Is ZERO carbs ok?

[forgop]

Just curious what the ramifications are of doing much less than the 15 grams recommened does for weight loss. Your thoughts?

[jimmie 48]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

your title is asking if zero is okay and the simple answer is "no".

and my thoughts are not so scientific.... you can have 20 carbs during induction... why not use them!

[surreys_princess]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

i have been on atkins for i think 6 weeks now...i have yet to hit my 20 carbs, havent gone over 15....

you shouldnt ever have zero carbs though....you have to have your 2 cups of salad vegetables, and 1 cup of other vegetables....

besides all that...your body needs some carbs....honest...

[tabekat]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

Ack!!! Zero carbs is NOT NOT NOT okay and it totally defeats the purpose of switching to the Atkins lifestyle.

This wonderful WOE teaches you how to eat a wide variety of healthy foods in abundance. To never be hungry, to always be full, to EAT with joy and fulfillment. To live and eat healthy long term.

Without any carbs you wouldn't be eating your 3 cups of induction friendly veggies. They are essential for nutrition and for your progress and your weight loss.
And they are yum yum yummy!

I'm sure if you come from a background of low fat dieting that cutting food out seems more natural than including it - but that won't teachyou how to be full and healthy for life. On Atkins we learn to include
plenty of healthy food. We do focus on keeping our carbs at 20 on induction, but not to cut all carbs completely. Please don't deny yourself such healthy and delightful food.

In my opinion, it is very important on induction to focus on eating everything you are supposed to eat. It makes switching to Atkins a fun, exciting and delicious adventure.

Your best success will come by following Dr. Atkins advice as closely as you can. Eat your veggies!

Please read the 2002 DANDR. Please read all the stickys at the top of this forum. EAT!

[Kent]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

My thoughts are no carb eliminates most nutrients that the vegetables should be providing in this diet. Dr. A was a big believer that the phyto-nutrients should come as much as possible from natural sources and to supplement it when not possible. Besides no carbs eliminates other acceptable foods like eggs and cheese. Overall, I don't think it proves to be good long term plan, and hence any weight loss would be temporary.

[Scooterjam]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

Haha. Good luck, so far I've found out that saliva and air have carbs in them. (okay maybe I'm being sarcastic...haha)

Seriously, 20 carbs is the limit, it's basically the 'blueprint' for the successful 'heatlhy' way that this plan works. Eliminate the carbs....eliminate the 'healthy' plan, and that means you aren't doing ATKINS.

You're doing a high protein diet that is considered 'unhealthy'. You need those minerals and vitamins from your veggies man.

[LowCarbLara]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

Although carbohydrates are completely unnecessary to the human body (we can make our own), if you're not eating them then you're not doing Atkins.

[surreys_princess]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

i am sorry, but that is not true...carbs are necessary to feed your brain, they provide brain power....they also convert to glucose to provide us with energy...lack of carbs makes your body store fat...lack of carbs makes the body break down protein to use when there are no carbs, and the body takes that from your muscle.. so, no carbs is very unsafe....

[LowCarbLara]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

i am sorry, but that is not true...carbs are necessary to feed your brain, they provide brain power....they also convert to glucose to provide us with energy...lack of carbs makes your body store fat...lack of carbs makes the body break down protein to use when there are no carbs, and the body takes that from your muscle.. so, no carbs is very unsafe....

I'm sorry, you're mistaken - on several counts.

Dietary carbohyrdates are not essential at all because the body can (and does) manufacture it's own carbohydrates. So while, technically, we 'need' carbs for brain function, for example, we do not need to get them from dietary sources.

Also, in the absence of carbs/glucose, the body relies on fat/ketosis(/lipolysis) for energy - which is exactly what Atkins talks about in DANDR.

Also, lack of carbs does not make your body store fat. In fact, in the absence of insulin (stimulation of which is required by carbohydrates and, in certain amounts, protein) it is almost impossible to store fat, as insulin acts as a 'key' to 'unlock' fat cells and allow fat and carbs in. You may stall and not lose weight if you're eating a huge number of calories from fat and protein, but it's difficult to actually gain on it (unless your protein intake is very high and thus stimulating the release of insulin).

Also, in the absence of carbs the body will burn primarily fat (the very basis of Atkins!) and only takes very small amounts of protein for use in a form of glucose for the brain (ie, the body making its own carbs). You only need to start worrying about large amounts of protein breakdown when you are at a very low BF% level (a level at which most people never get to, apart from figure competitors and famine victims).

However, like I said, while it is very possible to live happily on just fat and protein, you wouldn't be following Atkins if you didn't consume some carbs. Not to mention that all but the most metabolically resistant will cease to produce a significant amount of insulin at less than 20g carbs/day, so there's no real reason to cut carbs out at all.

[surreys_princess]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

wow..i guess that nutrition class we took in nursing school was wrong....

i will stick with what i was taught, thanks, and i still stick by what i said....no carbs at all is very bad and unsafe...to each their own....

