“Sugar is not a vegetable.”
-Gertrude Stein
Oh, carbohydrates. What an emotionally charged subject. You and I might part ways after you read this. If so, best of luck, friend. I’m still rooting for you.
First, let’s start with a TEENY TINY nutrition course. Like, the tiniest nutrition course ever with very broad strokes for clarity. You know this stuff, so it’s a refresher.
There are three macronutrients that make up our foods: Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
Animals are sources proteins and fat.
Plants are sources of some combination of proteins, fat, and carbohydrates.
KEY POINT: There are virtually no carbohydrates in meats. The carbohydrates come from plants. (And dairy which is both sugary and fatty – sound like a good weight loss food?)
We must consume protein and fat for survival. Carbohydrates, not so much. And quite definitely not as much as most people do.
Here is the most important thing I am going to say and you can stop reading after this next section if you want:
If you struggle with obesity or high blood sugar YOU ARE EATING TOO MANY CARBOHYDRATES. Full stop.
Still here? Look, I was too. I was prediabetic and 220 lbs. No judgement!
“Going low carb” is not a fad diet. Reducing how many carbohydrates you are eating is a necessary intervention if you want to have any chance at all of losing weight and keeping it off. There is no ambiguity on this. This is biology.
Carbs raise blood sugar. Blood sugar raises insulin. Over time, too many carbs cause too much insulin to be released which causes insulin resistance which leads to excessive weight gain and/or diabetes. That’s the disease process.
So the real question when it comes to weight loss is not,”do I need to lower my carbs?” The answer is a resounding YES. The real question is “HOW LOW?”
For the love of all that is holy, Heather, HOW LOW?!?!?
Well, that, my friend, depends entirely on you.
Not as in, you get to decide and still get the results you want. Sadly, that is not the case. As in, you must figure out for yourself how metabolically dysfunctional your system is and keep cutting carbs until your system starts to heal itself.
How do you figure that out? Million dollar question. (Considering how much has been spent on diet research more like a billion dollar question.) May I suggest you start with reducing the worst carbohydrates for your health and go from there?
Just as a calorie is not a calorie when it comes to NUTRITION a carb is not a carb.
As you already know there are healthy versions of eating plants and unhealthy versions. Berries = healthy. Cake = unhealthy.
Why is that?
Plants in their closest form to how they grow have fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, fats and other things we benefit from eating.
Once we start processing plants, i.e. once we grind wheat into flour, once we strip rice of the bran layer, once we send corn through a factory and come up with high fructose corn syrup, we have now created foods that, if eaten frequently over time, provide our body with an unnaturally high amount of sugar to have to manage at each meal.
Without the fat or fiber that whole foods provide, which slows down how much sugar is dumped into our blood stream when we eat, these processed carbohydrates mainline sugar. That is not healthy for you.
High sugar = high amount of insulin released to get our blood sugar back to normal range.
High insulin = insulin resistance = weight gain (for many) and, eventually, diabetes.
KEY POINT: When it comes to carbohydrates, THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON.
One cookie, soda, piece of bread, bowl of white rice, never killed anyone. (Well, maybe it did, people die in lots of weird ways. It doesn’t kill most people.) But, eating a combination of foods like this every day for 30, 40, 50 years? That has killed LOTS of people. Probably someone you know. It might be actively killing you. (Ouch. Too far? It was for dramatic effect.)
If you want to stop being overweight because of this issue, you need to reduce your intake of carbohydrates. Dramatically.
If you are looking for a number to start with, you can start with how much you’re eating now and gradually pull it back.
Alternatively, you could start with less than 150g or 100g per day and see what happens. (Your body, your choice.) Most people who want to lower their carbs really benefit from food tracking so they can see their starting point.
How low is too low? I personally don’t believe there is such a thing as too low. But, I will say this, try not to play carb counting games with yourself. If you are trying to stay under 100g, don’t look up how many carbs are in cookies and see how many that is, okay? That is not in the spirit of improving your health.
You know what junk food is. A keto brownie is still a brownie. I’m not hating on brownies, but if you are trying to fix a weight problem it is not going to be solved with brownies. #hardtruths #obvioushardtruths #shotsfired #unsubscribe
A ridiculous game I see people play when they “go low carb” is playing macro games wherein they’re eating factory made frankenfood keto products with “low net carbs” instead of whole foods like berries or avocados.
Foods from nature are healthier than foods from factories. I will die on that hill.
Eating things as close as you can get them to nature are going to be your best possible choices. If it came from a factory and is full of ingredients you’ve never heard of, I don’t care how many carbs it has, it’s not likely a healthy choice.
If you want my for real advice on how to figure out how carbohydrate laden foods affect you, I am a huge fan of having my clients wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). You can see for yourself how different foods affect your sugar. Most people who wear a CGM describe the experience as “eye opening”. For many it has been an absolute game changer.
So, you don’t have to take my word for it that foods you think are healthy are contributing to your weight problem, you can watch it happen in real time.
As always, don’t shoot the messenger.
Make good choices.
Leave a Reply