Why Low Carb Diets Got it All Wrong

<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img height="80" src="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Precision-Nutrition_Carb-Blog-Article_2014-2.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 2rem auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: none; padding: 0px; width: 931px;" width="200" /></div> <br /> <div class="wrapper_inner_fluid" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: news-gothic-std-n4, news-gothic-std, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 750px; width: 745px;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <span style="color: #606060; font-size: 13px;">By Brian St. Pierre shared from www.precisionnutrition.com</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <div class="first" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; padding: 2rem 0px 18px;"> <span style="color: #f4cccc;">Ask almost anyone what they need to do to lose a few pounds, and they’ll probably say: “Cut back on the carbs.” As a nutrition coach, I’ve heard it hundreds of times.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> While the low carb movement has waxed and waned in popularity since the Atkins revival of the late 90s and early 2000s, most folks now assume that carbohydrates are inherently fattening.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Health-conscious diners order bunless hamburgers, skip the baked potato side dish, and send the bread basket back to the kitchen. (Or don’t, and feel guilty about it.)</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In the past few years, I’ll bet you’ve heard (or thought) at least one of the following:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Carbs spike your blood sugar and insulin, which slathers on the body fat.</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Carbs, especially sugar and grains, cause inflammation.</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Carbs are not an essential part of the diet like fat and protein.</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Seems simple and logical. Which is the problem.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> These simplistic statements about “good foods” and “bad foods” ignore biological complexity and the bigger picture.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Let’s look closer.</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Do carbs increase insulin levels?</h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Yes, they do.</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Does increased insulin after meals lead to fat gain?</h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> No.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> (Insulin’s actually a satiety hormone — in other words, it makes you feel full — so the idea that on its own it leads to fat gain doesn’t make sense.)</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Are carbs really inflammatory?<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong></h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> That depends. Are we talking about processed corn syrup? Probably.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But if we’re talking about whole grains, <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/should-you-avoid-grains" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa;">not really</a>.</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Are carbs less important than protein, fat, and the many micronutrients that contribute to our health?</h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong>Well, if you’re talking about processed carbs, the answer is a resounding yes.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But if you’re talking about whole, minimally processed carbs, that’s a different story.</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Can a low-carb diet work to help people lose weight?</h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Of course it can.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Is it because it is low in carbs?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Maybe. Maybe not.</div> <h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Can eating an appropriate amount of carbs actually help you look, feel and perform your best?</h4> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> You bet it can.</div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> The problem with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">not</em> eating carbs</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> As a weight loss strategy, cutting carbs (while reducing the total number of calories) clearly works pretty well for some people. If it didn’t, then Atkins would have never been popular in the first place.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Here’s the thing, though: <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Carb reduction costs us.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> You see, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">most of us require some level of carbohydrates to function at our best over the long term</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Sure, we can cut carbs <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">temporarily</em> if we need to lose weight quickly. But for most of us, keeping carbs too low for too long can have disastrous consequences.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> This is especially true for those of us who work out.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> If you’re sedentary, your carb needs are lower. So you might be able to get away with more restriction.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But if you like to exercise regularly and enthusiastically, restricting your carb intake too drastically can lead to:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">decreased thyroid output</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">increased cortisol output</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">decreased testosterone</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">impaired mood and cognitive function</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">muscle catabolism</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">suppressed immune function.</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In other words: Your metabolism might slow, your stress hormones go up and your muscle-building hormones go down.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> You feel lousy, spaced-out, sluggish, cranky… and maybe even sick.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Most vexing of all: <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">You probably don’t even lose that much weight in the long term.