Carbohydrate sensitvity?
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| Thu, 06-16-2005 - 10:09am |
A member on another fitness forum inspired me to play around with my macros a little more thoroughly and with the help of Dietpower, it was a lot easier to really *see* what I'm eating. This particular member went to a dietician who diagnosed her as "carb sensitive." I'd never heard of that so I did some research and couldn't really find anything to substantiate that it exists. However, I decided to experiment on myself and see if there might be something to that.
For the last week and a half, I've been eating a higher percentage of protein and fat and kept my carbs between 150 and 175 grams per day. The majority of the carbs I eat are from fruits, vegetables, and a small amount of whole grain things (like my high protein tortillas). In this time period, I've lost 5.5 pounds. My calorie levels haven't really changed much so I think it's a really curious thing that essentially eliminating starchy carbs has caused a loss when nothing except very low calorie diets have produced the same result. I have also noticed a substantial decrease in my hunger levels.
I know Jen has talked about white bread being her "crack" and I'm wondering if biologically, there's something to this. I love bread and can usually control myself around bread, but I wonder if there's something in my body that reacts to starchy carbs that prevents me from losing weight.
Thoughts? Opinions?

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As metabolizing carbs results in cells drawing in 2-3X more water than w/ proteins or fat you will definitely note a difference in overall weight. This is the main reason people drop so much weight in the initial phase of a high protein diet. (This happened for me when I introduced meat into my diet a number of years ago thinking that increasing my protein would help my body deal w/ overtraining. I lost weight & kept it off, but suffered digestive problems, primarily constipation. At first I felt pretty good, but after a while I felt lethargic & fuzzy-headed all the time. It never made a differnce to my strength, ability to build/maintain muscle and did nothing for the overtraining. When I eliminated it I felt somewhat better. Not that I'm trying to push you this way, and bear in mind I'm extremely lactose-intolerant, but I've never felt better/lighter/more energetic than since I've become a vegan. I average approx. 12% protein, continue to lose fat while having no difficulty maintaining muscle & no longer suffer overtraining despite my schedule being more taxing than ever.)
That said I do think that everyone reacts to different foods, be it macronutrients or specific foods, in different ways. However I think the issue w/ carbs is not about total carbs consumed but the type of carbs consumed. Most people will find that if they maintain the recommended 50-60% ratio of carbs but ensure it is comprised primarily of produce, secondarily of whole grains that fat loss and weight maintenance are relatively easy. The problem w/ North American's carb comsumption is that its mostly processed, low fibre, often high fat, starchy carbs such as breads, pasta, white rice, potatoes, etc. (I immediately note a differnce in the way I look & feel when I give into my love of bread-type products, which causes my consumption of produce & proteins to decrease. That's despite the fact that I don't eat any white flour products - only whole grains, usually homemade.)
Be aware that the average North American diet includes approx. 1-1 1/2 X the amount of protein the body actually needs AND that the body can only process a certain amount at a time - the rest just bungs up your digestive system. The big concern w/ higher protein (meat-based) is nutrient imbalance.
I'm not saying that a higher protein ratio is going to be bad for you. I don't know because we all react differently to everything. Just don't jump to any hasty conclusions. I am by the way all for tinkering & experimenting w/ diet as its the ONLY way to learn what works specifically for your body. As a rule though you need to stick w/ something for 3-4 months to draw any real conclusions.
Good luck & take care.
That's exactly what I was saying I experienced since last summer when I cut back on grains.
i agree w/ soleilune that it's about type of carbs, not carbs v. protein. i react badly (and i'm sure a lot of others do too) to flour and processed carbs - they make me hungrier, gain weight, etc. but i don't try to restrict my overall carb intake, i just try to eat mostly or only whole foods, meaning severely restricting flour -- even whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread
Do you differentiate whole grains from flour different from whole grains from rice? Like would you consider brown rice flour better than whole grain flour?
summary of my long last post:
1. flour (of ANY kind) = bad ... whole grains (steel cut oats, barley, quinoa, brown rice, wheat "berries") = good
2. higher protein ratio because you've cut out flour = good ... higher protein ratio because you are eating more meat = bad
Jean,
well i was over simplifying to say it's bad, and it's a lot better than refined flour - but it's not as good for you as a whole grain and it's more likely to prevent weight loss. whole wheat flour is still highly processed, it's just less processed than white flour.
in my view, it's true for everyone, though some people might have a worse time with it than others.
I was just wondering since its mostly what my kids eat--whole wheat bread, ww pasta, etc. but they don't eat much brown rice or other grains.
I agree w/ you about possible long term damage, Jen. I wondered how the 3 month rule would read, but mentioned it because people make assumptions about cause & effect when it comes to diet or exercise too early. The body always reacts to change, be it for better for worse, but sometimes the reaction is simply the process of adaptation so the rule of thumb is to stick w/ something for 3 months before you draw any conclusions. HOWEVER, I think if someone feels worse they should stop immediately.
The whole foods aspect is a really big factor. I think that no matter what ratios a person goes w/ that choosing whole foods will make a huge difference to their health and ability to control their weight.
If anyone is interested (i don't have time to post on this subject) in learning about insulin resistance it is being referred to more & more as pre-diabetes. You may have better luck searching w/ this keyword.
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