Carbohydrates, and the role they play in a healthy diet, are one of the most hotly contested nutritional debates in the world, both in conventional and ancestral health circles.
One one side, you’ve got folks who say that carbohydrates are nonessential and increase your risk for diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. On the other side, some say that carbohydrates are crucial for good health and should make up the majority of your calories.
It’s no wonder I have so many clients who come to me completely confused about carbs and whether or not they should eat more or less of them.
While some people do incredibly well following a low carb Paleo diet, there are many people who crash and burn on this type of dietary plan. So, how can you tell if you’re the type of person who shouldn’t be eating a low carb diet, and how do you figure out how many carbs you should be eating? I plan to teach you just that in this article.
Is your low-carb diet doing you more harm than good? Find out how many carbs YOU should be eating.
Pregnancy
I recently discussed the role of carbohydrates during pregnancy in an episode of The Ancestral RDs Podcast. The most important reason why women need adequate carbohydrates during pregnancy is to ensure adequate fetal brain development and growth. Another reason is because a high protein diet can be dangerous during pregnancy, and when you cut out carbohydrate as a major macronutrient, you usually can’t help but increase protein as a percentage of calories. Protein intake greater than 25% of calories during pregnancy may lead to decreased mass at birth and increased perinatal morbidity and mortality for the baby.
Like these other experts, I generally recommend 30% of calories from carbohydrates for my pregnant clients, and also for those who are struggling with fertility. Unless you have diabetes or a serious neurological condition that requires carbohydrate restriction, it’s not worth the risk playing around with a low carb diet when you’re pregnant, and these diets aren’t conducive to fertility for many women either. (If you’re interested in more reasons why carbohydrates can affect fertility, read this great post by Stefani Ruper.)
Athletes
If you’re a professional or recreational athlete who trains hard 4, 5, or even 6 days per week (I hope you’re not doing 7 days per week!) and trying to maintain this level of activity on a low carb diet, you may be doing more harm than good to your health and fitness.
While there are athletes who thrive on a well-planned low carb approach (LeBron James most recently!), there are many others who do not. Each athlete is completely unique in their ability to perform well on a low carb diet, and there’s nothing wrong with testing out the diet to see how it affects your athletic ability.
But if you’ve been trying a low carb diet for months now and your workouts are suffering, your weight isn’t budging (or maybe you’ve even gained weight!), and your recovery time is increasing, you’re probably not the type of person who can handle a low carb diet combined with regular intense physical activity.
For my athletic clients, I usually recommend a minimum of 20% of calories from carbohydrate, and depending on the person’s health goals, training schedule, and current issues, I may actually recommend more like 40-50% of calories from carbs.
Again, each athlete is an individual and what works for one person, or even a thousand people, may not work for you. So don’t be afraid to experiment and pay attention to how your diet makes you look, feel, and perform! And don’t hesitate to get help if you need it!
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Hypothyroidism and HPA Axis Dysregulation (Adrenal Fatigue)
Hypothyroidism is one of the most commonly cited medical reasons for needing to eat a moderate carb diet. The main reason why carbs affect thyroid function so directly is because insulin is needed for the conversion of the inactive T4 hormone into the active T3 hormone, and insulin is generally quite low on very low carbohydrate diets.
So if you’ve suddenly started developing hypothyroid symptoms on your low carb diet, it’s a pretty good sign that you’d be better off upping the carbs (and getting your thyroid tested if you haven’t already!) For more about how low carb dieting affects your thyroid, listen to this great interview with Chris by Jimmy Moore.
HPA axis dysregulation, also known as adrenal fatigue, is another condition where a moderate carb intake is important for general health. Kelsey and I talked about adrenal fatigue on our first Ask the RD podcast, so listen to it if you’re unfamiliar with this condition. The main hormone that gets dysregulated in adrenal fatigue is cortisol, and cortisol has been shown to increase on a low carb diet. This means that a low carb diet is a potential adrenal stressor in susceptible individuals. Combine that with a stressful job, inadequate sleep, and overexercise, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for adrenal burnout.
So if you have adrenal fatigue, or if your current lifestyle is already high stress in a few different areas, you may want to increase your carb intake until you can get those additional stressors under control, as you may drive yourself into adrenal fatigue by having a chronically elevated cortisol output. Lara Briden has written a great article on the benefits of whole food carbohydrates in lowering cortisol and raising GABA, a calming hormone that is often low in adrenal fatigue patients.
Gut Health
One of the less discussed downsides of a very low carbohydrate diet over the long run is the potential for alteration of the gut flora. Chris recently covered this issue in a podcast with Jeff Leach, where they discussed evidence that a very low carb diet can lead to gut dysbiosis and a reduction in the diversity of the gut flora. A lot of the information on this topic is new and not fully understood, but it’s reasonable to believe that when you avoid carbs, you’re also avoiding important prebiotics (i.e. food for your gut flora) like soluble fiber and resistant starch.
These prebiotics are essential for promoting the growth of beneficial gut flora. Without them, your beneficial flora can’t produce as much gut-healing substances like butyrate and other short chain fatty acids, and your microbiome composition may even shift in an undesirable direction. And as Chris would say, you’re only as healthy as your gut is: an unhealthy gut contributes to everything from obesity and diabetes, to digestive illness, to autoimmune disease, to skin disorders.
Those who are doing very low carbohydrate diets, and who simply can’t increase their starch intake for whatever reason, should use prebiotic supplements such as resistant starch-rich unmodified potato starch or FOS powder. However, these products must be incorporated slowly into your supplement regimen, as you can experience severe gas and bloating if too many prebiotics are taken all at once, or if there is existing gut dysbiosis or bacterial overgrowth. In this case, it would be wise to work with someone who can help you get the prebiotics you need while on a very low carbohydrate or ketogenic diet to protect the health of your gut microbiota.
How Many Carbs Do I Need?
To determine how many carbs my clients need to eat in a day to reach their health goals, first I decide what percentage of calories from carbs they’d possibly do best with. As an example from above, a woman struggling with fertility issues may benefit from a carb intake around 30% of calories. I then determine her caloric needs using a calculator like this one. If we determine that her daily needs are roughly 2000 calories per day, 30% of calories from carbs is 600 calories. As there are 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrate, this works out to be 150 grams of carbs per day.
Usually I give my clients a target range to hit depending on their activity levels, and we use these targets to re-evaluate their food diaries and see if they’re hitting their goals. Most of my clients are surprised to learn how much carb-rich Paleo foods they have to eat to get up to 150-200 grams per day! But once they start making a real effort to hit those targets, the health benefits are immediate.
Final Thoughts
The purpose of this article was not to bash low carb diets. I truly believe that there are many people out there who get amazing health results from a low carb plan, and there are dozens of health conditions that benefit from a very low carb or ketogenic diet, especially severe neurological conditions. Paul Jaminet has written some great posts explaining when a ketogenic diet may be useful and necessary, so I strongly suggest reading those posts if you’re still on the fence about where you stand with carbohydrates and your health needs.