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> If you’re interested in the details and some research, read on. If you just want to know what to do, skip to the end.</div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Decreased thyroid</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In order to function properly and to maintain an appropriate metabolism, our body produces an important hormone called T3. T3 is the most active thyroid hormone and is incredibly important for blood glucose management and proper metabolic function.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Low T3 levels can lead to a condition called euthyroid sick syndrome</strong>, in which people are constantly cold and sluggish. (Imagine your metabolic “body motor” idling at a slower speed.)</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> A landmark study, known as the Vermont Study, found that T3 is very sensitive to calorie and carbohydrate intake. <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">When calories and carbs are too low, your T3 levels drop</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In addition, the Vermont Study found that another hormone, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">reverse</em> T3 (rT3), is <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">also</em> sensitive to calorie and carbohydrate intake. Reverse T3, as the name implies, inhibits T3.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Getting enough carbs can lower reverse T3. Not eating enough carbs will increase it, thus blocking the important work of T3</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> The Vermont Study is far from alone. Other research confirms that ketogenic (ultra-low carb) diets reduce T3 levels as rapidly as starvation.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Additional studies  show that when calories are held constant (in this case at 2100 calories), reducing carbohydrates from 409 g to 202 g and then to 104 g significantly reduced serum T3 levels (from 91 to 86 to 69 ng/dL respectively).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Finally, French researchers examined four calorically equal diets (2800 calories in this case), lasting 1 week each. Two of these diets contained 250 grams of carbs, which is a fairly typical proportion. The low-carb diet included 71 grams of carbs, and the high-carb diet included 533 grams of carbs.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> T3 levels were equal on the normal and high carb diets (ranging from 163.3 to 169.5 ng/100 mL). However, on the low carb diet they fell to 148.6 ng/100 mL on average. And of course, rT3 correspondingly rose on the low carb diet, but not on the standard or high carb diets.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Thyroid hormones are important for more than just weight loss; they also have profound effects on our overall health and energy levels.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Thus, when you don’t eat enough, and/or eat enough carbs while training:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">T3 goes down</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Reverse T3 goes up, further blocking T3</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">You feel like crap, and eventually your training sucks</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">If you’re active, you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">need</em> adequate energy and carb intakes for a healthy thyroid.</strong></div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Cortisol up; testosterone down</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Research consistently shows that <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">people who exercise regularly need to eat enough carbs or their testosterone will fall while their cortisol levels rise</strong>. This is a sure-fire recipe for losing muscle and gaining fat.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Incidentally, it’s also a marker for excessive training stress.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In a study in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Life Sciences</em>, men who ate a high carbohydrate versus a low carbohydrate diet for 10 days had higher levels of testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin, and lower levels of cortisol.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> A few years later, another study took this research a step further. This time the subjects included men and women who exercised regularly. And in addition to considering the effect of their diet on hormones, researchers put them through some performance tests.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Once again, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">when the subjects ate a low carb diet, their testosterone (and other anabolic hormones) went down, while their cortisol went up</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> And, after following a low carb diet for just <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">three</em> days, only two of the six participants were able to complete the cycling test! Meanwhile, when following the higher carb diet for three days, all six participants were able to complete the test.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In 2010, researchers reconsidered the same question — this time in relation to intense exercise. In this particular study, subjects eating the low carb diet (where 30% of their calories came from carbs) saw a drop of 43% in their testosterone to cortisol ratio. Not good. Meanwhile, the control group (who got 60% of their calories from carbs) saw no change in their testosterone/ cortisol ratios.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thus:</strong></div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">inadequate carbohydrate intake can decrease testosterone (which no one wants); and</strong></li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">increase cortisol (which no one wants); while</strong></li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">negatively affecting performance (which no one wants).</strong></li> </ul> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Carbohydrates and women’s hormones</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> We now know that <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">eating too low-carb for too long can cause significant disruptions to many hormones</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">This seems especially true for women</strong>, whose bodies may be more sensitive than men’s to low energy or carbohydrate availability (perhaps because of the evolutionary importance of having enough body fat and nutrients to sustain a pregnancy).