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The idea that you shouldn't eat any carbs is put out there by quacks like Peter Attia. There is plenty of evidence to suggest a plant-based diet high in carboh

The idea that you shouldn't eat any carbs is put out there by quacks like Peter Attia. There is plenty of evidence to suggest a plant-based diet high in carbohydrate is the best for health.

meowface 11y ago
Health aside, some people report cutting carbs entirely or almost entirely helps them lose weight. As for whether it's "healthy", who really knows, but it appears to be statistically significant when it comes to weight.
- apl 11y ago
  A simple explanation for this: cutting carbs is tricky and requires a lot of careful planning etc., increasing the likelihood that people actually stay under their maintenance caloric intake. It doesn't really matter how you do it. As long as your expenditure is larger than your intake, you'll lose weight. In any case, your point doesn't say anything about the healthiness of carbohydrates.
  - atomical 11y ago
    Yes, but what about high LDL and heart disease risk with high fat diets? The paleo and keto folks completely dismiss this.
  - mindcrime 11y ago
    In any case, your point doesn't say anything about the healthiness of carbohydrates. There's evidence (sorry, I don't have the citations in front of me) to link carbohydrate intake to increased triglycerides, higher HDL, and more inflamation - pretty much the opposite of "healthy". OTOH, there's reason to think that a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet may improve lipid profiles, and reduce the risk of heart disease. Now, I can't say with certainty that a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet is better (or worse) than a high carb, low fat diet, or a high protein diet, etc. And I think part of the problem is simply that when you talk about human health and the connection between health and diet, there are just too many variables, and it's hard to control for them all. Hence the fact that you can find research endorsing a number of different diets, which appear diametrically opposed to each other.
    - atomical 11y ago
      http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=cholesterol http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=cholesterol A high fat diet increases HDL. If a person is overweight their HDL may drop if they experience weight loss, but it will not drop as much as someone who is on a plant-based diet. About 75% of the people who die from coronary artery disease have what is considered optimal cholesterol. Your cholesterol has to be much lower than what is considered optimal to lower your risk. http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/cholesterol-and-heart-disease http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/cholesterol-and-hea... "On July 21, 1990, The Lancet published the findings of Dean Ornish, M.D., who demonstrated that heart disease can actually be reversed without medicines.13 Until then, most doctors were not even attempting to reverse heart disease, even though it was, as it is now, the most common cause of death. Most believed that the plaques of cholesterol and other substances that clog the arteries to the heart would not go away. The traditional way to remove them was to wait until they became severe enough to warrant a bypass or angioplasty. At the University of California in San Francisco, Dr. Ornish tested the theory that a more potent diet, along with other lifestyle changes, might actually reverse heart disease. He selected patients who had plaques that were clearly visible on angiograms and split the patients into two groups. Half were referred to a control group in which they received the standard care that doctors prescribe for heart patients. The other half began a vegetarian diet in which less than 10 percent of calories were contributed by fat. They were also asked to begin a program of modest exercise and learned to manage stress through a variety of simple techniques. Of course, smoking was not permitted. Dr. Ornish’s patients started to feel better almost immediately, and continued to improve over the course of the year. They had previously been struggling with the crushing chest pain of heart disease, but “most of them became essentially pain-free,” Dr. Ornish said, “even though they were doing more activities, going back to work, and doing things that they hadn’t been able to do, in some cases, for years.”"
      - mindcrime 11y ago
        This is exactly what I mean... there's evidence for mutually incompatible positions. I had a typo in my comment above, BTW, and it's too late to edit it. But that should say that high carb intake has been associated with an increase in LDL, not HDL. But there are so many different diets and so many conflicting studies, it's hard to know what to do. For me, I'm leaning towards going on the ketogenic diet, but I'm waiting to meet with a local doctor who specializes in that, before making a definite decision.
belorn 11y ago
best health for whom? There is a lot of variance in metabolism between people, and even more ways the body can react to different diets. There are people whose digestion track that are too efficient and those that are too inefficient, and a high carbohydrate diet will have a radical different impact for each of those. Even for everyone else with a healthy metabolism we must ask what effect if any a high carbohydrate diet does and if there is any correlation in that group for improved health or not.
- atomical 11y ago
  Best health in terms of cancer and diabetes risk. Longevity is the goal. Check out nutritionfacts.org.

