Are carbs required in the diet?

Sigi

Is Carbohydrate needed in the diet and if so why?Please only answer if you can back up what you say.Thanks

EileenG

There is no RDA for carbs, because your body can make the essential amounts of glucose from protein. You won't die if you don't eat carbs. However, it is not a good idea to cut all carbs out of your diet. Green vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, some fruit, all contribute a huge amount of top quality nutrition, as well as keeping your bowels happy.

What you do not need is a lot of refined carbs. You can live the rest of your life without bread, pasta or cornflakes, and never miss them.

By the way, that's an interesting question to ask on your first post.

Sigi

However, it is not a good idea to cut all carbs out of your diet. Green vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, some fruit, all contribute a huge amount of top quality nutrition, as well as keeping your bowels happy.

Thanks for the reply.I ask however,Why do you think it's not a good idea to cut all carbs and what nutritional benefits do those mentioned foods provide over foods without carbs.

Lol yeah its probably a weird first post,I've been lurking for years but I've never bothered actually registering before

Piste

I would say a certain amount of carbohydrate is required for normal bowel function. Fibre is, after all, just very complex carbohydrate we can't digest. Other than fibre, I can't think of any way carbohydrates are used for anything bar energy (apart from sometimes being converted to amino acids), whereas fats and proteins are used for energy and all other kinds of wonderful things (building tissues, vital components of cells, making important chemicals in our bodies).

I think it is a bad idea to exclude carbs totally as they often come as part of foods that are very nutritious. As EileenG said, green veggies, nuts, berries, seeds and some fruits have carbohydrates, but also have a whole host of other wonderul things, like essential fats, amino acids, vitamins and minerals as well as trace elements. It would be a shame to completely cut out all of these things for the sake of cutting carbs.

El_Dangeroso

There is no dietary requirement for carbohydrate, but it is metabolically critical.

Fat can't cross the blood/brain barrier, while on a low carb diet, neurons in the brain can shift about half of their metabolism to ketones, but still require the rest in glucose.

Red blood cells also need some glucose, and the cells in your retina can't use anything else. This is why high-blood sugar is implicated in the formation of cataracts as the eye cells don't have the option of becoming insulin resistant. But if blood sugar is too low, you'll go into a coma.

I think the requirement once fully adapted to ketones is about 40-50g

You can make it from protein in your liver via gluconeogenesis but why not just ingest that in the form of nutrient rich vegetables, nuts and fruits as Eileen said and get the added benefit of vitamins and soluble fibre.

Sapsorrow

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

There is no dietary requirement for carbohydrate, but it is metabolically critical.

Fat can't cross the blood/brain barrier, while on a low carb diet, neurons in the brain can shift about half of their metabolism to ketones, but still require the rest in glucose.

Red blood cells also need some glucose, and the cells in your retina can't use anything else. This is why high-blood sugar is implicated in the formation of cataracts as the eye cells don't have the option of becoming insulin resistant. But if blood sugar is too low, you'll go into a coma.

I think the requirement once fully adapted to ketones is about 40-50g

You can make it from protein in your liver via gluconeogenesis but why not just ingest that in the form of nutrient rich vegetables, nuts and fruits as Eileen said and get the added benefit of vitamins and soluble fibre.

Great post I must start cut and pasting you're replies as notes for my metabolic pathways exam very concise!

Piste

That's exactly what I thought myself!