My hope is that by reading this article, you’ll be able to understand the many factors that play into how a person handles a low carbohydrate diet, and whether or not their health will improve on such a plan. Everyone is different in their ability to thrive on a low carbohydrate diet. If you’ve found yourself identifying with any of the issues I’ve written about in this post, you may be in need of a macronutrient adjustment in your diet.
Helping people optimize their carb intake is a challenge I truly enjoy. As a dietitian, I love to help people evaluate their diet to determine if they’re meeting their health needs with the food they’re eating. If you think you could benefit from a Paleo diet makeover, I’d love to chat with you about where you’re at and where you want to go with your health.
Your carb intake shouldn’t be the major factor that’s preventing you from reaching your health goals. I hope you use the information I’ve shared today to evaluate your own nutritional needs and make the changes that make sense to you.
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Nice comment, great points & questions to consider Ken – Tx for sharing.
I feel many of you brilliant people are overcomplicating the issue of carbs. The questions we should all be asking are what are the optimal sources for healthy carbs and what is the daily amount we should be consuming based on your personal lifestyle? I came up with a few food questions to help make my choices. They are hardcore and don’t take into consideration the nutritional benefits found in happy cross breeding accidents aquired from soaked nuts or sprouted seeds.
Here they are, your feedback is welcome as I am constantly refining these food questions:
Q: CAN I EAT IT RAW WITHOUT COOKING THE FOOD?
If the food is toxic in its raw state, you were not meant to consume it. Cooking and soaking removes most of the anti-nutrients (along with the nutrients) much of the toxicity but not all. It is wise to consume more than 51% of your plate raw.
Q: AFTER CONSUMING, DOES THE FOOD CAUSE A GASTROINTESTINAL, ALLERGIC, BLOATING
OR AN INFLAMMATORY REACTION?
Gas, Allergies and Bloating is your body’s way of telling you that you ate the wrong thing. If it makes you, scratchy, cough, wheeze, runny, cramp, swell, creates excessive mucus or gives you gas then give it pass and remove them from your diet.
Q: AFTER CONSUMING DOES THE FOOD CAUSE YOU TO FEEL TIRED OR SLEEPY?
While it is often said that feeling a bit tired after a meal is normal. I disagree, food should be energizing not depleting in nature. When you consume some of the wrong foods, they convert into sugar rapidly, causing damaging spikes in blood glucose followed immediately by a drop. The result is low energy levels and feeling sleepy.
Furthermore to metabolize the sugar, minerals including magnesium, manganese, chromium, cobalt, copper and zinc are removed from the body tissue where they are stored. This depletes the body of minerals that are essential to health and disturbs critical mineral relationships.
Feeling sleepy after a meal can also be related to health conditions such as Allergies, Food Intolerances, Nutrient Deficiencies and Insulin Problems.
Q: DOES THE FOOD PASS THROUGH YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM WHOLE?
This indicates that you do not have the right digestive enzymes to break them down or have a digestive disorder; Corn, Seeds and Grain are good examples. They are the plant’s reproductive material, intended in nature to produce new plants. You and your Paleo ancestors were meant to transport some of them, then fertilize them when you poop them out. Which brings us to the next question …
Q: DOES THE FOOD COME FROM A PLANT’S REPRODUCTIVE MATERIAL?
The primary purpose of seeds,grains and beans is to produce new plants, It is unwise to consume excessive plant reproductive material. due to their varied protectionisms. In fact there are some that may kill you.
Plant’s reproductive material has evolved natural protectionisms namely anti-nutrients (enzyme inhibitors and lectin) to suede off predators. Lectins are toxic to us. Soaking and cooking can remove some of the anti-nutrients but not all.
Great questions! Though I never made a list, these have guided my food choices for a long time. I seem to do better listening to my body, rather than defining a diet and attempting to stick to it. My needs vary, season to season, and sometimes even day to day. One thing I can say that seems to be true for me in general, is that when I’ve been very low carb for a long spurt, I will have some carb cravings attack me! I’m learning to listen for earlier signs that my body is needing some carbohydrates. Also, in general, “moderation in all things” can be a very helpful M.O.!
Excellent comment
I eat very low carb: 10-50g most days with carb refeeds once every week or two. My health has improved dramatically: IBS has gone, period pains have gone, mood is better, more energy, joint pains have gone, better quality sleep, I don’t become crippled by hunger to the point that I can’t do anything until I get food, I have plenty of energy even after a vigorous exercise. My lipid profile is good, blood pressure is normal, thyroid and female hormones are all normal. So while I appear to be in the pinnacle of health and I feel great right now, this article implies that if I don’t start eating more carbs then I will get sick? But if I start eating more carbs then the IBS comes back, my nose gets blocked up and I get terrible hunger again. The way I feel right now I’d rather take my chances with adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism than go back to the way I feel when I eat more carbs.
Aurora, I’ve been low-carb for years and my health is good. I too probably do 20-40 grams a day, and I fall off the wagon usually every weekend with a little wine, chocolate, wild rice, pizza etc.
Low carb is definitely sustainable over the long term. In fact it makes the most sense as a permanent change. Chris’s comments are well worth reading. There are side effects and complications in some people. If you feel good and your blood workups are good, that is probably important information.
The Atkins approach — which is scientifically very mainstream and very well tested — is for each person to figure out their own tolerance for carbs. For some people it’s 150 grams a day, in some people it’s more like 30.
A lot of the posts on this board I’d be wary of because they’re coming from people who have an axe to grind. Low carb has well organized and powerful enemies. The vegans and animal rights groups are very committed to their cause and they feel no guilt at all about spreading scare stories about meat and low-carb eating. The grain industry and industrial bakeries are paying people to post anti-low-carb messages to forums like this one.
It’s silly. Cutting carbs is a completely simple logical response to health conditions (mainly, obesity and metabolic disorder, or some forms of ibs) that result from eating too much carb food. A little like, if you’re coughing too much, cut down on the cigarettes. Another 20 years and we will be wondering why this was ever the least bit controversial.
Tom said: “The vegans and animal rights groups are very committed to their cause and they feel no guilt at all about spreading scare stories about meat and low-carb eating.”
Tom, I’m not sure where you get this idea from. No one here is advocating for cutting out meat. Quite the opposite actually. Just about anyone who reads this blog knows that meat is essential to health. And up to a pound of meat per day can be quite healthy in a balanced diet.
Tom said: “The grain industry and industrial bakeries are paying people to post anti-low-carb messages to forums like this one.”
No one here is recommending grains or baked goods. If anything, the only carbs people are recommending here are a balanced diet that includes tubers, rice, and legumes. Very simply, eating like an average HG culture does, with everything in moderation. That’s hardly the conspiracy you make it out to be.
Tx Tom,
For having more patience in this convo than me. And, for again, highlighting the primary health issues for Americans & that low carb can be of significant benefit.
While I too have been low carb for over 5 yrs, (50-75grams w/ lots of healthy animal fats) and am significantly the better for it… I just want to toss in re: the importance of essential nutrient intake & as Ken, below mentions – anti nutrients, & the complex symbiosis in our ecosystem that is required for all of us (bacteria, bugs, plants, animals, humans, etc) to survive. Aint it all truly GRAND! Vive Vida!
