carbs?

P

princess_lolli

New member
Just wondering how many carbs is a person supposed to have a day and what is constituted as too little?

I have between 100- 200g a day (can sometimes be as low as 130)

Im not on a low carb diet or anything just wondering- i googled it and it says it varys per person

im 4 11 , 219 pounds


Anyone know?
 
I think it also depends upon the quality of the carbs. 200 g of carbs from high fructose corn syrup wouldn't be the same as 200 g of carbs from whole grain rice, spinach and strawberries. IIRC, carbs should account for somewhere around 45-65% of your daily intake of calories. So actual grams of carbs are dependent upon your total caloric intake.

Paging Steve... I think this is your department...
 
Hello,

Carbs are should make up 45-65% of your daily diet and these not only include whole grains, but fruits and veggies as well.

If you are taking in 2000 calories per day and say you are wanting 50% of your diet to be from carbs thats 1000 calories. For the conversion of grams per calorie for carbs there are 4 cals per 1 gram of carb... so for 1000 calories that would equal about 250g! Eek all this math!

Ha ha so it looks like you are on track with getting between 100-200 grams. I would base if off of your total cal intake and what percentage of that (45-65) you want to be carbs.

Hope it helps and wasnt confusing!

Cheers,
MissDFITT
 
I range between 20% and 50%, with an average of about 35% of calories from carbs. Figure 1800-2000 calories a day for me, and that's 90-250, but generally around 150. When I was losing, I was rarely over 100g net (total - fiber) in a day. I personally do better with lower carbs.
 
You can't answer this question.

There is no right or wrong amount. It completely depends on the individual, the training, and the goals.

I'm not a fan of using percentages though.... prefer absolute values.

200 grams is a fair number.

If you're trying to avoid ketosis, ~ 50 grams per day might do.
 
And remember that your brain needs glucose to work properly and glucose comes from carbs!

As a nutrition major I am really against low carbing even though you can loose weight fast, it forces your body to metabolize energy from fat and protein and like Steve said if you are not getting enough carbs you risk keto acidosis... (im a terrible speller) however this condition is rare and mostly happens to people with diabetes....

I would suggest choosing your Carbs wisely.... fruits and veggies are the way to go!

Good Luck!
 
MissDFITT said:
And remember that your brain needs glucose to work properly and glucose comes from carbs!
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Wrong.

Well sort of.

People go wrong when they believe the brain's need for glucose means you must eat carbohydrates.

Bless gluconeogenesis.

Bless ketones too. :)



As a nutrition major I am really against low carbing even though you can loose weight fast, it forces your body to metabolize energy from fat and protein and like Steve said if you are not getting enough carbs you risk keto acidosis... (im a terrible speller) however this condition is rare and mostly happens to people with diabetes....
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand the reason you are against them? Because of ketoacidosis? What exactly are your professors teaching you there? Dietary ketosis is much different than diabetic or alcoholic ketoacidosis, namely in the level of ketones present in the bloodstream.

Ketogenic diets have their pros and cons. Ketoacidosis is not one of those cons. To add, all diets have their pros and their cons when given context.

So do you care to explain your distaste for low carb diets by giving more facts beyond linking the diets to diabetic ketoacidosis?

I'm simply not a fan of broad statements given no context, so that's all I'm really looking for here.
 
I think its because of what the nutrition majors are taught. A girl I recently met spouts off the USDA guideleines like its gospel. 10% protein, 60% carbs. She says this as she eats a white bagel with cream cheese as her lunch I add. Too much protein is too hard on the body she says.

I ask, well have you studied anything OTHER then government guidelines? Ketogenic diets? Anything? "No," she says, "I think that is probably the more advanced stuff."
 
I love academia.

When is application going to coincide with academics before the doctorate level?
 
Hmm, I am against low carbing because I am a firm believer in the food pyramid. I feel a balanced diet is necessary to be healthy.

I have yet to learn about the pros and cons of ketogenic diets, and frankly don't know much about them.

I think its best for me to keep what I learn to myself until I have a better understanding of it and more experience. I can't help what I learn in school. I don't have any influence on that. But I do like that nutrition is very dynamic and that throughout my career I will continually be learning new things...