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> While organs like our gonads or thyroid make hormones, Mission Control of our hormone production system is the central nervous system (CNS), i.e. the brain.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Our hypothalamus and pituitary glands, which sit in the brain, are exquisitely sensitive to things like energy availability and stress (which can include life stress and exercise stress).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> The hypothalamus and pituitary work together with other glands such as the adrenal glands. This partnership is often known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Thus, when women don’t eat enough calories or carbohydrate — or even when women eat enough calories but not enough carbohydrate — they face <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">hypothalamic amenorrhea. </strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> This means disrupted hormones and stopped — or irregular — periods because of the HPA’s response to perceived starvation and stress.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In hypothalamic amenorrhea, hormone levels plummet, and the cascade is felt throughout the system. You end up with low levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In addition, we’ve already seen that not eating enough carbohydrate tends to increase cortisol levels. When cortisol rises, it signals your HPA axis to further decrease pituitary activity. Not good.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Your HPA axis regulates functions such as stress response, mood, digestion, immune system, libido, metabolism and energy levels.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> And your pituitary in particular is responsible for synthesizing and secreting growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, prolactin, LH, FSH and other incredibly important hormones.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> With all this said, here’s the takeaway message: Many women try to eat low-carb, wanting to be healthier.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Yet because low-carb diets can significantly disrupt hormone production, women with too-low carb intakes — especially active women — can face:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">a stopped or irregular menstrual cycle;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">lowered fertility;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">hypoglycemia and blood sugar swings;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">more body fat (especially around the middle);</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">loss of bone density;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">chronic inflammation and worse chronic pain;</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">chronic fatigue and disrupted sleep; and</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">a host of other chronic problems…</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> …ironically, this is the exact opposite of what they wanted in the first place.</div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Muscle loss</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> When we think about building muscle, we usually think of protein. But research shows that lowering carb intake can affect your muscle mass <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">even if</em> protein remained constant.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In other words, even if you’re guzzling protein shakes or eating steak 5 times a day, you could be losing muscle if you aren’t getting enough carbs.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> A recent study from the Netherlands compared three diets:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">a high carb diet (85% carbs);</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">a medium carb diet (44% carbs); and</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">a low carb diet (2% carbs).</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> All diets had the same total calories and the same amount of protein — 15%. (Yes, a little low, but more or less adequate.)</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> The result? For starters, pretty consistent with other research.</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">T3 levels and reverse T3 levels stayed the same with high and moderate carbohydrate intake.</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">T3 levels and reverse T3 went down on the low-carb diet.</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But here’s the interesting wrinkle. In this study, the researchers also measured urinary nitrogen excretion to see how the diets affected protein breakdown.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In this case, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">the low carb diet <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">increased</em> muscle breakdown, because severely low carbs lowered insulin levels.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Again, you’d assume that protein intake would determine muscle breakdown. And you might assume — based on what you’ve heard — that having higher insulin is always “bad”.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In fact, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">insulin is crucial for building muscle</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">When you get enough carbs to meet your needs, you replenish muscle glycogen and create an anabolic (building-up) hormonal environment</strong>. You get strong and buff. That’s good.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Conversely, when you don’t eat enough carbohydrate, muscle glycogen is depleted and a catabolic (breaking-down) hormonal environment is created, which means more protein breakdown and less protein synthesis.</strong> This means slower muscle growth — or even muscle loss.</div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Putting it all together</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> The bottom line? <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not eating enough carbohydrates can lower T3 levels, disrupt cortisol to testosterone ratios, interfere with a woman’s delicate hormone balance, contribute to muscle loss, and prevent muscle gains.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Definitely not what most of us want!</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But wait a minute.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Even if all of this is true, aren’t low carb diets better for fat loss?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> And aren’t fat-adapted athletes performing just as well as athletes who eat a lot of carbs?