3 ms·

Avoiding carbohydrates? How about vegetables and pulses? Plenty of carbs in them. Okay, sans snark.... avoiding refined carbohydrates perhaps?

FooBarWidget 11y ago
What vegetables, besides starchy ones like rice and potatos, contain "plenty of carbs"?
- austinjp 11y ago
  Ya I was being overly snarky, apologies. May be 5% carbohydrate in most veg, but there's only 10% in potatoes anyway. My issue is with the term "carbohydrates" being used as shorthand for "bad stuff". It does seem that simple carbohydrates should be consumed in moderation, maybe not at all. But generally any diet should include carbohydrates. The term "avoiding carbohydrates" is ambiguous and usually means "avoiding starches and/or refined sugar".
  - digi_owl 11y ago
    Refined sugar is probably the devil in the details in all of this. As i have come to understand it, sugar in easily digestible form do not show up much in nature. Thus our ancestors likely developed a instinct for binge eating once such a source have been found (ripe berries etc). So once refined sugar comes along it does a number on our sub-consciousness.
    - ddebernardy 11y ago
      Don't miss the fiber though. If I understood Lustig's sugar video right, fiber helps to keep the fructose in your bowels, where it feeds your gut bacteria instead of getting metabolized similarly to alcohol in your liver. That and vitamins makes eating a berry healthy, but not a candy bar.
      - digi_owl 11y ago
        Good point. This also comes into play when talking about starch and bread, if i recall correctly.
  - meesterdude 11y ago
    FWIW, I don't use it as a term for "bad stuff"; I consider dairy something of an inbetween, and fruit as well; but i know they are at least better than milkshakes and doughnuts.
meesterdude 11y ago
yes; bread specifically, but generally anything with a lot in it. its mostly a dealbreaker i use when i'm debating something; oh, can i have this? nooooope.

FooBarWidget 11y ago

What vegetables, besides starchy ones like rice and potatos, contain "plenty of carbs"?

austinjp 11y ago
Ya I was being overly snarky, apologies. May be 5% carbohydrate in most veg, but there's only 10% in potatoes anyway. My issue is with the term "carbohydrates" being used as shorthand for "bad stuff". It does seem that simple carbohydrates should be consumed in moderation, maybe not at all. But generally any diet should include carbohydrates. The term "avoiding carbohydrates" is ambiguous and usually means "avoiding starches and/or refined sugar".
- digi_owl 11y ago
  Refined sugar is probably the devil in the details in all of this. As i have come to understand it, sugar in easily digestible form do not show up much in nature. Thus our ancestors likely developed a instinct for binge eating once such a source have been found (ripe berries etc). So once refined sugar comes along it does a number on our sub-consciousness.
  - ddebernardy 11y ago
    Don't miss the fiber though. If I understood Lustig's sugar video right, fiber helps to keep the fructose in your bowels, where it feeds your gut bacteria instead of getting metabolized similarly to alcohol in your liver. That and vitamins makes eating a berry healthy, but not a candy bar.
    - digi_owl 11y ago
      Good point. This also comes into play when talking about starch and bread, if i recall correctly.
- meesterdude 11y ago
  FWIW, I don't use it as a term for "bad stuff"; I consider dairy something of an inbetween, and fruit as well; but i know they are at least better than milkshakes and doughnuts.

meesterdude 11y ago

yes; bread specifically, but generally anything with a lot in it. its mostly a dealbreaker i use when i'm debating something; oh, can i have this? nooooope.