So basically what I am saying is I have no credibility... and I am stupid... or at least feel that way. So don't listen to anything I have to say reguarding food... most questions can be answered by google nowadays anyway....

Hopefully this was the response you were searching for.

Cheers,
MissDFITT
 
Actually not at all was that the response I was looking for. We weren't talking about you. We were talking about ketosis vs. ketoacidosis.

I'm sorry you feel stupid. You are in the process of learning... and you're right; not only is nutrition a dynamic subject... it's also a complex one. I still learn every single day so I commend your pursuits.

I still had a need to speak up. You stated something incorrectly in my mind. I either wanted validation so I could learn something from you OR I wanted to correct the wrong so people have the best possible information at their fingertips from this community.

Something that I think would be useful for you is an understanding that balanced diets certainly tend to be best most of the time. But with nutrition, blanket statements like this rarely fly. There are times and places to utilize all tools available.

Keep learning. And don't be turned off by speaking up simply b/c you might be wrong. There's nothing bad about being wrong.
 
Steve said:
I'm sorry you feel stupid. You are in the process of learning... and you're right; not only is nutrition a dynamic subject... it's also a complex one. I still learn every single day so I commend your pursuits.
Click to expand...

I think I feel stupid because I know the concepts yet at this point I don't know how to relate them to everyday situations. And once I am out of school its like I will have to learn all over again by putting the two together... they don't teach that in school. And you are right nutrition is very complex and at this point in my education I can honestly say I only have little understanding.

Steve said:
I still had a need to speak up. You stated something incorrectly in my mind. I either wanted validation so I could learn something from you OR I wanted to correct the wrong so people have the best possible information at their fingertips from this community.
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I would speak up to if I thought something was wrong. And I think you were correcting me on the brain needing glucose to run. And you are right the body can produce glucose by other means, but I was taught that in these cases the body is typically stressed and that glucose should still be taken into the body. But again that it only what I was taught, there is a good chance its not correct.


Steve said:
Keep learning. And don't be turned off by speaking up simply b/c you might be wrong. There's nothing bad about being wrong.
Click to expand...

I will of course continue my education, but this had taught me that I should look outside the box and always ask questions... as far as in the classroom goes. I just hope that I can get into this industry before I graduate so that I can get some experience in dealing with real life situations. I am a little turned off about speaking up, because I don't want to lead people in the wrong direction... its not fair to them.

~MissDFITT
 
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MissDFITT said:
I think I feel stupid because I know the concepts yet at this point I don't know how to relate them to everyday situations. And once I am out of school its like I will have to learn all over again by putting the two together... they don't teach that in school. And you are right nutrition is very complex and at this point in my education I can honestly say I only have little understanding.
Click to expand...

It's a never-ending process. A process of not only learning but also application. I've yet to see a degree that prepares someone fully for their career.

Surrounding yourself with people who have walked the path before you is your best bet to learn the application and experience side of things. You're doing that here on this forum. You'll continue to do that when you find a worthy trainer to work with.

We walk on the shoulders of giants.

And being wrong only sucks when you don't learn something from it. I love being wrong b/c it presents an opportunity to learn something I did not know before. Learning is never bad. It's a matter of perspective.

Don't let frustration slip in on the process of your pursuit of knowledge.
 
Steve said:
It's a never-ending process. A process of not only learning but also application. I've yet to see a degree that prepares someone fully for their career.
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I agree, I have a degree in drafting and design and even though we were given hands on experience I was completely lost when I got a job. And the thing that sucks about many industries is you need the degree. You think Universities would see this and change their ways... But I'm afraid it won't be in my lifetime.

Steve said:
Surrounding yourself with people who have walked the path before you is your best bet to learn the application and experience side of things. You're doing that here on this forum. You'll continue to do that when you find a worthy trainer to work with.
Click to expand...

And that's what I have been trying to do and I think joining this site has helped tremendously. I have been searching for jobs in the nutrition industry, but they all want someone who already has the education. And same thing with become a trainer, I have to be certified first. I guess as far as become a trainer I just need to take that step and sign up for a class.

Thanks Steve for your wise words. I really appreciate the help.

~MissD
 
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