</div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Low carbs are not better for fat loss</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> The logic seems so clear and appealing: <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">High carbs lead to insulin which leads to fat storage. Low carbs keep insulin low, which should get you effortlessly lean while you enjoy chicken wings, salmon, eggs, and butter</em>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Indeed, many people who try low-carb dieting are initially pleased by an immediate weight loss… which is mostly water and glycogen. So, in the short term, it <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">seems</em> like low-carb diets are superior.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But does long-term evidence support low-carb dieting?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Research says no. <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Over the long haul, any differences between low-carb and other diets even out.</strong></div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Protein: The hidden success factor</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Most studies that suggest low-carb diets are superior suffer from a common methodological flaw: They usually don’t match protein intake between groups. This means that the low carb group often ends up consuming significantly more protein.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> We know that getting plenty of protein has many advantages:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">protein has a higher thermic effect — our bodies have to “rev up” to digest it (you’ll know this if you’ve ever gotten the “meat sweats” after a big steak);</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">protein makes people feel fuller, longer; and</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">protein helps people retain lean mass.</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In other words, the big “secret” might be a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">high protein</em> diet rather than a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">low carb</em> diet.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> So let’s play fair and look at a study where protein was matched. In this study, subjects who ate a moderate carb diet (40% calories from carbs) reported significantly better mood, and <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">lost about the same amount of weight as those on a ketogenic low-carb diet</strong> (5% calories from carbs).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Actually, the group who ate a moderate amount of carbs showed a small (though not statistically significant) tendency to lose <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">more</em> body fat as compared to those on a low carb diet (5.5 kg vs 3.4 kg in 6 weeks).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Both diets improved insulin sensitivity. However, the ketogenic diet also increased LDL cholesterol and inflammatory markers and subjects who were on it felt less energetic.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Thus, in this study:</div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">moderate carb eaters felt better</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">moderate carb eaters lost about the same amount of weight, maybe even a little more</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">both types of eaters improved insulin sensitivity</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">the low carb dieters ended up with worse blood work and inflammation</li> </ul> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Makes you wonder why low carb gets so much hype, doesn’t it?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Especially considering that a recent review of long-term low carb versus low fat diets — the largest of its kind so far — found that both low carb <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">and</em> low fat diets reduced people’s weight and improved their metabolic risk factors.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In this review, both diets had about the same weight loss, changes in waist circumference, and measurements of several metabolic risk factors (blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin).</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Still, it would be great to understand more about what makes low carb diets “work” at all. One recent study asked: Do low carb diets work because they restrict carbs or because they tend to increase protein?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Over the course of one year, the researchers compared four different conditions:</div> <ol style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">normal protein, normal carbohydrate</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">normal protein, low carbohydrate</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">high protein, low carbohydrate</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">high protein, normal carbohydrate.</li> </ol> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Interestingly, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">the two groups eating the high protein lost the most weight</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> And the real kicker? <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Varying the levels of fats and carbs seemed to make no difference to body composition.</strong></div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Who needs carbs? Who doesn’t?</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> As our name implies, at Precision Nutrition we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all dietary recommendations.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Like most things, carbohydrate requirements fall on a bell curve.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="Bell curve diagram copy r1 1024x715 Carb controversy: Why low carb diets have got it all wrong." height="418" src="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Bell-curve_diagram-copy_r1-1024x715.png" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 2rem auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: none; padding: 0px; width: 745px;" title="" width="600" /></div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Most people do best with some carbs.</h3> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">About 70% of you will do really well with PN’s standard hand-size portion guidelines.</strong> (See our <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/calorie-control-guide" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa;">Calorie Control Guide</a> for more.)