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Dieting & exercise

Low fat or Low carb - so confusing!

(129 Posts)
granjura Fri 14-Aug-15 11:08:06

BBC news today:

The results published in Cell Metabolism showed that after six days on each diet, those reducing fat intake lost an average 463g of body fat - 80% more than those cutting down on carbs, whose average loss was 245g.

Dr Hall said there was no "metabolic" reason to chose a low-carb diet.

However, studies suggest that in the real world, where diets are less strictly controlled, people may lose more weight by reducing carbohydrate intake.

Dr Hall told the BBC News website: "If it's easier to stick to one diet than another, and to ideally do it permanently, then you should choose that diet.

"But if a low-fat diet is better for you, then you are not going to be at a metabolic disadvantage."

He is now analysing brain scans of the participants to see how the diets affect how rewarding food is.
Diet claims 'debunked'

Doctors Susan Roberts and Sai Das, from Tufts University, said in a commentary that the debate around diets was a source of "intense controversy".

They said the study had "debunked" many of the claims that low-carbohydrate diets were better, but the long-term impact was still unclear.

They added: "The most important message for now is probably that some carbohydrates are all right, especially the healthy whole-grain low-glycaemic-index index variety."

Prof Susan Jebb, from the University of Oxford, said: "The investigators rightly conclude that the best diet for weight loss is the diet you can stick to.

"All diets 'work' if you stick to an eating plan that cuts calories, whether from fat or carbohydrate, but sticking to a diet is easier said than done, especially given the prolonged time it takes to lose weight."

Elrel Sat 15-Aug-15 09:40:27

'Porker' may well have hurt some gransnetter who was thoughtfully assessing the comparative merits of low fat and low carbs. The crossing out simply draws attention to the words being crossed out, which must be the intention. Up to then this was an interesting eXchange of thoughts Why do it? Bye!

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 15-Aug-15 09:25:29

I have had a couple of holidays recently and the pounds are going right back on. And I swear I didn't eat that much. I sometimes think we are the weight we are intended to be. Nothing to do with over-eating.

I heard on the radio recently that fat people have different enzymes in their stomachs that could account for their over-weight-ness.

jinglbellsfrocks Sat 15-Aug-15 09:22:01

No! I didn't make it up maggie! It's from that Urban Slang dictionary. grin

Leticia Sat 15-Aug-15 07:23:38

I lost weight and kept it off once I stopped dieting and changed my way of eating. I don't snack, I try and keep off processed food, have smaller portions and have plenty of exercise.
You have to be careful 'low fat' often means lots of sugar. I think the sugar is worse than the fat and a lot of it is hidden in processed foods.

thatbags Sat 15-Aug-15 07:23:31

Fat in the diet is broken down into carbohydrates too. We get some of our energy (and fat-soluble vitamins among other things) from fats as well as from carbs. It's not a simple relationship. Eating less of all kinds of food is still the only sure way to lose weight.

DH has been on a low carb diet for ages. It hasn't made an ounce of difference to his weight.

I merrily eat as much carbohydrate-based food and fat-based food as I like and am not overweight because as much as I like is not too much. That's where the simple relationship is: calories in has to equal calories burned. Any inequalities there and you either lose weight or gain it.

Anya Sat 15-Aug-15 07:01:22

Elegran grin

boheminan confused ?

Maggiemaybe Sat 15-Aug-15 00:48:22

Jingl, admit it, you've made that definition up, surely?! grin Or is it that online dictionary where the yoof all make their own definitions up (usually very rude and fanciful meanings for their friends' names)? grin I still can't believe there's a really offensive definition of porker. To me, and I'm sure to most other GNers, it's just a bit, well, pig like.

boheminan, why the flounce?

WilmaKnickersfit Fri 14-Aug-15 23:49:46

PS Never heard of the rude version of porker. Colour me shocked! grin

WilmaKnickersfit Fri 14-Aug-15 23:36:04

I thought I knew everything there was to know about dieting and then I read something which opened my eyes. I always knew carbohydrates were basically what our body uses as energy. But I didn't understand the relationship between fat and carbohydrates.

If you eat too many carbohydrates, the excess is converted to be stored as fat. So to lose fat you need to eat less carbohydrate than you need. Then your body will dip into your fat store and convert it back to make up for the shortage in carbohydrate.

So that's why cutting back on your carbohydrates helps you lose weight.

That's how to lose weight in a nutshell!

merlotgran Fri 14-Aug-15 23:29:57

Thanks, Elegran I'll have one of those for breakfast tomorrow. I'll throw the butter on top of my grilled mushrooms.....That's allowed. grin

boheminan Fri 14-Aug-15 23:27:58

It's okay, I'm leaving the playground...carry on gang

Elegran Fri 14-Aug-15 23:25:27

Sorry, that was a high fat, low carb bun. For the low-fat version, throw away the butter too.

Elegran Fri 14-Aug-15 23:24:38

Take one ordinary high-carb bun and spread it thickly with butter. Scrape off the butter with a spoon and put to one side. Throw away the bun and eat the butter.

merlotgran Fri 14-Aug-15 23:13:21

Anyone got a recipe for a low fat, low carb bun? hmm

Elegran Fri 14-Aug-15 23:11:31

To return to fat v carbohydrate - umm - where were we again?

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 14-Aug-15 23:06:34

"bunfight"?! confused

Just a little levity, that's all.

Carry on discussing, why don't you?

boheminan Fri 14-Aug-15 22:44:33

Oh dear, it's all ended up with the usual bun fight. A shame because it began as a reasonable discussion sad

Elegran Fri 14-Aug-15 22:18:59

My vocabulary has now expanded. I thought it was fairly wide, but I had never heard that meaning for the word. As has been said, no wonder Gj was shocked by the use of it - but she seems to be the only person on here who was aware that it could be used that way. Everyone else believed it to be uncomplimentary about overweight or obese people, but not that incredibly insulting.

I really don't think it was reasonable of her to assume that it was posted with the worst intentions. Almost every word in the dictionary has an alternative meaning to someone. It is getting that a dictionary needs to be consulted before typing anything at all.

thatbags Fri 14-Aug-15 22:10:38

Seems to me that it's saying one's insulted and that something is unbearably rude and personal that derails threads, not casual uses of words that have multiple meanings.

Saying we are a nation of porkers is not rude or insulting any more than saying we are a nation of fatties, and that is said in those words or in others (obesity epidemic, etc) quite often all over the media.

Anyway, if someone feels insulted so be it, they feel insulted. So what? as Stephen Fry would say (though he says it more colourfully). The fact remains that, except for a few metabolism problems, if one wants to lose weight one has to eat less. Of everything. Less of every part of a balanced diet. So the less fat or less carbs or less something else is just confusion, as the OP said.

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 14-Aug-15 22:07:10

shock !!!

We don't use that on Gransnet!!!

soontobe Fri 14-Aug-15 22:05:06

I hadnt heard of the very rude porker meaning. But I probably dont count as I havent heard of lots of words that are used on gransnet.

Anya Fri 14-Aug-15 22:04:22

Het up

Anya Fri 14-Aug-15 22:04:06

Blimey ... now I understand why you were getting so get up * GJ* confused

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 14-Aug-15 22:00:15

Where's granjura gone? confused

Ana Fri 14-Aug-15 21:56:23

I'm cross, as you'll have gathered, but will let it go now.

(I'd still love to know who Tweedledum and Tweedledee are in granjura's mind though)