i feel like i need to know. everytime i go grocery shopping they also have diet/low fat versions of products and THEN they have low carb. they even have low carb slimfast.

i already cut dairy and soda out of my diet because everyone said that's really good for being healthy and skin/weight loss. but do i need to worry about carbs too?

i buy a lot of products that have lots of carbs in them. i buy kashi products, which are advertised to be really healthy.. and they have tons of carbs in them.

so why do people look out for carbs? do i need to start buying foods that are low in carbs?

please be very simple and specific, i don't want to know the life history of the diet. just want to know what are carbs and stuff like that

Welcome to old dieting trends darling.

People look out for carbs because they're on the Atkins diet. I haven't read anything on the Atkins diet, and I'm not going to look it up, all I know is my dad makes us buy whole wheat everything if we're going to buy bread.
I hear it works. A lot of people in my family have tried it and lost weight. I would never be able to do that though.

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cheeseburger lips!

i love trends so i feel like i should be informed

yeah I see Atkins everywhere I go. and South Beach Diet. I like whole wheat bread though, yum!

www.google.com

do not cut back on carbohydrates, simply eat healthy. the carb-cutting fad is largely about getting to eat crap and stay/get thin at the same time -despite the strain it puts on the body due to it's method.

there are three macronutrients: carbohydrates, fats, proteins

each has specific and necessary uses in the body. carbohydrates are the primary fuel of the body. when taken in the correct amounts in a non-survival-crisis time, they are the main source of energy for our bodies.

fats and proteins should be taken in ratio to one's size/makeup and the rest of your calories should be made up of "carbs".

the reason that carbohydrates are considered largely evil in some dieting views is that when you are taking in enough energy and carbohydrates, any excess fat you eat is stored rather than used as a secondary fuel (you're not short on it, so you're body saves up on it)... many (most?) folks would like to be able to eat more fat and protein than that which is needed, so carbohydrates are cut so that the body thinks there is a survival crisis and starts burning more fat and protein than normal... while the body continues starving for carbohydrates and slowly being damaged due to it and the byproducts of the fat/protein-for-fuel conversion.

now, that's a *very* short-speak, over-simplified generalizing of the things that happen but i just wanted to give you a basic idea about the whole "carbs thing". if you're interested in the details of what each macronutrient does, how and such, the internet has plenty of non-diet industry info available. a basic course or three in nutrition is also available at most colleges/universities and through correspondence courses.

get all three macronutrients (and all nutrients, of course) from the healthiest of sources, in the right ratios, and in the right amount of calories and let the fads pass you by!

haha

thank you so much! that's exactly everything i wanted to know. i have no desire to want to eat fattening foods and it seems way too complicated to me anyway. it's not even marketed cute anyway, the atkins logo is so ugly. hehe

i wish you could be banned from the "diet" section of the stupidmarket and only allowed in the fruit and vegetable section.

all those products are crap peddled by the diet industry whose goal is to make a lot of money selling all the same shit.

just learn to cook and exercise and stay away from all those diet products. they're full of sugar and chemicals anyway which aren't healthy

do i really seem like someone who's smart enough to learn how to COOK? i get emotional breakdowns just from mixing slimfast with lightsilk. i just can't stand cooking, instant is so easy! i love it.

lots of fruit & vegetables - small amounts of carbohydrates ie bread & pasta
see that's where the food pyramid is fucked in my opinion

you shouldn't have cut out dairy. it's entirely possible to eat them without gaining weight. afterall, if you only drank 3 glasses of milk a day and ate one pot of yoghurt, you're not going to gain weight are you? but if you ate 15 eggs a day and a shitload of fish, you will gain weight. the message is basically, everything in moderation. dairy is neccessery to maintain good hair, skin and nails, give you healthy periods and protect you from osteoperosis (brittle bones) in later life. i suggest you re-introduce them into your life even if it's in the form of just having a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt with granola and berries for breakfast or having a glass of milk at lunch.

by the way, the reason many people cut out carbs is to live on protein-only diets (aka atkins). this is so ketosis takes place, ketosis is a process where by your body needs fuel but cannot get it from carbs so it starts breaking down things in your body, namely your lean muscle mass for energy. i've tried it and it was horrendous. i had heartburn, i was very tired, i was very moody and i started chewing and spitting again (something i hadn't done for a while) because i was craving carbs like mad. i was very depressed and i only did it for 5 days. not to mention, when it came to exercise i felt tired quicker and not as energised as i usually feel. i started eating carbs again and i stopped chewing and spitting. btw, my diet wasn't even totally no carbs. i had some in the form of lentils and beans only, yet i still felt like shit.

other side-effects of eating none or little carbs apparently include fatigue, headaches and most desireable of all - bad breath. and not the kind that can be sorted by using mouthwash and brushing your teeth. i dont reccomend it.

it doesnt take a degree in rocket science to cook.

how are you going to survive when you move away from your parents (youre like 16 right?)? all your solutions are really expensive compared to making it from scratch.

my kids would have to kill me before getting their sticky little hands on slim fast etc.

EDIT: and if youre older than 16 then you need a fucking reality check.