</li> </ul> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Around 25% of you will do really well increasing or reducing your carb servings by just a little bit.</strong> This is what we call eating for your body type, and we outline our recommendations <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fix-a-broken-diet" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa;">here</a>.</li> </ul> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> A few people do best with high carbs.</h3> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">About 2.5% of the population — people who are ultra-endurance athletes, and a few other outliers — will thrive when eating incredibly <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">high</em> amounts of carbs. (We’re talking ≥ 70% of their total calories).</li> </ul> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> A few people do best with low carbs.</h3> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">In fact, ketogenic diets are actually prescribed for people with epilepsy, as they seem to reduce their symptoms and cut down on seizure frequency.</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;">Very sedentary people, as well as people who are extremely metabolically dysregulated (e.g. metabolic syndrome, diabetes), may benefit from a lower-carb diet for a while as part of an overall transition towards more activity and healthier metabolism.</li> </ul> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> A unique specimen: The low-carb athlete</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> You might have been wondering about that remaining 2.5% of successful low-carbers.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> While rare, these ultra-low-carb people do exist. Even in athlete trials, where the vast majority of participants do better on high carb diets versus low carb diets, you’ll almost always find a few who perform better on a low carb regime.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> This study on competitive cyclists offers a perfect example. While the authors concluded that endurance wasn’t generally affected by a high-fat, low-carb intake — at least after athletes became adapted to it — individual responses to this diet did vary enormously.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Two of the five participants got tired sooner when eating low-carb (taking 48 and 51 minutes to conk out, respectively). But one participant actually got <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">better</em> by 84 minutes on the low carb diet.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The data are clear: Each athlete — each person — is unique when it comes to carbohydrate requirements.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> While on average the performance of the cyclists did not vary whether they were eating high carb or high fat diets, there was one interesting difference, highlighted by the study authors in a review study done twenty-one years later.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> After a week of adaptation to the low-carb diet, most cyclists felt that they could more or less perform normally… except for their sprint capacity, which <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">never</em> seemed to recover while restricting carbs.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> If you are a high-performing athlete, this might be especially important to keep in mind. Even in extreme endurance sports, sprint capability can be vitally important. Especially as you’re nearing that finish line.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">But before we get too carried away in the opposite direction and start carb loading, let’s remember this basic truth: Most of us are not elite athletes.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> So while studies will show that on average athletes tend to perform better with higher carb intakes, this is not a universal rule. There is always individual variability.</div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> What this means for you</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Sometimes, we get so caught up in fad diets that we forget to look at the evidence. But fad diets are mostly bad diets.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> For many years, we thought the secret to maintaining our weight was to eat lots of carbs and reduce our fat intake. Just think of the old Food Guide Pyramid with grains at the bottom and oils at the top.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Low-fat, high-carb didn’t work for most of us</strong>. People felt deprived and hungry; they “cheated” with “fat-free”, high-sugar treats; and they ended up eating a lot of rice cakes.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Then the pendulum swung, people hopped on the low carb, high fat bandwagon, and it was party time with almond butter, bacon, and heavy cream.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Unfortunately for most of us, low carb doesn’t work so well, either.</strong></div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Strict diets aren’t the answer</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> If your eating plan isn’t working for you, it’s tempting to make it more restrictive. You might assume that if you aren’t losing fat going kinda low-carb, you should go full ketogenic.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> But <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">more restriction almost never works</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Don’t take your nutrition to extremes — unless you have extreme goals.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strategic moderation, as unsexy as that sounds, is the only sustainable method.</strong></div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Most of us need some carbs</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Most of us will look, feel, and perform our best when we balance a reasonable amount of lean protein, quality carbs, and healthy fats.</strong></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Our standard portion size recommendations aren’t just what we <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">think</em> is best. They’re what we <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">know</em> is best, based on careful research and our experience with 20,000 clients to date.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <img alt="V Type Diet Women Carb controversy: Why low carb diets have got it all wrong." class="size-full wp-image-42060 " height="321" src="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/V-Type_Diet_Women.