[possysmith]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

Surrey Princess

Those eskimos who only eat meat and blubber must be very unhealthy!!!!!!! Not to mention all the other cultures of people I have studied in my anthropology degree who primarily consume meat and animal products. Oh and I guess it is alright to eat as much meat as you like on Atkins because it's not like the body can convert protein into glucose and bump you out of ketosis. Nope Dr Atkins never mentioned the process of glucose (carbs) production in the absence of actual dietary carbs.

[LowCarbLara]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

wow..i guess that nutrition class we took in nursing school was wrong....

i will stick with what i was taught, thanks, and i still stick by what i said....no carbs at all is very bad and unsafe...to each their own....

I imagine at nursing school you would have been taught that good nutrition is in line with what the USDA food pyramid recommends. And if you do believe that's the right way, I don't understand why you'd subscribe to the ANA - because it pretty much turns the food pyramid on its head (and rightly so).

[cocobelle]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

I think that reality is somewhere between the two.

When glycogen stores are not available in the cells (glycogen is primarily created when carbohydrates such as starch and sugar are consumed in the diet), fat (triacylglycerol) is cleaved to give 3 fatty acid chains and 1 glycerol molecule in a process called lipolysis. Most of the body is able to utilize fatty acids as an alternative source of energy in a process where fatty acid chains are cleaved to form acetyl-CoA, which can then be fed into the Krebs Cycle. During this process a high concentration of glucagon is present in the serum and this inactivates glucose kinase causing most cells in the body to use fatty acids as their primary energy source. At the same time, glucose is synthesized in the liver from lactic acid, glucogenic amino acids, and glycerol, in a process called gluconeogenesis. This glucose is used exclusively for energy by cells such as neurons and red blood cells.

Layman's read: Yes, the body is able to create its own glucose in the liver through a process called gluconeogenesis. What is unclear - at this point - is the levels of glucose able to be obtained through this method. They are still conducting studies in this end.

Low blood glucose levels can lead to a significant deterioration in attention abilities, University of Edinburgh researchers concluded after testing healthy individuals in whom hypoglycemia had been induced. And while - yes - the liver is able to manufacture glucose, it is able to manufacture sufficient levels?

As for the eskimos and the other cultures of people.... many of the meat choices are high in carbs. Additionally, those cultures rely on the blood of the animal for soups and stews. The humans injesting the blood would also injest the glucose contained in the blood.

For the record - the body does NOT convert the protein into glucose - it is broken into amino acids that then enter the Kreb's cycle to produce ATP (the body's source of energy). The liver will make small amounts of glucose that is used EXCLUSIVELY by the brain and red blood cells.

I really don't think that sarcasm has any place on an information-seeking board. There really is no need to put down another person because they have a different belief. (You can dispute what they say without insulting the person!)

That (all) being said.... it's really hard to get down to zero carbs - eggs contain carbs, many meats contain carbs, many seafood products contain carbs. If that is what you're really wanting to do, Atkins isn't the diet for you.

[Kent]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

For the record - the body does NOT convert the protein into glucose - it is broken into amino acids that then enter the Kreb's cycle to produce ATP (the body's source of energy).

Do you have a citation for protein not being converted into glucose? The commonly accepted belief is that protein is the main source for glucose on a low carb diet.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/carb...basics-ga1.htm

Through a process called gluconeogenesis, protein, and to a lesser extent fat, can be called on to supply glucose to the body, although this is a much more complicated, "fuel expensive," and inefficient process and not the preferred method of obtaining glucose.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pierce17.htm

When liver (hepatic) and muscle glycogen storage becomes depleted right before the body slips into ketosis the body converts amino acids into glucose. Our body does this to maintain steady blood glucose levels. This is the process known as gluconeogenesis. It is the making of glucose from a new source, in our case protein (1). When we eat a really low carbohydrate diet the stage is set for depleting liver and muscular glycogen. This up-regulates enzymes needed for an efficient conversion of amino acids into glucose. As stated before, the word gluconeogenesis means "the birth of new glucose." Protein is really important for us gluconeogenesis dieters.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nut.../a/protein.htm

Extra protein can be broken down into glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. On low carb diets, this happens continually. One of the benefits of obtaining glucose from protein is that it is absorbed into the bloodstream very slowly, so it doesn’t cause a rapid blood sugar increase.

[possysmith]

Re: Is ZERO carbs ok?

cocobelle

I really don't think that sarcasm has any place on an information-seeking board. There really is no need to put down another person because they have a different belief. (You can dispute what they say without insulting the person.

I found that surreys princess was really sarcastic when she said
wow..i guess that nutrition class we took in nursing school was wrong....

i will stick with what i was taught, thanks, and i still stick by what i said....no carbs at all is very bad and unsafe...to each their own....
It bothered me so much that I did indeed reply in a sarcastic fashion. I had a bad day today with a person who had a similar tone and quite forcefully argued her point without even taking the time to think about another opinion or formulate a new approach based on shared knowledge.
Sorry for causing grief. I could have responded plainly, objectively and respectfully as I normally do. If you knew me you would be shocked at my outburst. I'm usually the good girl, peacekeeper. I don't know why but that particular remark sent me off. I'll have to research what you have said and update my knowledge if required. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Thanks
Sue