I’m from the U.S. married and living in Mexico over 11 years. As you may know, one of the staple foods of the Mexican diet are beans (black beans in Veracruz where my wife is from and white beans [“Peruvian” beans] in the northwest-central region where we are currently living in Guadalajara). In March we removed from our diet corn products (tortillas), potatoes, wheat products (Pasta, bread..), soy products and rice along with all products containing corn or potato starch, soy and flour… I may have skipped something. But, being fair to my wife (and since I’ve been somewhat of a “beaner” all my life, to me too to a certain extent), I haven’t removed from our diet black beans, pink beans or white beans… Also, living in Mexico with such abundance of fruit, I haven’t removed from our diet guavas, passionfruit, prickly pair cactus fruit or papaya… I don’t eat bananas since March. Part of the reason for not removing guavas and papaya is that they are the #1 and #2 fruits/vegetables in vitamin C in the world. Vitamin C deficiency is linked to high blood pressure (which I have living 11 years 4,000-8,000 feet above sea level after my first 33 years living near sea level)… Passion fruit is also well known for lowering BP… As for prickly pear cactus fruit (Tunas), they are considered extremely high in anti-inflamatories and anti-oxidants (especially betalans)… All that said, since March I’ve dropped at least 34 pounds, and found that my physical endurance has increased astronomically; two years earlier I could bearly make it to 5kms running. In June I was running very near 10kms (6 miles) 5 days per week… My pant-waist size was 38-40 in the beginning of March. Today it is between 34-36. However, there is a strange fatigue I experience after the run or the day after… I’m in the process of finishing Gary Taubes’ monumentally inspirational book, “Good Calories-Bad Calories” and in the middle of Udo Erasmus’ very informative book “Fats that Kill, Fats that Cure”…, consume between 2 and 6 teaspoons of sugar (in coffee or lime-flaxseed water)–8 to 24 grams/32 to 96 calories per day, ignoring the sugar content of the 2+ guavas, tunas, or apples I may eat in a day (it’s either one or the other; I don’t have that much of a tendency towards eating fruit, not all of the above) and am surprised that, although I find my weight and waistline decreasing, I don’t have that sense of excess energy that Gary Taubes describes… And I eat all the animal fat and coconut oil and animal protein I desire. I don’t believe much in calorie curbing, especially seeing the effects over the past 6 months… that it “a calorie isn’t a calorie…” etc… But, it is interesting reading this piece… And maybe my daily consumption of beans is the equivalent of a carbohydrate increase in those who experience certain aspects of fatigue with exercise on a very low carbohydrate diet… And, with the beans and the sugar and the fruit in my diet, it IS a very low carbohydrate diet compared with the amount of carbs I was consuming through February 2014…
HI Ross,
Something to strongly consider – your salt (sodium) intake.
I, too, had varying issues w/ fatigue & malaise w/ exercise, along w/ feeling really great, most of the time. However, having lower leg cramps & spasms that shot me out of bed led me to do some more research on electrolyte balance. One of the issues in low carb diets, particularly if you are achieving ketosis (even intermittently), is a decrease in insulin levels. Research in IR & diabetes has shown that insulin is a “strong enhancer of sodium reabsorption”[ http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijhy/2011/391762 ] …. As insulin decreases, more sodium (+magnesium & potassium) is excreted. This can be quite acute & variable depending on how you cycle the carbs in your diet & how much exercise/sweating/electrolyte excretion is occurring. Symptoms of low sodium (hyponatremia) include: morning headaches, constipation, nausea, lethargy, fatigue, short term memory loss, confusion, muscle cramps/spasms, low blood pressure, etc. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia ]
Many of the low carb diet instructions include using “bouillon cubes” to offset these symptoms…. However, reality is that as we maintain a low carb lifestyle, our insulin will remain low and, we simply need to increase sodium in our diet as the norm. While I consciously eat a high sodium diet (& occa. supplement magnesium & potassium)…. depending on increased ex. Intensity & electrolyte loss from sweating – I will drink mild salt water solutions to maintain sodium balance. I’ve had clients, on low carb, who were acutely fatigue while exercising – drinking 6oz oz. of H2O + 1/2tsp of salt immediately resolved the issue. I find that a cup of salty water or salty green tea is a great “pick me up” in the afternoons. One of the FAQs I get is “how much salt?”…. like drinking water – stop when you don’t want anymore (and adjust the salinity to taste). That’s how my horses & cattle do it . Sally Fallon Morell has been a great advocate for increasing our salt consumption & highlights the critical importance in overall health in this article [www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-salt-of-the-earth ].
I hope this might be helpful. Viva Vida!
Hi Carmen, what I don’t mention when I write about myself in these groups and conversations is one of the reasons I stumbled across Chris Kresser in the first place and probably why he or his aids won’t respond to something I write because it is well outside their realm of understanding, is that I don’t have a large intestine or a rectum. What is logical for most people becomes illogical for me. I have what is called a J-Pouch; the Ileal part of the small intestine constructed into a semi-artificial rectum, although 100% Ileum. from my father I inherited Familial Adenomatous Poliposis/Gardners Syndrome that led to the removal of my colon at the age of 13 in 1982 and the removal of my rectum just after 9/11. I lose a lot of water in my feces. But, I also drink a lot of water. In blood tests, my sodium level is normal, as is my potassium level and my iron levels hover near deficiency… could be due to problems in the small intestine related to Gardners Syndrome or due to Duodenitis diagnosed 9 years ago. It could also be that the Duodenitis went away with the removal of wheat products (I don’t believe I have Celiac and I don’t believe that only people with Celiac experience life-threatening problems related to the consumption of wheat products. And I don’t believe that it is only Gluten in wheat that is the issue, just as lactose isn’t the only problem with dairy products). I was trying to drink electrolyte drinks before and after the runs. But, it seems that my body (mouth, throat) don’t accept them. And when I have that type of reaction, I tend to take heed of it as if my body is saying, “this isn’t something good for you”. Granted, I don’t have problems with gatorade. But, I doubt gatorade is actually what one truly needs to drink when they have concerns with electrolytes. All this said, since that seems to be my style of communication, you are probably correct about the issue of electrolytes and exercise and I should check my blood tests for when they analyzed my potassium levels last. While I’ve removed potatoes from my diet (there are 30+ fruits and vegetables higher in potassium than potatoes anyway), I do eat a sufficient amount of tomatoes. And now I should stop giving you a headache and read what you wrote 😉
I probably should have read through first before writing the above. I’ve been reading a lot lately. Not all of what I read is on the Paleo reading list or mentioned by the Paleo experts such as Chris Kresser and Mark Sisson. Although maybe they believe Udo Erasmus’ perspective is out dated or in conflict with what they believe, I find it interesting what Erasmus says about gaining Omega 3 from Flaxseeds and have researched about what it would take for you to increase your HDL cholesterol with Flaxseeds instead of with Salmon. But, I live in Mexico. Salmon wherever you live is very expensive. But, in Mexico it is of very questionable quality and not all Salmon is the same… It would be easier and cheaper to gain more Omega 3 from Mackerel than from Salmon. But, there is the same question of where the Mackerel comes from. So, back to flaxseeds: Calculated for what Chris and even Udo says about how much of the Omega 3 in Flaxseeds is not metabolized by the body, I can still obtain the adequate amounts by consuming the equivalent of 5 tablespoons per day (if I were suffering a degenerative disease). You may be wondering what this has to do with what you wrote… Magnesium. In order for you to turn Omega 3 from Flaxseeds into DHA for your health, you must also procure that your body has enough Magnesium (Pumpkin Seeds), Vitamin E (Sunflower Seeds), Vitamin C (Guavas #1 in the world and very low glycemin index due to their soluable fiber), Zinc (Sesame Seeds), Vitamins B3 (Chicken) and B6 (Beef). But, speaking about Magnesium, Pumpkin Seeds are #1 and I eat a lot of them ground and placed in what I’ve cooked… But, that doesn’t mean that I absorb any of this, due to not having the Ileal part of the small intestine. Granted, no one in the world actually explains if the Ileum turned into J-Pouch actual stops functioning although it is alive… In April, my Vitamin B1 was borderline deficient: 8 where normal is considered between 8 and 30. And my Vitamin B2 was low: 11.4 where normal is considered between 6.2 and 39. And when you read about the small intestine and where the nutrients are absorbed, it is mentioned that the Ileum absorbs B12, but it doesn’t mention where B1 and B2 are absorbed. As for B1, I eat organ meats semi-regularly and I haven’t removed legumes from my diet, as I mentioned about beans. As for B2 I eat a lot of chicken, normal amount of mushrooms, legumes, alot of almonds and cheese…
As for constipation… I was experiencing it for the first time in my almost 13 year J-Pouch life between December and May… It has since disappeared, thank god.
