[podcast flashvars=”titles: ‘good carbs'”]http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/wp-content/uploads/llvlcep83-good-carbs.mp3[/podcast]
Hello and welcome to Episode 83 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore”–the Internet’s top-rated podcast for news, advocacy, and support of the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle!
Outside the world of low-carb living, carbohydrates are often maligned, frequently ignored and almost universally shunned by the media and those self-proclaimed “experts” who think they know what this way of eating is all about.
But the truth is that on most low-carb plans, there are some carbs that play important roles and should obviously be a regular part of your regular low-carb routine.
Listen in to today’s show for our host Jimmy’s thoughts on the benefits of consuming carbohydrates! This one’s a keeper!
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 83
– Glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) explained
– These are the good carbs you should be consuming
– Simply cutting carbs does NOT help you lose weight
– University of Washington study that found a low-carb, high-protein diet helps you eat less calories
– Get Linda’s low-carb recipes at the new “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Discussion” forum
– Jimmy Moore’s interview with Good Calories, Bad Calories author Gary Taubes
– Related blog post: “When I Say Low-Carb, I Don’t Mean No Carb”
Did you miss anything Jimmy said? Don’t worry! You can access a full transcript of today’s episode by clicking on the following link:
Transcript of Episode 83:
This is Episode 83 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” We bring you the best low-carb information you’re gonna find in the podcasting world twice each week on Mondays and Thursdays, so stick around a while and listen, learn, and love living better than you ever thought possible—that’s the livin’ la vida low-carb way, baby!
Today I’d like to address the topic of whether carbohydrates are good or bad. Lost in the shuffle of information that gets bantered about when discussing the low-carb lifestyle is the fact that people who eat this kind of diet DO actually eat carbs. Shazam! What a revelation! Yet those in the media as well as the so-called health “experts” will typically make the case supposedly from the perspective of a low-carb follower that eating carbs of any kind is BAD BAD BAD. In a word—WRONG! But all too often, isn’t that how they portray us low-carbers? They think that we run as fast as we can in the other direction at the very sight of carbohydrates like they’re evil. But nothing could be further from the truth. It may surprise you, but I eat LOTS of carbs. Yep, I sure do! However, it’s just not as many as I used to eat before I started this wonderful way of eating on January 1, 2004. Never again will I mindlessly put worthless carbohydrates such as sugar, white flour and starchy foods in my mouth. The negative impact on both my weight and health is just not worth going through that pain and agony all over again. Weighing 220 pounds now and being an energetic fireball of a man is a whole lot better than weighing 410 pounds on the brink of my body shutting down for good! No thank you!
The Atkins diet has helped many people who desire to lose weight learn the principles of watching their carbohydrate intake while simultaneously eating a greater percentage of fat and protein to make it happen. Interestingly, the actual amount of fat consumed doesn’t really increase, but it’s the percentage of total caloric intake coming from fat that does. That’s why livin’ la vida low-carb is generally considered high-fat, but that’s a bit deceiving. It’s definitely higher than the ultra-low-fat (and might I add unhealthy) plan prescribed by Dr. Dean Ornish, but it is arguably lower in fat than the Standard American Diet. You never hear this fact mentioned by the media and the experts, although it’s been right there clear as a bell forever and ever. But with all the different low-carb programs available touting the various kinds of carbs that should and shouldn’t be consumed, people may be confused about which method they should use if they decide to follow the low-carb lifestyle. Some question whether carbohydrates are even essential in the diet or not. And others wonder how to distinguish the good kinds of carbs to eat from the bad ones. What GREAT questions to ask and I’m happy to address those here today in Episode 83 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore!”
My quick response is that ABSOLUTELY carbohydrates can be an essential part of a healthy diet. And the right approach to eating carbs is to choose the right ones that are nutrient-dense and will provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals when you consume them in the quantities that your body can handle while also not adding any additional stored fat to your body. For some, that level of carbs could be as high as 100 grams per day, but for others it could be a lot less than that. When I was losing weight on Atkins in 2004, I restricted my carbs to about 30-35 grams per day after the initial first few months at 20 grams of carbs. Today, now that I have lost around 190 pounds on the low-carb lifestyle, 180 of which was lost in 2004, I still need to keep my net carbs at 50 grams or less per day to properly maintain my weight. Would anyone want to challenge me that I am eating too few carbs at that level? Actually, some people in the low-carb world would argue that I am eating TOO MANY carbs if you can believe that. But it’s all about finding YOUR personal carb tolerance level and staying within those parameters to control your weight while remaining healthy. Of course, you’ll hear some people pull out the old “just eat in moderation” mumbo jumbo claiming watching your carbs is just an unbalanced way to eat. But what is a “moderate, balanced” carb intake anyway? And how many carbs need to be consumed in order for them to be balanced with fat and protein, the other two macronutrients that the body uses to maintain optimum health and vitality?
