenue, and also cause more people to not drink sugared sodas.

my favorite thing is when the fat people at work tell me that they need to eat every 4 hours or so because otherwise their body will start breaking down their muscle to produce energy and they can't have that!!!

You want weird?
I only eat one meal a day, at night. It's called The Warrior Diet/Intermittent Fasting. I've been living this way for a little over a year now and mainstream medicine tells me I should either be dead, morbidly obese, or wasting away. I feel terrific, am a very lean muscular 135 (at 5'9"), have tons of energy on the bike, etc.
It works for me. Some people probably do better eating high fat than high carb. Some people do better eating carbs than fat. Its all about finding what makes you feel best.

I'm no expert, so I'll just post what I do, and what I've learned from my experiences. Keep in mind that what works for some people, will have the opposite effect on others. I have a friend who is 5'10", probably eats around 3000 calories a day, of only carbs, and he only weighs 135 pounds.

I eat 6-7 meals a day, sometimes 8. I consume somewhere between 2500-2900 calories, or 300 over whatever my maintenance level is for the day, which depends on my exercise. Yes, I count my calories. The only meals which I eat starchy carbs are breakfast and post-workout. The rest of my meals are mostly protein, and vegetables. In the last 3 months, I have gotten much leaner, while GAINING 4 pounds.

Before the above diet, I was eating the same amount of calories, but more of which came from carbs. I was LOSING weight, and looking fatter.

In conclusion,

Carbs have an effect on fat storage. Yes, you need carbs, but only good ones. Also, you only need so many, and really only at certain times. If your going to be sitting on your ass for 4 hours, you don't need fast digesting carbs which are going to spike your insulin levels. This combination will lead to fat storage. ESPECIALLY in a positive calorie balance.(Your eating more than you burn.) After carbs are broken down by the body, they need to go somewhere. Your muscles are full of glycogen because you haven't and aren't going to exercise. And your liver will probably be filled up also. Since your insulins levels are high from the simple sugars now, your body is desperately trying to remove glucose from your blood stream. The only place left for it, is in the form of fat tissue. Should've had some protein.

Very well-written explanation. Thx. I eat similarly, and have had similar results this season.

I've also found that focusing after breakfast on proteins and veggies/fruit, with few carbs, keeps me more alert in the afternoons.



:beer:

Whoops....that's a carb. :D

I am currently reading 2 different books on this. Totally separate approaches to research -- same overall conclusions. Enough that I am going to be getting out the biochem books again to fully understand this. Too much of it makes sense that I want to know the rest of the story.

As stated a couple of times, it is the INSULIN response that is important.

man o man this never ends does it ?

all of you in these types of threads make me laugh my ass off at all the inaccuracy and outright
non-expert knowledge. some of it is true and then peppered with BS throughout.

Shape Up America reports in its current issue on four new studies on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB's) on metabolism and body composition.

The studies reveal the damaging effects of sugar in liquid form on Americans' health. Replacing SSB's with water could save the average American about 235 calories per day...this alone could go a long ways toward reducing obesity and diabetes in the US.

The problems caused by SSB's are so significant, especially with respect to the young, that a national effort to impose a sugar excise tax is growing, supported by researchers and health care professionals. They're also looking at restricting advertising of SSB's to children and adolescents, similar to what's been the policy for tobacco for decades.

...because it's partially true.

They aren't myths, but don't apply as much to active and well-informed people. If one doesn't do a lot of exercise, which one should, then reasonably restricting carbohydrate intake is effective at managing weight.

I really adore my dieting friends, but truly hate getting fitness, diet and nutrition advice from them--especially since they don't exercise (and if they do, it's always the three same lifts at the gym--over and over and over again), they park as absolutely close to the building as possible so they don't have to walk across the street to get to work (and I ride 10 miles in almost daily), and they jump on all of the fad diets (a few are hardcore Atkin's dieters who always bounce back to heavier weights once they give up on the diet--but never learn and go back on it again.)

ok, so maybe I'm just talking about a couple specific friends in particular...hrm.

Moral of the story: listen to their advice with a smile, but don't buy in, and don't argue. Arguing = stress and stress isn't healthy. You know what works for your own body.

Very good article, and I agree, we need serious intervention by the government to stop America's obesity problem. It is sad that we do, but this problem is rediculous.

(Cue neck down footage of obese people.)

The whole problem with simple sugars, especially those found in drinks, is that they cause a HUGE insulin spike. Enough of those, and you become insulin resistant. Ergo, diabetes. And like the article mentions, childhood diabetes is becoming a serious problem. Its tragic that children suffer from this just because our country has a food problem.

Less brownies, cake and x-box; more fruits, veggies, meat and biking!