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Carbohydrates - Food of the Devil?


I am not a high carber. That should be very obvious.

Point taken, by way of explanation I posted really with more than just me in mind. Myself, my wife and my child and also with the rest of the population in mind as it is a national problem. I am looking at diet through several sets of eyes. I do of course completely and utterly see the low carb requirement. That should be obvious. But there are other sides to that line of thinking. If I talk reduced carb it seems to invite rebellious or contentious posts when it ought not really. It’s all a matter of degree.

I believe the NHS will struggle to get dietary solutions across as what suit the needs of one sector of the public will not suit the needs of another. The Eatwell plan for the general public isn’t so bad or wasn’t so bad as long as people stuck to it instead of indulging in the unhealthier side of carbs.

There is room on the forum for lower carbers, I would hope and I see there are a lot of them around and some posted in this very thread.
 
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Jim Lahey said:
To be fair though it kind of is the only show in town if someone wants to reverse chronic diabetes and doesn’t want to wait for as long as it took to develop it
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Exactly. Totally agree. That has never been disputed by me.
 
And @Jim Lahey don’t get me wrong, you are a bit of a super star, in my eyes. I have a lot of respect for you and your story.
 
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If you eat a huge bowl of Pasta on Saturday evening, 27th April and then run the London Marathon on 28th April then you will probably benefit from the carbs, and your long term health won't be adversely affected.

If you eat a huge bowl of Pasta on Saturday evening, 27th April and then sit on your sofa and watch the London Marathon on TV you'll probably get fat, and all those carbs will be a detriment to your long term health.
 
Exactly. Well put. Best post yet.
 
The biology speaks for itself. Those with T2 cannot metabolise carbohydrates efficiently leading to all manner of complications. An alternative source (and in my opinion a better source) of energy, and one that is vital for life, is fats. Whether one believes this or not is immaterial, the fact is that carbohydrates are not an essential part of the human diet and were only ever eaten, I believe, as a protective measure against winter famine. The modern western diet is a Forever Summer one and we as a species are not reacting well to it.

People have a choice but I would argue that giving people facts to enable them to make an informed choice is the wiser path.
 

Very true, and I wouldn’t argue, but even then there are the outliers such as Tim Noakes who got diabetes anyway just as soon as time caught up with him.
 
Jim Lahey said:
Very true, and I wouldn’t argue, but even then there are the outliers such as Tim Noakes who got diabetes anyway just as soon as time caught up with him.
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I believe it is very rare for sporting athletes to end up with Type 2.

Mind you it might be worth watching “Harry’s Hero’s The Full English”, soon to be on TV.
 
And yet there are sporting athletes who choose a low carb lifestyle. You pays ya money you makes ya choice.
 

It sounds good, I'd go further though, ban the pizzas, the naan bread, the pastry and the oven chips. Not because of the carbs but primarily because it's all absolute rubbish. I'd keep the carby veg though and most of the fruit. Although I agree that people with diabetes won't benefit necessarily from the fruit or carby veg, for children without diabetes I think they are fine, along with a balanced diet that does not include all the sugary/empty carbohydrate cr*p. Also I consider a 'low carb diet' that most people refer to as around 100carbs or less (which is what this very site considers low carb). I think the 'issues' arise when people mention 'low carb' but are clearly on about less than 20 carbs, that is EXTREMELY low carb...according to this site. As for fats being the answer, I would not feed a baby going onto solids at 6 months only fats/protein & no carbs and not a child either (and by carbs I mean I would feed them the good stuff because SOME carbs are good in my opinion).
What a GREAT post though, it just goes to show how our opinions differ, I can imagine how many opinions there are in the non diabetic community!
 
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Agreed there @SlimLizzy. I will be working on that one. We did low carb ice cream the other day and making low carb Nutella spread this weekend in an attempt get the little one on track, I give her smaller portions of rice now and as a family chips are a rarity (I haven’t had a chip since mid January) . We have seriously reduced smoothies and fruit juice for her, for example. She still has carbs in her diet but regulated down to more ideal levels.

It’s a work in progress.

Thanks for posting.
 
Listlad said:
[Carbohydrates - Food of the Devil?
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Having looked at pix of Devils cake and Angel cake, I know which I would be tempted into eating if I was going to have a meltdown on my lchf way of life.

Devils cake.



Angel cake.



Edit: Fixed quote.
 
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Yes, clearly the floating definition of low carb doesn’t help. I am probably taking in around 100 a day, sometime a bit more and sometimes a bit less and this has been going on since the end of January. To our good friends doing Keto then that might be described as very high. To the general public very low. To me lower carbing.
 
Tipetoo said:
Having looked at pix of Devils cake and Angel cake, I know which I would be tempted into eating if I was going to have a meltdown on my lchf way of life.

Devils cake.



Angel cake.



Edit: Fixed quote.
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I am actually very good at keeping temptation at bay. I do it quite successfully every time I sit down with the family for a meal. Actually I dont find either of those two cakes very appetising.
 
@Tipetoo

Lady down the road from me makes stuff like this for a living. This is one from her portfolio.

 
[ Actually I dont find either of those two cakes very appetising.[/QUOTE]
The devils food cake looks sickly sweet - never did like chocolate cake with chocolate icing and the angels food cake appears dry. neither for me thank you.
 

Not being a parent, I have no skin in this particular game, but if you are trying to change your daughter's eating habits, isn't swapping out Nutella for lower carb Nutella just reinforcing Nuttela is fine? When she gets to be old enough to do her shopping, wouldn't she be more likely just to buy Nuttela?

Bearing in mind I've never had a sweet tooth, my thinking on this could be deeply flawed.
 
You might be right.

My thinking is that something has to be done. One has to start somewhere. I know my eldest daughter grew up without an abundance of sweet things (even if her diet was close to Eatwell) as her mother was strict from the get go. In the case of my youngest we have a bit more work to do and am thinking that too much of change and too quickly is likely to be counter productive, plus Mrs Listlad needs retraining too.

I have already reduced the amount of conventional Nutella spread that she consumes so there’s progress.
 
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