The idea that you shouldn't eat any carbs is put out there by quacks like Peter Attia. There is plenty of evidence to suggest a plant-based diet high in carbohydrate is the best for health.

meowface 11y ago

Health aside, some people report cutting carbs entirely or almost entirely helps them lose weight. As for whether it's "healthy", who really knows, but it appears to be statistically significant when it comes to weight.

apl 11y ago
A simple explanation for this: cutting carbs is tricky and requires a lot of careful planning etc., increasing the likelihood that people actually stay under their maintenance caloric intake. It doesn't really matter how you do it. As long as your expenditure is larger than your intake, you'll lose weight. In any case, your point doesn't say anything about the healthiness of carbohydrates.
- atomical 11y ago
  Yes, but what about high LDL and heart disease risk with high fat diets? The paleo and keto folks completely dismiss this.
- mindcrime 11y ago
  In any case, your point doesn't say anything about the healthiness of carbohydrates. There's evidence (sorry, I don't have the citations in front of me) to link carbohydrate intake to increased triglycerides, higher HDL, and more inflamation - pretty much the opposite of "healthy". OTOH, there's reason to think that a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet may improve lipid profiles, and reduce the risk of heart disease. Now, I can't say with certainty that a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet is better (or worse) than a high carb, low fat diet, or a high protein diet, etc. And I think part of the problem is simply that when you talk about human health and the connection between health and diet, there are just too many variables, and it's hard to control for them all. Hence the fact that you can find research endorsing a number of different diets, which appear diametrically opposed to each other.
  - atomical 11y ago
    http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=cholesterol http://nutritionfacts.org/?s=cholesterol A high fat diet increases HDL. If a person is overweight their HDL may drop if they experience weight loss, but it will not drop as much as someone who is on a plant-based diet. About 75% of the people who die from coronary artery disease have what is considered optimal cholesterol. Your cholesterol has to be much lower than what is considered optimal to lower your risk. http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/cholesterol-and-heart-disease http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/cholesterol-and-hea... "On July 21, 1990, The Lancet published the findings of Dean Ornish, M.D., who demonstrated that heart disease can actually be reversed without medicines.13 Until then, most doctors were not even attempting to reverse heart disease, even though it was, as it is now, the most common cause of death. Most believed that the plaques of cholesterol and other substances that clog the arteries to the heart would not go away. The traditional way to remove them was to wait until they became severe enough to warrant a bypass or angioplasty. At the University of California in San Francisco, Dr. Ornish tested the theory that a more potent diet, along with other lifestyle changes, might actually reverse heart disease. He selected patients who had plaques that were clearly visible on angiograms and split the patients into two groups. Half were referred to a control group in which they received the standard care that doctors prescribe for heart patients. The other half began a vegetarian diet in which less than 10 percent of calories were contributed by fat. They were also asked to begin a program of modest exercise and learned to manage stress through a variety of simple techniques. Of course, smoking was not permitted. Dr. Ornish’s patients started to feel better almost immediately, and continued to improve over the course of the year. They had previously been struggling with the crushing chest pain of heart disease, but “most of them became essentially pain-free,” Dr. Ornish said, “even though they were doing more activities, going back to work, and doing things that they hadn’t been able to do, in some cases, for years.”"
    - mindcrime 11y ago
      This is exactly what I mean... there's evidence for mutually incompatible positions. I had a typo in my comment above, BTW, and it's too late to edit it. But that should say that high carb intake has been associated with an increase in LDL, not HDL. But there are so many different diets and so many conflicting studies, it's hard to know what to do. For me, I'm leaning towards going on the ketogenic diet, but I'm waiting to meet with a local doctor who specializes in that, before making a definite decision.

belorn 11y ago

best health for whom? There is a lot of variance in metabolism between people, and even more ways the body can react to different diets. There are people whose digestion track that are too efficient and those that are too inefficient, and a high carbohydrate diet will have a radical different impact for each of those. Even for everyone else with a healthy metabolism we must ask what effect if any a high carbohydrate diet does and if there is any correlation in that group for improved health or not.

atomical 11y ago
Best health in terms of cancer and diabetes risk. Longevity is the goal. Check out nutritionfacts.org.