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 2rem auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: none; padding: 0px; width: 745px;" title="" width="612" /></div> <div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.25em; font-style: italic; padding: 0px 0px 18px; text-align: center;"> Portions for women</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <img alt="V Type Diet Men Carb controversy: Why low carb diets have got it all wrong." height="360" src="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/V-Type_Diet_Men.jpg" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 2rem auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: none; padding: 0px; width: 745px;" title="" width="612" /></div> <div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.25em; font-style: italic; padding: 0px 0px 18px; text-align: center;"> Portions for men</div> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Experiment & have fun</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Our recommendations let you be flexible, enjoy the high-quality foods you love, and adjust your intake to your own experience, goals, and unique needs.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Don’t like rice? Fine. Try another carb source.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Don’t like beef for your lean protein? How about eggs?</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Need more carbs to support your athletic performance? Cool. Add another few servings and see how it goes.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Curious about balancing your blood sugar by dialing back the carbs just a little bit? Great — give it a go, monitor your glucose levels, and see how you feel.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> YOU are unique. Your body is unique.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Your individual carb requirements depend on your:</strong></div> <ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.25rem; padding: 0px 0px 10px;"> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">goals</strong> (fat loss, muscle gain, maintenance)</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">genetics</strong> (different body types, medical conditions)</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">carb source</strong> (refined versus minimally processed)</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">activity level</strong> (sedentary, weight-training, endurance athlete).</li> </ul> <h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 1.35rem; line-height: 2rem; margin: 0.25rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Keep it simple</h3> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Don’t overly restrict</strong>; don’t over-think it; don’t waste time with “carb math”.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Enjoy a wide variety of minimally processed, whole and fresh foods</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Observe how you look, feel, and perform</strong>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Decide what to do based on the data you collect about yourself</strong>, not on what you think you “should” do.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The only “rules” come from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">your</em> body and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">your</em> experience</strong>. Don’t follow a dietary prescription for anyone else’s body.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> And above all, for most active people, <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">carbs are your friend!</strong></div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> Eat, move, and live… better.</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> High carb, low carb…the health and fitness world can sometimes be a confusing place. But it doesn’t have to be.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> Let us help you make sense of it all with this <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/weekly-email-updates" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa;">free special report</a>.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> In it you’ll learn the best eating, exercise, and lifestyle strategies – unique and personal – for you.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <a href="http://www.precisionnutrition.com/weekly-email-updates" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa;">Click here to download the special report, for free.</a></div> <h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00bbe3; font-size: 2.25rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 2.75rem; margin: 1.5rem 0px 0px; padding: 18px 0px;"> References</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 0px 18px;"> <a href="" id="references_link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7baa; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;">Click here to view the information sources referenced in this article.</a></div> <div class="best_of" style="border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: normal; margin-top: 3em; padding: 2rem 0px 0px;"> </div> </div> </div>

21 Day Fix, carbs, clean eating recipes, diet, food, health, health and fitness, lifestyle, nutrition

Why Low Carb Diets Got it All Wrong

By Brian St. Pierre shared from www.precisionnutrition.com Ask almost anyone what they need to do to lose a few pounds, and they’l...

How many carbs should I be eating?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaK5dO3SFD13ZF1Pbf3NFckHjt1ceM-dd-DL2G1bvYtskrT7H0hy5nefXODrvhdMsKLvee5t1N3ZLwqG-B7tbZ-Dh8BaG4oV98C8PS4aoRMocDRPQ39cSLegqEREiupEm2yTC6l6GLCgd/s3200/carbs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaK5dO3SFD13ZF1Pbf3NFckHjt1ceM-dd-DL2G1bvYtskrT7H0hy5nefXODrvhdMsKLvee5t1N3ZLwqG-B7tbZ-Dh8BaG4oV98C8PS4aoRMocDRPQ39cSLegqEREiupEm2yTC6l6GLCgd/s3200/carbs.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">carbs. They are awesome. But… too much of anything is never good and not getting the adequate amount of something that your body needs, is just as bad. I’ve experienced both sides of the spectrum.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I started making smarter choices with nutrition, I would over eat everything. Over eat fast food, over eat snacks, over eat Taco Bell at 3am. You get the picture. Once I got more involved in the “fitness world” one thing that I began to look at with an evil eye was carbs. I didn’t even know how much my body actually needed to perform basic bodily functions. I just wanted to “get skinnier”. </span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happened? I did get skinnier. But <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">it</b> <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">didn’t last </b>and led to “I’m having a bad day, give me 5 baskets of Red Lobster!” binges. You know what else happened? Mood swings, constant headaches, always feeling tired, bloated, etc. Not fun. </span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once I started working with a nutritionist–who didn’t care if I was leaning, she cared that I was pleasant to be around and my brain was running properly–I started incorporating more carbs in my diet the smart and healthy way (based on current and longterm fitness goals).