Low carb! No carb! Should I eat carbohydrates at all?

Absolutely! Low carb diets have gained popularity in recent years. What does low carb mean anyway? Is it a percentage of our total calories? 10 grams/day? 50 grams/day? 200 grams/day or more? The bottom line is we all need carbohydrates. Individual needs vary dependent on their activity level, muscle mass and metabolism. 

Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred metabolic fuel and are found in almost all foods except for pure fats. Carbohydrates are stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen. The body calls on these stores while exercising, especially during aerobic and prolonged anaerobic activities. It’s not surprising that low carbohydrate diets have been associated with fatigue and low energy levels. Carbohydrates have other physiological functions, including forming the ground substances of bone and cartilage and avoiding ketosis. Ketosis is the formation of ketones, which results from the body metabolizing excess fat. Ketosis is the goal of many low carb diets. In the short term most will lose fat on these diets, however, over the long term this method may sabotage your metabolism. Carbohydrates have a muscle sparing affect; therefore, most low carb diets will eventually cause muscle loss. A strong correlation exists between muscle mass and metabolism. The more muscle you have the faster your metabolism. 

Muscle is hard to come by. My advice is to maintain as much as possible. Muscle loss will slow your metabolism; a slower metabolism will make fat loss increasingly more difficult. I suppose low carb diets are another “quick fix” with no regard to the long-term affects. Whatever happened to “balance” anyway?