As for sweating… I was sweating well during the runs in May and June. But, disappointingly, I’ve found that I don’t visibly sweat since then, not enough for it to visibly show on my shirt after running. But, I do sweat, since I feel that horrible discomfort of suffocating skin hours later if I haven’t yet showered… like now… The bathroom is full of mosquitos and I’m not in the mood to wage war butt naked…
Ok. I got to the end of your very interesting comment. Thanks Carmen!
I’ll check out the links you placed in your comment and the saline water, especially with green tea.
I hope I didn’t give you a migraine.
Ross
I’m not opposed to the theories about gut flora — quite the contrary. I’m only saying that the field is so new, we don’t have enough data to make recommendations one way or another.
Geez, the whole field of microbiome has only begun to get traction in the last 6-8 years. It will be a decade at least and probably two decades before we have a decent base of research.
I’m saying there is no scientific basis to say to an obese person: Well, yes cutting the carbs will help you lose weight and reduce your risk factors for diabetes, heart attacks and cancer — but DON’T DO IT BECAUSE YOU MIGHT HURT YOUR GUT FLORA.
The people who have political or personal reasons to fight the low-carb movement (vegans and and the grain industry, prominently) have used every trick in the book.
They have tried to scare people by intentionally confusing ketosis with ketoacidosis. They have trumpeted all kinds of sketchy and sometimes outright false claims that meat and dairy will give you cancer. And now these people have glommed on to this gut flora thing.
It’s the latest scare tactic — don’t stop eating Rice Krispies and banana nut muffins because your GUT FLORA WILL GO HUNGRY.
My take on this as a non-scientist is that I can maintain gut flora just fine eating low-carb vegetables, salads, low-carb nuts, and occasional grains and starches. But I’m not going to pretend to cloak my choice with scientific authority because that would be dishonest.
“It will be a decade at least and probably two decades before we have a decent base of research.”
Not true at all. There’s already at least 40 years of solid research on our gut bugs. Did you think scientists just discovered gut bacteria a few years ago? That would be a pretty silly assumption to make.
“My take on this as a non-scientist is that I can maintain gut flora just fine eating low-carb vegetables, salads, low-carb nuts, and occasional grains and starches.”
Well, Tom. That’s your prerogative and your own hypothesis. But you should know that there is plenty of data that points in the other direction. As I said, there is over 4 decades worth of data now, that you are apparently unaware of.
Here’s one 2010 paper about cellulose, which is the most common fiber found on the planet and is most typically found in low carb leafy greens.
——–
The cellulose-degrading microbial community of the human gut varies according to the presence or absence of methanogens
“Attempts to elucidate the cellulose-degrading microbial community have only been partially successful as only a restricted number of individuals appear to harbour such cellulose-degrading organisms (Bétian et al., 1977; Montgomery, 1988; Wedekind et al., 1988).”
———
Take a moment to notice the years of the studies referenced in that sentence: 1977, 1988, 1988. This research has been going on for a very, very long time. But, it’s only recently that people have started talking about it.
In layman’s terms, that quote above, tells us that few humans have the gut bugs to metabolize cellulose. So, that big low carb salad you eat every day, Well, if you’re like most people, virtually none of it is fermented by your gut bugs into beneficial compounds, like short chain fatty acids. It mostly just bulks your stool — which I won’t deny is beneficial. It is.
However, it’s well understood that a key goal with fiber diversity is to get your gut bugs to ferment beneficial short chain fatty acids in your colon from the fibers you eat. And a big leafy salad just doesn’t do that according to the research. Even if you did have the right gut bugs, cellulose is well known to have very little ability to ferment into SCFAs compared to other fibers.
This is what I’m talking about here. You seem to imagine that this is all something that’s been dreamed up over the last few months. Nothing could be further from the truth. The data has been there for a very, very long time.
For instance, here’s a paper published in the British Medical Journal, from 1975, on fermenting short chain fatty acids in your colon.
BMJ: Short chain fatty acids in the human colon
That paper was a call to investigate these SCFAs more closely. Now, 40 years later, there’s a huge body of evidence that shows how important these SCFAs produced by gut bugs really are to our health (look it up).
The only thing is, you don’t seem interested in learning about it. Oh well. Not much I can do about that.
PS — The Inuit were apparently not as healthy as we were led to believe. It appears to have just been wishful thinking. A review of the scientific data now shows that the Inuit have a similar prevalence of coronary artery disease as non-Inuit populations and they have excessive mortality due to cerebrovascular strokes. [1][2]
So, there’s that.
The Inuit tended to develop anthracosis from inhaling soot from their seal oil lamps, which certainly causes atherosclerosis. They also had a very high O3 intake.
Seth Roberts was actually reversing his heart disease according to his heart scans. He attributed it to butter. But he also supplemented with mega doses of O3. If I had to guess, I’d say he died of a hemorrhagic stroke rather than a heart attack.
Duck, re the Inuit, I was referring to observational accounts from people who visited Inuit populations 60-80 years ago before Western food arrived.
The significance of those accounts (as well as observational accounts of the Masai in the 50s and plains Indian populations in the late 19th century is that they had virtually no carbs in their diet and they thrived — and presumably had been thriving for many generations.