</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s how I did that. </span></span></div> <div style="background-color: #e5e6eb; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff2473;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the average woman needs between 45-65% of their daily calories to come from good quality carbohydrates. </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After determining your caloric needs from the table below you can easily calculate a carbohydrate <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">range</em>. (<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Remember, everyone’s body is different and these are guidelines for the average, healthy individual trying to maintain weight. Find what works best for you.</span></em></span>)</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amandaadams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-06-at-7.38.51-AM.png" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #9ec000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Screen Shot 2014-03-06 at 7.38.51 AM" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1510" height="169" scale="0" src="http://www.amandaadams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-06-at-7.38.51-AM-600x169.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 2.4rem; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" width="600" /></a> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" src="file:///Users/amandaadams23/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application%20Support/Evernote/accounts/Evernote/amandaadams23/content/p720/4a986275f08f3912f69a801bb48f2395.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Let’s take myself for instance. I work at a desk daily and exercise 3-4 days a week. I would be considered Active. </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First let’s find my caloric intake.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  2,400 Calories</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-   400 (for weight loss)</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">————————-</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  2,000 Calories PER DAY</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now let’s find my carb intake.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   2,000 Calories</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x     .45 (for % of carbs I need) </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">———————–</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">900 Calories from Carbs</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, cool.  I know how many calories from carbs that I need.  Now, how many <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">grams</i> is that?  Since 1 gram of carb = 4 calories, we divide 900 (calories from carbs) by 4.  It’s simple math that looks like this:</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">945 / 4 = 225 g carb per day.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I first saw that number after being on a low carb diet, I was so confused. However, once I started trusting that my body needs carbs and providing it with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">good quality carbs</em> –whole grains, veggies, fiber rich fruits– not only did I get the “skinny” feeling I wanted, but I FEEL good now. I don’t have constant headaches, feel like I need a nap throughout the day, or snap at my loved ones for who knows what.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mindset is healthier too. I don’t feel the need to devour 5 bread baskets each time I’m out to eat. I enjoy a few because my body isn’t in an, “Omg, I have to have that now” mode. (The staff at Red Lobster appreciates that from me now too). </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is definitely something I emphasize with my #Fitnation<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"> </span>girls and we have already had some amazing success stories from it and I want you to have that same feeling too!</span></span></div> </div> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 30px;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff268d;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Down 3 pounds this week, feeling great, and eating more carbs than I normally do…makes for a happy me!” -Julie M.</i></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff268d;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 30px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff268d;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I put on jeans for the first time since I started this program and they are HUGE on me! I had to go shopping for new ones and guess what?! I went from a size 4 to size 2! Doing less cardio and lifting heavy and eating more carbs than I have in years” Megan K.</span></i></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’re currently on a low carb diet and are dealing with negative effects like I did above, then slowly start incorporating them back into your diet. Give it time and find what works for you. Just remember, good quality carbs are your friend not your enemy.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you feel like you need more guidance on how to healthfully incorporate carbs, sign up for my <a href="http://www.beachbodycoach.com/alyssaschomaker" target="_blank">FREE COACHING</a> You’ll also be given a chance to sign up for my private, online community where you’ll have access to me and other fitness and nutrition experts daily. It’s Awesome.</span></span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2.6rem; padding: 0px;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can’t wait to hear your feedback on this! Leave a comment below on your experiences with this or any questions you may have!</span></span></span></div> <div> <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></span></div> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> </div> </div>

binges, calories from carbs, carbs, low carb, nutrition, nutrition for p90x3

How many carbs should I be eating?

carbs. They are awesome. But… too much of anything is never good and not getting the adequate amount of something that your body needs, i...