Simple carbs, such as table sugar and complex carbs like those in starchy foods, can be found in many food products including fruits, vegetables, dairy products and even the much-heralded whole grain foods. Not surprisingly, carbs are also loaded in many of the processed foods that are available in abundance today which is why people who are livin’ la vida low-carb should avoid these products in favor of the healthier whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible. Paying particular attention to the way various carbohydrates can impact your glucose levels is the science behind the glycemic index, or GI, and glycemic load, or GL. The impact foods can have on your blood sugar levels can directly affect how your body will respond to the carbs you consume. The lower the GI and the GL, the better off your body will be able to ward off any symptoms of metabolic syndrome—obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, etc. Also, those lower GI and GL foods, such as eggs and meat, for example, keep you much more satiated than the sugary, starchy foods that are all-too-often the choice for most Americans these days.
Keep this in mind, though—simply cutting back on your carb consumption may not result in the results you would expect from your low-carb diet. There are quality carbs you should be consuming when this becomes your permanent and healthy lifestyle change. People that I talk to about my low-carb lifestyle feel proud of themselves when they tell me that they cut back on the number of sugary sodas they drink or they “only” have a few slices of bread a day. I usually respond back stating that’s a good step in the right direction. But then I ask if the person is on any specific low-carb program like Atkins, Protein Power, South Beach or any of the others. Most of the time they reply that they’re just cutting back on their carbs on their own. While that’s all well and good, this opens the door for me to share with them that low-carb living is not just about cutting back on the carbs, but rather getting you to pay attention to what kind of carbs go into your mouth. People are stunned to learn that simply cutting back on their carbs does not necessarily result in weight loss, but that’s because they have not yet been educated to understand how low-carb works. That’s why I created my LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com blog and this podcast show to serve as resources for learning more about low-carb prior to getting on it and then encouraging you along in your journey once you do.
A University of Washington study found that people who eat a low-carb, high-protein diet with no restrictions on portions actually end up eating less calories and lost an average of 11 pounds over a 12-week period than those on a high-carb diet. People always say that low-carb only works because you eat less calories which makes you lose the weight. Uh, yeah…so what? If I can eat the incredibly delicious buffet of foods at my disposal on a low-carb diet and still lose or maintain my weight, then I personally don’t care if I’m eating less calories or not. I feel such a freedom eating this way unlike any other diet I’ve ever been on before. I don’t count calories and never have since beginning this healthy lifestyle change. And to those people who claim livin’ la vida low-carb is not exciting or enjoyable enough to eat that way forever are simply delusional in my opinion. Perhaps these people should try reading some of the popular low-carb cookbooks on the market today from Dana Carpender, Fran McCullough, and Jan McCracken while perusing the outstanding scrumptuous recipes posted by Linda over at my new low-carb forum at LowCarbDiscussion.com! Mmm mmm, slap yo momma silly good, that’s what they are!
Sadly, the prevailing thought about eating healthy these days is that it should be a moderate- to high-carb, low-fat diet as the best way to control your weight, prevent heart disease and ward off Type 2 diabetes. Obviously, I disagree with that. To me it boils down to this–do you believe consuming fat is worse for your body than eating sugar? If you say yes, then obviously you will side with those who promote backing off on fat intake for weight control and health. But if you intelligently say no and believe like I do that sugar is much more detrimental to your health and weight than fat will ever be, then a better course of action for weight management and disease prevention is to enjoy a low-carb/high-fat diet and not feel guilty about it one bit! Believe me, after you read the upcoming book by Gary Taubes entitled “Good Calories, Bad Calories” releasing on September 25, 2007, then there will be no doubting this is indeed the truth. If my 190-pound weight loss isn’t proof enough that this way of eating is effective, then I don’t know how much more evidence people need to believe it! I get e-mails from people all the time who share how livin’ la vida low-carb has changed their lives, too. That’s why I’ll never stop giving props to the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins and his miracle weight loss plan because people are still losing a whole lotta weight and restoring their health eating low-carb. That’s a fact, Jack! As for eating carbs, the fact is most people are still eating many more than their body NEEDS and they don’t even realize it. I was at a Christmas party last year where white sugar cookies with icing on top were served. I checked out the nutritional label on these cookies and discovered there was a WHOPPING 34 grams of carbs for just ONE cookie! Yikes! But how many people at that party didn’t care a bit in the world about the sugar and the carbs in that cookie or in the second, third, and fourth ones they ate? Not many I would guess. But if it had 34 grams of fat per cookie in it, especially saturated fat, then there would be outrage, scorn, weeping and gnashing of teeth about how unhealthy it was! Somebody please tell me why there’s such a difference in mentality between how we respond to fat intake versus sugar consumption?! If you must eat carbs, then at least choose the quality ones that will nourish your body. So the answer to the question about whether carbohydrates are good or bad is simple. YES!
That’s it for Episode 83 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” What’s your take on the debate over whether carbs are a necessary part of a healthy diet? If you are eating carbs on your low-carb lifestyle (and most of us are), then share specifically what you are putting in your mouth and why you choose to eat those. Talk about it in the show notes section of today’s episode at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com. We appreciate you listening today and invite you to come back on Thursday for a special interview with a surprise guest expert who will talk about the connection between a healthy low-carb diet and fertility. You WON’T want to miss it! So, until next time, keep on livin’ la vida low-carb!