The point isn’t that the Inuit diet is some kind of model for the rest of us (though high fat may in fact turn out to be a good way to go). To me these studies are useful just to illustrate that carbohydrates are not essential to human survival as so many lay people and even some medical professionals think they are.
As for gut bugs, I’m not saying there isn’t a body of research on gut bugs. I’m saying the research is not NEARLY far enough advanced to tell us how to manage the gut bug populations — what to eat, how to eat.
There is no question that gut flora is important and can be critical to nutrition and health. But I would be highly skeptical of anybody who claims to know what you should eat to feed your bug populations. The whole field of “probiotics” is full of charlatans and snake oil salesmen — and I say that as someone who has tried such products and believe they can probably be helpful in some cases.
BTW your remarks about fiber I generally agree with. Fiber is a good example of something that is beneficial to some people in some cases but has been way oversold in order to market a lot of foods that are probably not good for you.
Pretty much if you see a box of something with the “heart healthy” seal of the American Heart Association, you should not only avoid buying it, you should probably escape that aisle of the grocery store.
Tom,
The Masai have always consumed large quantities of raw milk and honey. Honey is extremely important to the Masai. In fact, this — as well as their weekly habit of trading their meats for carbohydrates with neighboring tribes — was well documented even in 1895.
Secondly, the published scientific literature on the Inuit shows that they were obtaining sufficient carbohydrates from the glycogen in the raw meat they consumed (Heinbecker, 1928, Ho 1972),
Heinbecker wrote: “…Average daily food partition is about 280 gm. of protein, 135 gm. of fat, and 54 gm. of carbohydrate of which the bulk is derived from the glycogen of the meat eaten.”
Ho (1972) wrote: “Carbohydrate accounted for only 15% to 20% of their calories, largely in the form of glycogen.”
Yiu H. Hui, Ph. D. (1985) wrote: “Eskimos actually consume more carbohydrates than most nutritionists have assumed. Because Eskimos frequently eat their meat raw and frozen, they take in more glycogen than a person purchasing meat with a lower glycogen content in a grocery store. The Eskimo practice of preserving a whole seal or bird carcass under an intact whole skin with a thick layer of blubber also permits some proteins to ferment into carbohydrates.” (Principles and issues in nutrition: Yiu H. Hui, Ph. D., p.91 (1985))
The Inuit ate 8 to 10 pounds of raw meat per day (Sinclair 1953), and raw meat has relatively small amounts of glycogen (animal starch) in it. Diving marine mammals have significant glycogen stores to assist them on their extended dives. And even if their meat only contained the conservatively low levels of glycogen found in Western beef, at 8-10 pounds of meat per day, they were consuming 48 to 60 grams of glycogen per day. Of course they also loved the glycogen-rich muktuk and livers too. High levels of glycogen in muktuk were discovered as far back as 1912 (JAMA: Volume 57, 1912).
Interestingly, Heinbecker (1928) showed that the Inuit exhibited normal glucose tolerance when fed their traditional diet. But, when Stefansson and Anderson did their year of Western-style meats, Tolstoi (1929) found that they failed their glucose tolerance tests. This suggests that Stefansson and Anderson were unable to replicate the Inuit diet at Bellevue.
I should also point out that the Masai also preferred their meat raw and fresh. They even drank blood raw and fresh from the leg of their cattle. My guess is that most Western VLCers do not eat this way.
As the literature shows us, both the Masai and the Inuit consumed sufficient levels of carbohydrate and the Western VLC diet is nothing like what these cultures were doing.
So, the Inuit weren’t low enough in carbs and protein to be in ketosis so they died of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, ketosis is bad.
“So, the Inuit weren’t low enough in carbs and protein to be in ketosis so they died of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, ketosis is bad.”
Nope. The Inuit consumed sufficient carbs and apparently died of cardiovascular disease from the anthracosis caused by inhaling too much soot from their oil lamps — as you so brilliantly demonstrated. 🙂
The point is that every indigenous culture made an effort to consume sufficient carbs. Chronic ketogenic diets are a modern invention, which may be beneficial, but haven’t been tested by any indigenous populations.
I maitain my gut flora on nuts, greens, non-starchy veggies, gristle and raw potatoes. Potatoes won’t knock you out of ketosis if they’re raw as they’re mostly RS.
To Duck, if what you’re saying is that it is incorrect to equate “paleo” with “carnivore,” I agree. It is equally incorrect to equate it with herbivore.
It is abundantly clear that different human populations around the world have eaten (and still to some degree eat) the food that is available from their local environment, be it animal, vegetable or both.
As has been pointed out ad nauseum, “paleo” diet is not really a scientific notion because we can’t really duplicate the food that was available to our ancestors. (Otherwise we could travel to Bar Harbor beach and grab 8-pound lobsters out of the surf, too bad…)
However I do think paleo is useful as a way of thinking about food and understanding why modern industrially produced food, for example high-yield grain and high-sugar fruit products, is going to cause health problems in many people. These are foods that were not available to ANY human population when our digestive systems evolved.
Paleo does not belong to carnivorers or vegans, but I do think eating Paleo will naturally cause people to eat less refined “modern” carbohydrates, and that seems to be a good thing that nearly everyone can agree on.
If you’re trying to “eat paleo”, whether you are a carnivore, omnivore or vegan, you are probably going to have a lower carbohydrate load than if you are eating from the middle aisles of the supermarket. And that simple thing will mean less obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer down the line.
100% correct, Tom.
And believe me, Tom, I’m no herbivore. In particular, I just think we need to start investing the role of microbiota-accessible carbohydrates and how they impact human health. No longer can we call all carbs the same going forward.
Specifically, here’s the paper from “Cell” that Chris mentioned, in another article:
Cell Metabolism :: Starving our Microbial Self: The Deleterious Consequences of a Diet Deficient in Microbiota-Accessible Carbohydrates
I think the impact of our food on the microbiota is the next frontier in human health.
The whole world of biome science is so new, it’s too early to draw broad conclusions.
Yes, we know that C diff can be brought under control with stool transplants. There is a lot of well founded theory about the notion that a healthy, diverse microbiota helps to prevent overgrowth of things (candida) that make us sick.
But I don’t think we can say that a low-carb diet will hurt a person by starving the biome. There are really well documented observational studies from recent times of aboriginal populations who lived almost entirely without carbohydrates (the Masai and the Inuit) and seemed to be incredibly healthy. If their microbiota were sucking wind, there’s no evidence this was doing the people any harm.
My theory is the whole “starved biome” theory is another one of those things circulated in vegan circles by people who are fighting low-carb tooth and nail because they are worried low-carb equals eating more meat.
Rather than circulate half-baked theories as fact, I wish vegans would accept that reduced carb (not necessary very low carb but reduced carbs vs. the typical American diet or a low-fat diet) has been proven scientifically.
Rather than try to fight the very valid science about carbohydrate consumption, I wish vegans would emphasize that it is very possible — I wouldn’t say easy, but eminently doable — to eat low-carb without meat, dairy, eggs or fish.
Frankly, they’re going to lose the scientific debate anyway if they’re trying to persuade people that it’s healthy for everyone to get their calories from starch and sugar.
