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what I learned in school today: low carb = brain damage


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Posted by: cpush

Well, I'm fulfulling my "health" requirements at school this semester and am taking FN102 - Nutrition for Healthy Living. It's hard enough listening to the lectures and doing assignments and tests in the ideals of the professor and MYPYRAMID. Today we went over carbs. She (and the oldschool lame video we watched) made it a point that low or not enough carbohydrates in the diet can cause brain damage; as carbohydrates are the only nutrients utilized by the brain. This course has an overall emphasis on carbohydrates as the primary nutrient in one's diet. I'm wondering what you guys have heard or what you think about this. I myself am on a moderately low carbohydrate diet with frequent re-feeds. It's just a little discomforting thinking the days I go low carb I could be potentially harming myself. bleh


Posted by: ihateschoolmt

I'm pretty sure that's true, unless you do refeeds. Not sure though.


Posted by: cpush

If that's the case, I'm wondering if 1 re-feed a week is sufficient. Also, what would you guys consider "low" carb? Less than 1g carb per lb of bodyweight? On the video and class it was a general value of <130g of carbs being low.


Posted by: Psch91

Why are you doing low carb anyways?


Posted by: daver1

You're right Cpush. An article I recently read online said that, to maintain adequate levels of the brain fuel glucose, it's important to eat often enough. For some people, this means eating snacks as well as main meals. For others, it just means eating at least every five hours. Poor concentration and low energy levels can be a sign that it's been too long since your last meal.

Nutritious foods can also be high on the glycemic index . These include starchy vegetables such as corn, potatoes, winter squash, and cooked or juiced carrots and beets. Whole grains and whole grain breads, cereals, and crackers are also healthy high-glycemic foods.

One formula for avoiding blood sugar spikes from these carbohydrates is to combine them with protein foods. For example, have an egg with your piece of toast; a tempeh burger with your ear of corn; a serving of salmon along with your potato. Mix high-glycemic fruits or fruit juices in a blender with nuts and whey protein powder. Non-starchy vegetables are also stabilizing to blood sugar levels. Eat them steamed or raw, in salads or stir-fried.


Posted by: ihateschoolmt

To loose weight...


Posted by: Psch91

Quote:
Originally Posted by ihateschoolmt
To loose weight...
To the level where he thinks that he may be causing harm to his body? I didnt think you need to have such low carb to lose some weight. Shouldnt proper nutrition be advised instead of getting a really low amount of certain nutrients?


Posted by: ihateschoolmt

Quote:
Originally Posted by Psch91
To the level where he thinks that he may be causing harm to his body? I didnt think you need to have such low carb to lose some weight. Shouldnt proper nutrition be advised instead of getting a really low amount of certain nutrients?
Nothing wrong with low carb if you have refeeds.


Posted by: Psch91

Quote:
Originally Posted by ihateschoolmt
Nothing wrong with low carb if you have refeeds.
Oh alright.


Posted by: CowPimp

I have also heard that entering ketosis can degrade neural pathways if maintained for extended periods of time, but I never substantiated that information. If I were you, I would start looking up some clinical studies.


Posted by: cpush

I'm not too concerned as I'm not on a NO carb diet.. not even low carb. I would call moderate to average. My ratio c/p/f is usually around 40/40/20. This is still something I'd like to learn more about, however.


Posted by: slider

Saying low carb causes brain damage is like saying Old people in cars cause death. Yes Low carb the wrong way is bad for you it starves your brain if glucose that it needs but in the absence of carbs your liver will create special glucose espicaly for you brain. That is what when you go low carb you litteraly feel stupid at first cuz you have no head fuel. Most low carb diets kill you carbs at first and then slowly raise them untill you get to your thresh hold of just enough.


To the No carb guy that is incredibly bad for you regaurdless of your measurements or how hot you are on the outside. Your insides are choking to death and you are gonna all at once hurt yourself due to lack of muscular glucose and then you are gonna look at your buddy and say "I don' understand what happened... all of a sudden I just overtrainned and got hurt for no reason" Your boady needs FAT, PROTIEN, and CARBOHYDRATES to work right. Yeah you can take all the oil out of your car and run on transmision fluid and gas for a while but evenutaly shit is gonna go wrong real bad.


Posted by: Minotaur

Quote:
Originally Posted by cpush
...Today we went over carbs. She (and the oldschool lame video we watched) made it a point that low or not enough carbohydrates in the diet can cause brain damage; as carbohydrates are the only nutrients utilized by the brain. This course has an overall emphasis on carbohydrates as the primary nutrient in one's diet. ...
That is complete bullshit. While the brain may PREFER to use glucose as it's primary fuel, all that means is that it adapted over the millenia to do so. The brain can and does use fat for fuel. In fact, man evolved and developed on a diet that was high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates. There were no grains when we were developing as a species. And IF the human brain started out using glucose for fuel, it can come from a process called gluconeogenesis... glucose made from protein.


Posted by: cpush

Minotaur, that is also what I assumed ( the glucose converted from protein ). Thanks for the reponses.


Posted by: cpush

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=256293

Found this What do you guys think?


Posted by: slider

as stated earlier if you starve your self of carbs your liver will produve special amounts of glucose specificaly for your brain. but your still need a small amount of them in your diet


Posted by: Minotaur

Quote:
Originally Posted by slider
but your still need a small amount of them in your diet
From vegs, not grains. Vegs=good, grains=evil.



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