[Someone1234]

Complex carbs are definitely not new, but the amount we eat today is unusual in the grand scheme of things. Cutting them is currently popular for one very simple reason: It works.

Cutting sugar is very healthy and will likely result in weight loss, but if you cut sugar and replace if with carbs like bread and pasta, you've kind of exchanged one bad for another.

If however you cut both complex carbs AND sugar, and replace them both with almost anything else you'll shed the weight. Seems the Atkin's diet (eat unprocessed meats only) really did have some merits after all, fats and animal proteins are very healthy, as are greens, just have to kick that sugar addiction...

I'd be legitimately interested to meet an overweight individual who could maintain that weight without eating sugar or complex carbs, I don't personally think it is possible, but I'd be interested to be proved wrong.

[noondip]

> fats and animal proteins are very healthy

If so, why did Dr. Atkins die overweight with a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension? Please, don't buy into the Atkins/low-carb/paleo hype - check out http://www.atkinsfacts.org/

[Someone1234]

He died at the age of 72... Plus this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Atkins_(nutritionist)#C...

If you follow general nutrition there is almost nobody currently saying sugar and complex carbs are good for you, everyone is saying to limit your intake, while consuming more fats, proteins, and greens.

All of those diets have one thing in common: Less sugar and less of things that easily metabolize into sugar.

[noondip]

> there is almost nobody currently saying sugar and complex carbs are good for you, everyone is saying to limit your intake

Who is saying to limit intake of carbs? Definitely not any non-profit organization like WHO:

> The Consultation RECOMMENDS:

> 3. Against the use of the terms extrinsic and intrinsic sugars, complex carbohydrate and available and unavailable carbohydrate.

> 11. That the many health benefits of dietary carbohydrates should be recognized and promoted. Carbohydrate foods provide more than energy alone.

> 12. An optimum diet of at least 55% of total energy from a variety of carbohydrate sources for all ages except for children under the age of two.

> 17. That the bulk of carbohydrate-containing foods consumed be those rich in non-starch polysaccharides and with a low glycemic index. Appropriately processed cereals, vegetables, legumes, and fruits are particularly good food choices.

> 18. That excess energy intake in any form will cause body fat accumulation, so that excess consumption of low fat foods, while not as obesity-producing as excess consumption of high fat products, will lead to obesity if energy expenditure is not increased. Excessive intakes of sugars which compromise micronutrient density should be avoided. There is no evidence of a direct involvement of sucrose, other sugars and starch in the etiology of lifestyle-related diseases.

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/nutrientrequiremen...

[Someone1234]

That's a 19 year old report...

> Who is saying to limit intake of carbs?

NHS[0]. US Government[1]. Harvard nutritionists[2]. Health Canada[3]. American Diabetes Association[4]. American Heart Association[5]. Need I go on? Who ISN'T saying limit carb intake?

[0] http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/pages/eatwell-plate.aspx [1] http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ [2] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-... [3] http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/... [4] http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals... [5] http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/Nu...

[noondip]

I didn't realize science expired after N years. Should we disregard the theory of gravity, too? I mean, it's quite old!

Your first two sources (NHS & Choose My Plate) are literally government/industry propaganda, so aren't even worth taking seriously.

The Harvard page doesn't say, "carbs are evil". It says, "The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate in the diet, because some sources of carbohydrate—like vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and beans—are healthier than others."

Where does it say to limit carbohydrates on the other pages? They all say to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, which are almost all "carbs". I'm genuinely puzzled and intrigued by why some people think carbs are so bad, at least in the form of whole plant foods.

[ceratopisan]

All of those links recommend grains as part of a healthy diet. Usually as the second-biggest source of food after fruits and vegetables.

I really think the success people have (when they have success) with low-carb dieting is because they are cutting out half of a normal person's intake of calories when they remove carbohydrates.

That's a normal person, too - dunno how it works out when a person is getting carbohydrates through icing-covered donuts and not through, say, whole wheat bread, but it probably isn't good.

p.s. I love donuts.

[rhinoceraptor]

The plural of anecdote is not data. And you only gave one.

[pinkrooftop]

It's possible, calories in > calories out and you will still gain weight. Zero carb facilitates satiation on fewer calories