Tom,
The argument for dietary fibers (MACs) is not a vegan issue. I’m no vegan. I eat a 1/2 pound to 1 pound of meat every day. The idea of feeding your microbiome was recently discussed by Chris on his podcast with Jeff Leach of the Human Food Project. It’s a terrific episode, and I encourage you to listen to it.
RHR: You Are What Your Bacteria Eat: The Importance of Feeding Your Microbiome – With Jeff Leach
In the episode— and I hope you take the time to listen to it—Jeff Leach explains why a low carb diet tends to drop fiber intake and lower fermentation to shift the colon to a more alkaline state, which tends to breed pathogenic infections. He’s also written about it here.
Jeff Leach eats plenty of meat, mind you. He’s no vegan. He even ate nothing but meat for days on end to test his biome and report on the effects. I assure you this is not a vegan conspiracy. You may dispute Leach’s hypotheses — that’s your prerogative, but I suspect the results are not as simple as you imagine.
PS — The Masai were pastoralists (not hunter-gatherers) who consumed lots of raw milk and tons of honey. They traded their meat weekly for sweet potatoes and bananas. These kinds of misconceptions is what I’m talking about. VLC advocates conveniently forgot to mention (or never investigated) the finer details of what these cultures actually did.
Tom,
you said:
“But I don’t think we can say that a low-carb diet will hurt a person by starving the biome. ”
there are many people genetically predisposed to low or no expressions of certain glycans in their mucosa or innate immune proteins, with serious implication on their immunity. Their bodies do not manage to fight the pathogens alone.
For instance due to FUT2 deficiencies (so called non-secretors – up to 20% of the whole population) or MBL (mannose binding lectin) – also a very high proportion of people.
Not everybody is genetically lucky.
It needs the right gut flora provided with the right food, to help to body overcome these deficiencies.
If these people keep their gut biome in low diversity and starved, they are on the road to hell.
When I saw the headline I braced myself for the same old misinformation, but this is actually a thoughtful and reasonable post. 30 percent of calories or 150-175 grams of carbs a day is not a bad approach to try if you’re afraid to do very low carb. That will still be much better for people than what they’re eating now — often 400 grams.
If overweight Americans reduced their carbs to 30 percent of calories, and avoided sugar and refined starches, most would lose weight.
More strict low-carb regimens are undoubtedly helpful for some people, obese or wtih pre-diabetes or bad blood lipid markers.
The whole gut dysbiosis thing is more theory than scientific finding at this point. Clearly there are human populations that lived almost entirely on fat and protein and thrived, so we know gut dysbiosis is not an inevitable thing; still, a relatively tiny amount of starch is all that should be necessary to keep the gut flora healthy, and 99 percent of low-carb and paleo eaters will get that from the vegetables and nuts that they eat.
Schoenfeld seems to be coming from a reasonable and honest place. She is not spouting the pro-grain dogma of the American Heart Association/USDA; she is not pushing the disinformation of the vegan doctors. And she is acknowledging what the research of the last 20 years (and really the last 200 years) has made clear, which is that major reductions in carbohydrate intake and modest increases in dietary fat should be the public health goal for the vast majority of people. That would set us on the path toward beginning to control the obesity epidemic.
We really enjoyed this article Dr Chris. I (Aimee) was doing low carb last year thinking it was the next step in Paleo for me in order to lose weight and balance hormones. I wasn’t feeling good and started an eating plan from a guy who was helping heal my mum’s thyroid through food alone. He had us eating loads of food, mostly veggies, some fruit, a bit of meat and fat, plus gelatin and bone broth. He explained that the low carb thing for people with hormone issues isn’t safe long term and I was so glad I’d found him so I could stop ruining my health on low carb! I’m feeling much better now, I eat stacks of awesome food (jelly for brekkie, yay!) and I’m noticing improvements with my hormones in just a few months of doing the eating plan properly.
My partner Clint feels better on low-carb but I know he needs more veggies, otherwise he’s missing out on so many nutrients. I think it’s effecting him mentally. So I’m cooking similarly for him as I need to eat and hopefully it’ll help him also.
It’s just so nice to see some info from someone as well known as you on the topic. People don’t necessarily listen when I try and explain the harmful effects low carb can have on some people, so to direct them to this page is really helpful! And everyone is different, we need to eat right for our individual situations but as with any health craze, paleo or not, people often jump on the bandwagon without knowing the pros and cons, and pay for it later. Thank you for your great info!!
Aimee 🙂
Laura – thanks for the sane article on what rather too often seems to become an intolerant argument.
For me the takeaway point is that there is no right diet for everyone and we should be seeking our own personalised solution. I have some intractable health issues right now that might be carb related and have been researching this whole macro-nutrient issue. What a minefield! But here’s what seems a practical way out…
I recently came across Phil Maffetone’s 2 Week Carb Intolerance Test.
http://philmaffetone.com/2-week-test
Phil is an MD and a legendary endurance coach. He is also consistently ahead of the game, experimenting with carb intolerance, minimal footwear and primal exercise well before the current trends.
The 2 Week Test is a protocol he’s refined over 40 years of practice. It’s a time-limited exclusion diet that should establish pretty definitively if carbs are causing you health or performance issues. If you do have carb issues, he then explains how to experiment and find the type and quantity of carbs you can tolerate, without any dogma about the “one best way” to eat. If you don’t have carb issues, your choices are open.
As Chris points out, there is nothing ancestral about low carb, so the only reason I can see to eat that way is if it’s causing some kind of specific issue. In fact recent work at Cambridge University has found that flaws in the standard technique have substantially over-estimated the consumption of animal products in early humans, so the role of tubers, nuts, fruits etc is probably larger than we have been thinking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/27/caveman-diet-stone-age-humans-meat_n_2031999.html
It seems to me that this simple, practical and time-tested self-experiment could quickly resolve the issue for each of us much more effectively that wading though thousands of pages of claim and counter claim from the various entrenched camps. Hope someone finds this useful. Personally, I’m getting myself organised to give it a go…
What an informative article, and some really interesting answers. Before I go off to read the half a dozen links I clicked on, I just want to say – thank you!
I have long wondered why things like potatoes have been vilified by the low carb community. My food philosophy is that if nature provides it, it really can’t be that bad for us. In moderation, as with all things.
Anyway, the reason I actually came to this article is because I have recently been diagnosed with cancer. A rare one. (Would rather have won the lottery!). Although my feeling on that is that maybe it is not so rare as underdiagnosed. The symptoms tend to be ignored by medical practitioners, and it was only thanks to my naturopath that I kept going in and demanding they deal with the issue.
Now, I have heard that a keto diet may be good for this issue. There seems to be some very well informed commenters on here, and I was hoping someone had some good links on this issue, either keto related or something I may not have heard of.
Thanks in advance.
Sue,
Check out this website:
http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/cancer-treatments.html
Good luck to you. Hope you beat it!!
The vitriol, bias, and polarized thinking surrounding this issue never ceases to amaze me. Especially because the following conclusions are, according to research, clinical experience, and common sense, fairly straightforward:
1. Few, if any, traditional cultures regularly consumed a ketogenic/VLC diet. It is not our “default nutritional state” as many have claimed.
