Excerpt taken from the calorieKing:

Are carbohydrates fattening?

There is so much confusion over the issue of whether or not carbohydrates are fattening. Some people say not to eat pasta, bread or potatoes because they are fattening, but then others say that you should eat more carbohydrates because they are good for you. The truth is that carbohydrates are an essential part of any diet. However, too much of anything, including carbohydrates, can be fattening. It is best to develop a good understanding of how many carbohydrates you need so as to be sure you don’t eat too many or too few. Here are some points to keep in mind when considering the relationship between carbohydrates and weight loss:

* No carbs means no real weight loss. When you don’t eat carbohydrates you break down muscle tissue along with body fat. If you lose weight as a result of this, you also lose your muscle. When you start putting carbohydrates back into your diet you quickly gain the weight back.
* Food is a complex mixture of many nutrients, so it is impossible to say that just one type of food is fattening. The nutrients which provide energy are carbohydrates, fats, proteins and alcohol, and most foods contain all of them. This energy is measured in calories or kilojoules.

Is it my imagination or is this just good common sense and proof that you can read into anything and spin it to mean what you need it to mean?

I read this and go, "good, I really do need to watch my carbs, too many makes me fat", but someone else may read it, panic and say "ohmigod, I need more carbs or I'll break down all my muscle".

I don't think Atkin's is a NO CARB plan. Just the right carbs plan - veggies, whole grain, nuts, you know the good stuff.

Am I crazy?? Or is anyone else tired of all the naysaying out there?

I used to tell people = I eat the 3 G's and anything that is green, from the ground and made by god. Factory food is for robots!

Sorry, this got my dander up a little.

Factory food is for robots!

I love that line!!!

And yes the naysayers will easily get your dander up. But then that is something we all must deal with.

Yeah, its a real hoot and a load of rehashed rhetoric. Total BS. Here's something for the 'calorieKing' - why has America INCREASED its over-weight population from a so-so 9-12% in the early 1970s TO an 'omi-gosh' 42-47% in the 2000s? Oh, I know!!!!! They were eating too many 'fatty' french fries and 'fatty' hamburgers!!!! Bottom line? Americans eat way too much meat and fat!! Hog wash!~#!~#!~#!~#

SEND ALL YOUR FACTORY FOOD TO ME AT PORT 55276 *YUM*

Sorry, I can never pass up a chance at dorky robot humor.

I think a lot of it is just moronic behaviour. Closed mindedness!

Most intelligent people that disagree with low carb, at least try to back up their statements with actual facts!

The thing that really gets me is, I wonder how many people may be considering a low carb diet and then read something like this and decide not too. There are so many people that could benefit from a low carb diet and will never try one because of all the misinformation that is out there.

There is nothing wrong with a no-carb diet, and whole grains are toxic for many people.

Wyv

I love this...... maybe I will say this instead of LC or Atkins.

I am SO TIRED of hearing that I will die without carbs. Am I a great looking, healthy corpse or what after almost 3 years of this WOL?

Julie

I asked my old dietician that very thing... you should have seen the smoke coming out of her ears from tryinmg to ponder that one! She told me she had never been asked that before.....

I figure if someone gets scared off by an article/opinion like that I can do naught to help them. Other than show by example how the lifestyle and WOE works.

why is it that so many people out there argue that low carb means you lose all the weight from your muscles? This hasn't been true for me at all!

People say this based on early 3 day long tests of low-carb. Water and muscle are both classified as fat-free-mass. In the 3 day tests they claimed that most of the weight lost was from "fat-free-mass" (meaning water) but those who wanted to, understood it as muscle.
Dr. Miriam Nelson of Tufts USDA school of nutrition has found and published that 21-25% of all weight lost on a low-calorie (high carb) diet is in fact muscle. The higher protein intake of Atkins spares muscle.

danny

Great post! And it is more like those who wanted to, twisted the data and said it was muscle....

Here is all the proof anyone needs that a high protein and fat diet, full off leafy veggies and some grains actually support muscle mass being built.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker25.htm

Ok, maybe I'm having a senior moment, but what are "the 3 G's"?

Because people are stupid, it's the only explanation I can come up with. I have gained 13 pounds of muscle on Atkins (high protein) while losing nearly 40 pounds overall. I have gained over 50% strength on most of my weight exercises in that time as well.