Empty Calories: Shoppers beware

<div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I’ve learned more about nutrition, I’ve become increasingly aware of the ubiquity of foods that offer almost no nutritional value whatsoever. What’s so shocking is that most foods that are available at your grocery store fall into this category known as “empty calories”.</span></div> <br /> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What Are Empty Calories?</span></h2> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Empty calories are foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, and fiber. Empty calories typically are highly processed, have added chemicals and sugars, and may add synthetic (not natural) vitamins and minerals after processing.</span></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">While I seldom eat empty calories now, I lived on empty calories for most of my life. As you’ll see from the photos below, it’s hard not to eat empty calories because they are simply everywhere and are considered “normal” foods. It took me a long time to “readjust” my taste buds and become accustomed to eating more natural, unprocessed foods. Now, I really don’t miss empty calories and carbs at all.</span><br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My estimate is 70% of the foods at an average U.S. grocery store are comprised of empty calories and carbs that provide little, if any nutritional value. The foods that are high in sugar may even be toxic for your health (</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The photos below I took at the same grocery store, which represents just a small sample of all the empty calories & carbs.</span></u></b></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #1 – Sugar Cookies</span><br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 1 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="332" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-1.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #1" vspace="10" width="551" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #2 – Sugary Syrups & Jam</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 2 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="450" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-2.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #2" vspace="10" width="272" /></span></center> <br /> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #3 – Let Go My Eggo With Chocolate Chips!</span><br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 3 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="344" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-3.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #3" vspace="10" width="554" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #4 – Chips Anyone?</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 4 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="344" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-4.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #4" vspace="10" width="554" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories #4 – Here’s Another Helping of Chips…</span><br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 5 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="344" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-5.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #5" vspace="10" width="554" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #6 – Endless Fruit Juice</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some fruit juices are fairly nutritious, but most have tons of added sugars, don’t fill you up, and lack nutrition. Drinking calories is one of the easiest ways to gain fat. Nothing is as good as water for hydration of course.</span></div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 6 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-6.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #6" vspace="10" width="552" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #7 – Endless Soda</span></div> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 7 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-7.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #7" vspace="10" width="553" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #8 – Rolls & Cakes</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;">  </div> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 8 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="333" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-8.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #8" vspace="10" width="552" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #9 – Candy Galore</span></div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 9 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="334" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-9.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #9" vspace="10" width="554" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #10 – More Candy….</span><br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 10 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="339" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-10.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #10" vspace="10" width="562" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;">  </div> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #11 – And Even More Candy….</span></h2> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 11 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="405" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-11.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #11" vspace="10" width="245" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #12 – Breakfast Cereals, or Candy?</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some cereals have vitamins, minerals, and are low in sugar, but most are basically like eating candy. Check out the amount of sugars per serving in some of these cereals and you’ll see what I mean. Even the “healthy” cereals are dubious.</span></div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 12 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="339" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-12.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #12" vspace="10" width="562" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #13 – The Definition of Empty Carbs…</span></h2> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">White bread doesn’t have added sugars like all the other examples, but doesn’t bring much to the table. I’m only human and eat white bread from time to time, but more natural carbohydrate sources are preferable.</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 13 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="339" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-13.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #13" vspace="10" width="562" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #14 – More Cookies…</span></h2> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 14 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="339" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-14.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #14" vspace="10" width="562" /></span></center> <br /> <br /> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Empty Calories Pic #15 – And We Can’t Forget Pastries</span></h2> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s not easy for me to add this photo, because I lived on Entenmann’s Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Golden Chocolate Cake growing up. The amount of sugar in these pastries is jaw dropping; only 9 cookies is over 33 grams of sugar, which is 7 teaspoons of sugar. A box is 33 cookies, which is 121 grams of sugar (30 teaspoons of sugar) and 1500+ calories.</span></div> <br /> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 23px; padding: 0px;">  </div> <br /> <center> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="empty calories and carbs 15 Empty Calories At A Grocery Store Near You!" border="0" height="339" hspace="10" src="http://www.builtlean.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/empty-calories-and-carbs-15.jpg" style="border-width: 0px;" title="Empty Calories & Carbs #15" vspace="10" width="562" /></span></center> <br /> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What percentage of a grocery store do you think is empty carbs & calories?</span></h2>

cakes, calories, candy, carbs, cereal, chips, cookies, juice, nutrition, soda, sugar, waffles

Empty Calories: Shoppers beware

As I’ve learned more about nutrition, I’ve become increasingly aware of the ubiquity of foods that offer almost no nutritional value what...