2. Ketogenic/VLC diets are effective therapeutically in certain situations, such as metabolic syndrome/obesity and neurological conditions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. However, even in these cases there may be side effects (such as adverse changes to the gut microbiota) when these diets are followed long-term—some of which we’re only beginning to understand.
3. The fact that ketogenic and VLC diets work well therapeutically for certain conditions does not make them appropriate in all circumstances. People with hemochromatosis need to limit their iron intake, but that doesn’t mean everyone does.
4. Some people obviously do better with ketogenic/VLC diets than others. Should this really come as a surprise to anyone, given differences in individual genetics, epigetnics, biochemistry, health status, microbiome, lifestyle, and goals? Such people may thrive, even long-term, with a VLC diet—but that does not mean that everyone will.
5. Even if ketogenic/VLC diet is therapeutic for a particular condition, that does not mean that 1) it’s the only effective therapy for that condition, or 2) that the condition itself was originally caused by eating too many carbohydrates. Both assumptions are logical fallacies. VLC diets have been shown to be effective for improving metabolic markers in T2DM, but so have restricted calorie diets, protein-sparing modified fasts, and even low-fat, high-carb diets. And just because restricting carbs can be effective in T2DM, it does not follow that too many carbs caused the condition originally, and that healthy people without metabolic problems should restrict whole-food carbs. Again, people with hemochromatosis need to eat less iron, but eating too much iron didn’t cause the problem in the first place.
6. Whole food carbohydrates, e.g. from starchy plants like sweet potatoes and whole fruit, do not affect the body in the same way as carbs from refined and processed sources, such as flour and sugar. Anyone with even a basic understanding of nutrition and physiology should understand this, but it’s remarkable how often this fact is overlooked in the “low-carb” discussion. I see so many people extrapolating the results from studies which look at the detrimental effect of processed/refined carbs to mean that we should avoid or restrict *all* carbs. That is a leap that cannot be made.
I support what Laura has written in this article, and my experience working with patients is similar to hers working with clients.
In the end, I have no problem with someone following a VLC diet over the long-term if 1) it improves their health, 2) it doesn’t cause adverse effects over time that could worsen their health. And I do have patients that fit into this category.
However, I have quite a few patients—probably more—that do not. And given points 1-6 above, why would I (or anyone else) suggest that they persist in doing something that could harm themselves?
That’s what blows me away about this “debate”. There’s really nothing to debate. The fact is, some people don’t do well with VLC. Why do people on VLC diets feel so threatened by that? Perhaps because, in some circles at least, VLC has become dogma: “a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.” And as the saying goes, you can’t fight faith with facts.
Chris,
I’m in complete agreement with your six points and would be interested in your take on the Newcastle diabetes study and Dr. Roy Taylor’s conclusion that type 2 diabetes is caused by too much fat in the liver and pancreas. His theory is that everyone has their own personal threshold for how much fat they can tolerate..
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/4/1047.full
This is why many Asians are prone to T2D at lower BMIs than Europeans and why some severely obese people never develop diabetes and why Pima Indians have the highest diabetes rates in the world.
The key to reversing diabetes according to Dr. Taylor is to lose weight and exercise by whatever means possible to reduce fat in the liver and pancreas.
It’s why Dr. Bernstein’s low carb high fat diet works and why Dr. Gabriel Cousin’s low carb, raw vegan diet works and why Seventh Day Adventists have had good success. Even John McDougal claims success with his “Starch Solution.”.
I imagine that even a high carb, low fat diet would work for some people if they managed to loose enough weight and exercised hard enough although you would get an argument from Dr. Bernstein on just how many people would actually benefit from this approach.
Even Dr. Joel Furhman says diabetics need to follow a low carb diet to reverse diabetes which is where he differs from Dr. Neil Barnard.
What all these Doctors have in common is they all advocate eliminating most processed foods and sugar and eating a whole foods diet. There is no confusion there.
For some people, just these changes may be enough. My own view is since I had diabetes and numerous self testings after higher carbohydrate meals showed they raised my blood sugars, I try to avoid overeating carbohydrates even though now that I am very lean and fit I can and do eat more carbohydrates than when I was diabetic.
Great points Chris!
Chris – I was at the Low Carb Down Under event at the weekend and Tim Noakes presented this slide which indicates that your specific response to carbohydrate load depends on your past history of Insulin Resistance. Someone with elevated IR in the past will gain more fat for a given carbohydrate load.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LyOqepC4KK4/VAJrOfJtxEI/AAAAAAABOxQ/_qlTXt0DiAc/s1600/BwPmvdNCUAAU2MP.jpg
I asked Tim if this effect reduces over time on a low-carb diet and he said “No, never.”
This would suggest then that while our predecessors may have successfully integrated carbs into their diet without negative complications, the same cannot be said for most folks (anyone?) coming from a modern, mid-life SAD diet. The damage has already been done, the body tissues are already in an Insulin Resistant state.
Of course the best plan is to avoid IR in the first place – protect the children! But for the rest of us, your comments are too simplistic.
It appears a major mechanism here is insulin intolerance. In addition to a low carb diet and exercise, it appears metformin would also help. The latest drug is Cycloset which is a dopamine agonist and somehow resets they hypothalamus. I’d be interested if anyone has any feed back on that.
Tricki, I have exactly the same issues. Severe dry eyes, nose and throat, osteoarthritis, and carbs make me gain weight instantly. Paul Jaminet insists dry eyes are caused by a very low carb diet, and that safe starches and Vit C will reverse that. For me, the addition of potatoes made my eyes much worse and I gained 5 or 6 pounds in a couple of days. I’m working with bone broth now. Gosh, I hope someone figures this out soon. Good luck!
Barrbra,
not claiming here that my questions could help you personaly but can you answer?
How much probiotic / fermented foods / SBO do you regularly (= daily) eat/supplement?
How much inulin rich foods (onions, garlic, leech, asparagus) do you regularly eat?
How often do you eat lectin rich foods (for instance legumes e.g.: various beans, chickpeas, lentils)?
All this dis. course. sigh.
I don’t want to hate Gary Taubes or Jimmy Moore or anyone else. I don’t care if this pathway is correct or that enzyme isn’t properly absorbed or that macro should be at this exact percentage. I’m tired of the arguing and measuring and study study study.
I want to be well again. Functional again. Happy again.
I watched Chris Kresser on video (Why Paleo is Taking the World by Storm), talking about how sick he was, how he couldn’t work, how he was broke and tired and at-the-end-of-his rope afraid.
I know exactly how that feels. I am right there. I, too, went to NDs and nutritionists, and hypnotherapists, and doctors, and diet gurus of all stripes. I, too, have a small fortune’s worth of ineffective supplements in my cupboard. I, too, have lost my livelihood and my passion for life.
The difference is that I have been off grains and trans fats and sugar for a dozen years and mostly paleo for at least four; I have tried all the things that supposedly cured him. And that I’m a Type 2 with a very nasty autoimmune condition that makes my life a living hell. And that I’m now 70 lbs overweight, female, and post-menopausal.
