Calories vs carbs. I don't get it.

amother

Emerald

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 6:48 am

So I'm trying to lose weight. I keep hearing to "stay away from carbs". Those pastas are the worst for people trying to lose weight. What I don't get is that in the supermarket I see things that are "fat free" or "low fat" That have many carbs. An example would be these soups that come in a container and all you have to do is add hot water. The packaging says "fat free" but the nutrition details say it has tons of carbs. So can I eat this "fat free" soup all day and lose weight? It is fat free after all.

amother

Taupe

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 7:15 am

The reason you see so much fat free stuff is because 30 years ago, all the experts said fat was bad. So all the food companies started making fat free food and using sugar to keep it tasting good. Obesity got worse and worse because turns out oops, the experts messed up, and it's not fat that's bad for you but sugar. This is all very recent, so there are still lots of fat free products, but that will change soon. In any event, you're best off not eating anything in a package, but if you do, sugar free is better than fat free.

gp2.0

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 8:43 am

Sugar (this includes all carbs, anything ending in "ose" fructose, lactose etc) converts into a stored form of potential energy called glycogen which is stored in the fat cells of your body. Your body uses this energy to perform many essential tasks. However, especially in a lifestyle where you don't use a lot of energy, you can get enough sugar for your body to function well by eating fruits and vegetables and other low-carb foods.

The trouble begins when you intake more sugar than your body needs to function. Your body keeps packing this sugar/potential energy into storage in your fat cells, but you're not burning enough calories - you're not using the energy so it just sits there, accumulating in your fat cells, waiting to be useful. This is how people get "fat."

Same thing with fat. The right kind of fat is also essential to your body. But you don't need that much of it. When you eat more than you need it gets stored in your fat cells too.

The worst fat to eat is trans fats. Trans fats are fats that aren't functioning properly as fats. They are fats that have been broken and the body doesn't do well with them. They aren't usually found in nature. Trans fats are what raise your bad cholesterol.

For a long time it was believed that saturated fat is bad for you, and for the most part doctors will still say you shouldn't have HUGE amounts of fat, but on the whole fat free items with tons of carbs are worse for you than items with a little fat and a little carbs.

The best diet option is to go both low carb and low fat, and by that I don't mean radical low carb and low fat. Just keep in mind that the average product you buy in the store will have way more sugar and/or fat than the human body needs to be healthy. Homemade foods are best because you know exactly what's going in. Items in the store with more than 5 ingredients on the label are probably a bad idea.

Amarante

Fri, Apr 08 2016, 8:45 am

There are two kinds of carbs - one is considered to be good carbs - I.e. whole grains and other is carbs in the form of processed grains such as white rice or products made from white bread. In general, these foods also come along with simple refined sugars as well as calories in the form of fat - I.e. baked goods and ice cream. Or chips.

In general the best success for losing weight - and maintaining it - seems to be a diet that is composed of lots of fruits and vegetables (these have carbs but because of the other nutrients including fiber) are important nutritionally; lean protein and moderate amounts of complex carbohydrates - I.e. 1/2 cup serving of brown rice or equivalent amount of whole wheat pasta or whole wheat bread etc.

One can make better choices - I.e. although fruit does have sugar, it is difficult to ingest as many whole fruit calories as it would be calories in the form of cookie, cake or chips - think of the difference between eating six oranges and six cookies - and yet both are the equivalent in calories and a cookie might be even more calories. It is also the reason why it is better to eat a fruit than drink juice because if you drink juice, you are not getting any of the satiating fiber but essentially only the fructose (sugar) so you can drink more calories or orange juice than you can eat of oranges.

I find the WW program to be very easy to follow especially with the on-line app. Their system of "points" does the calculations for you so that fat, simple sugar, fiber and calories are calculated and incentivize you to make better choices to maximize your "points". Many healthy foods are zero points like fresh fruit and vegetables.