So where does one go from here? Is there anyone out there who can help me where it really matters? In my health and happiness and passion for life?
Hi Beedee,
I wish it were so simple as Paleo, low carb, safe carb, etc …. but it really is getting the balance of essential nutrients in AND being able to absorb them. And, one’s current health issues affect nutrient uptake. See my comments on this blog from Aug 28th to get a bit more of an idea about me or visit Wildrenz.com If you want to discuss possibilities, contact me.
Vive Vida!
I would be interested in your opinion on the impact that low carb diet can have on proteoglycans, specifically how they can impact mucosal tissues – dry eyes, gastrointestinal lining, synovial fluid and cartilage health.
I had the opportunity to ask both Prof Tim Noakes and Dr Steve Phinney face to face about this yesterday. Prof Noakes said it had little effect; Dr Phinney said dry eyes can be resolved by adding in a couple of grams of salt or by consuming a little bone broth.
I appear to respond by gaining fat quickly if I re-introduce carbs in any significant quantity (Prof Noakes suggests this means I’m dealing with a degree of insulin resistance, and this shall remain so life-long) but I also am dealing with osteoarthritis in the hips. So I really want to figure out if the low carb approach, while helping with weight control, is negatively impact my joint health. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Have you seen Paul Jaminet’s post on this topic? http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/11/dangers-of-zero-carb-diets-ii-mucus-deficiency-and-gastrointestinal-cancers/
@TrickiDicki
There is a lot in play in having and keeping mucosa healthy: your own genetics, your current microbiome and all the nutrients you are eating.
And most of all, it is not only about eating some more carbs but also about continuously clearing out the bad pathogens and introducing the beneficial ones. If your own immune system and mucosa cannot help you enough in that, diet and gut flora could!
I think it was Dr. Grace who coined the term WEED SEED FEED. Dr. Grace Liu and Tim Steele have written a protocol called 7 steps, check it at Animal Pharm.
Your dry eyes symptoms etc. sound like autoimmunity onset and not as a lack of salt or minerals.
Laura, can you explain why you would calculate a recommended carb intake in terms of percentage of total calories rather than a simple measure of carb calories or grams of carbs? Why the added step? Isn’t it the absolute amount that matters rather than a percentage? Or is there something fundamental that I am not understanding?
The short answer is because people’s carbohydrate needs vary based on their caloric needs. A mildly active woman who needs 1800 calories per day to meet her daily requirements should do just fine on 120-150 grams of carbs per day, whereas a professional male athlete who needs 6,000 calories per day to meet his caloric needs would probably not do well at that 150 grams per day mark, since he’d probably be burning it up pretty quickly during training sessions. He’d be better off doing a VLC approach at that point to ensure adequate ketone production. But if he were doing a moderate carb diet for athletes, he might need more like 400-500 grams of carbs to sustain his activity.
Of course these are just rough estimates and the individual may tweak up or down depending on personal response to the diet and health goals. But the amount of carbs you’d want to eat depends significantly on the amount of calories you need to sustain your activity levels… obviously the woman eating 1800 calories per day wouldn’t want to eat 400 grams of carbohydrate!
Adding on, looking first at macronutrient percentages and then at grams sets up a different kind of perspective. Looking at percentages requires you to “stand back” further in your viewing to get a broader and more comprehensive view. Helps with systems thinking, and that in turn can be extrapolated into other areas.
That makes sense. I appreciate your taking the time to explain that for me. Thanks!
Laura, which kind of carbs shall I count to the intake of carb calories? Dr. Jaminet only counts the safe starches of potatoes, rice and winter squash and some roots, and doesn´t count the carbs of vegetables.
Do you count the carbs the same way as Dr. Jaminet, or do you also count the carb cal of berries, honey and vegetables?
Talking calories misses the whole point. Calories is a number that we calculate for the energy content of the food. Biochemically it is a meaningless number, because it tells us nothing about how the energy from that food source is metabolically partitioned in the body through the TCA cycle.. Calories from fructose is partitioned completely differently to calories from starch or digestible fibre. It is not the calorie intake that is causing the damage, it is the way they are metabolised. Unfortunately there is an attempt to divert the conversation from the obvious fact that some carbohydrates (in particular fructose) are causing metabolic chaos. Sugar sells!! We can balance diets for animals quite easily (it is simple math)..we could do the same for humans except that we have free choice and a sweet tooth. What we eat is determined by marketing, not by nutrition.
K…. So maybe you can shed some light on this then: If the consensus now seems to be that VLC/ketogenic diets are unnecessary and perhaps even harmful, then why are most members of the ancestral eating community STILL loathe to actually call out Jimmy Moore on his bullshit? I see Paleo blogger after Paleo blogger either changing their position vis a vis carbs outright or “modifying” it to non-recognition – but still skirt around the elephant in the room that is Jimmy Moore? What is everyone so afraid of? Could it have something to do with his podcast empire – and all the free promotion they might lose? Ya think? At any rate, he and most members of this community owe me an apology – for being right and daring to say it, that is.
Evelyn
I think the better question is to ask why your approach by means of calling out names in literally every post was I effectual, rather than simply dealing with facts of matters.
I don’t want to destroy Jimmy Moore and I wish him well. I want to burry Nutritional Ketosis alive.
I’m far more effective than you for that simple reason.
This kind of exchange is what frustrates those of us who just want to get healthy. It seems that some in the blogosphere have lost focus…it has become more about being “right” vs. helping people and is distracting.
Medicine (and nutrition) is complex and always evolving, based on research, clinical experience, etc. If Chris and others have changed their messaging based on this, I don’t think they owe you or anyone an apology.
I can’t speak about Jimmy Moore… I follow blogs of people who have real-world clinical experience. To me, this is the best resource of information.
I totally disagree with this amount of carbs as a person with diabetes as well as a health care provider in the field.
If you have diabetes, or even pre-diabetes, I highly rec. a book by Dr. Richard Bernstein “The Diabetes Solution.”
Yes, the first week you switch to low carb you will feel tired… but your body will adjust and you;ll be able to keep your blood sugar down to non-diabetic levels to avoid blindness, stroke, amputation etc.
Thanks for the informative article. The link between low carb diet and cortisol helps answer a medical puzzle for me.
After going on a low carb diet a few years ago, I developed PVC heart arrhythmia. Not just an occasional skipped beat, but 20 minute stretches where my heart would “skip” every 5 to 10 beats, occurring multiple times a day. After the PVC diagnosis I was assured that it wasn’t dangerous — but it’s still disconcerting to have your heart flop around like that! After going through periods when my carb intake fluctuated, I realized that every time I reduced my carb intake, the PVCs would start up again. I’ve increased my carb intake and now experience PVCs rarely, and never for extended periods of time. Interestingly, when I received a cortisone shot for hip pain, I had rampant PVCs for 2 weeks even while eating more carbs. This strongly indicates to me that it’s connected to cortisol levels. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced this, but I could not find a “reason” for it until I read this article. I guess I should be grateful that my body gave me a clear signal that I needed to eat more carbs.