Does High-carbohydrate Intake Lead To Increased Risk Of Obesity? A Systematic Review And Meta-analys

Mito

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
2,554
Abstract

Objectives

The present study aimed to test the association between high and low carbohydrate diets and obesity, and second, to test the link between total carbohydrate intake (as a percentage of total energy intake) and obesity.

Setting, participants and outcome measures
We sought MEDLINE, PubMed and Google Scholar for observation studies published between January 1990 and December 2016 assessing an association between obesity and high-carbohydrate intake. Two independent reviewers selected candidate studies, extracted data and assessed study quality.

Results
The study identified 22 articles that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria and quantified an association between carbohydrate intake and obesity. The first pooled strata (high-carbohydrate versus low-carbohydrate intake) suggested a weak increased risk of obesity. The second pooled strata (increasing percentage of total carbohydrate intake in daily diet) showed a weak decreased risk of obesity. Both these pooled strata estimates were, however, not statistically significant.

Conclusions
On the basis of the current study, it cannot be concluded that a high-carbohydrate diet or increased percentage of total energy intake in the form of carbohydrates increases the odds of obesity. A central limitation of the study was the non-standard classification of dietary intake across the studies, as well as confounders like total energy intake, activity levels, age and gender. Further studies are needed that specifically classify refined versus unrefined carbohydrate intake, as well as studies that investigate the relationship between high fat, high unrefined carbohydrate–sugar diets.

Does high-carbohydrate intake lead to increased risk of obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis
 

eddiem991

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2017
Messages
72
That's weird. Carbohydrates spike insulin and insulin stores fat. I think those scientists have been paid by Coca-cola, Unilever and Nestle.

Either way, going low carb is an extremely efficient way of losing weight.
 

Ulysses

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
340
That's weird. Carbohydrates spike insulin and insulin stores fat. I think those scientists have been paid by Coca-cola, Unilever and Nestle.

Either way, going low carb is an extremely efficient way of losing weight.
Insulin resistance is what "spikes" insulin, not dietary carbohydrate.
 
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Messages
86


I like this video, plus he's hot a great head of hair. Especially in comparison to all the low carbers.
 

InChristAlone

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
5,955
Location
USA
Whenever I had been very high carb I struggled to keep weight ON. Now that I"m eating like 60-70g of fat I don't lose an ounce.
 
OP
Mito

Mito

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
2,554
Carbohydrates spike insulin and insulin stores fat.

The Biochemistry of Why Insulin Doesn’t Make You Fat

Although insulin promotes storage of fat in fat tissue, this can be overridden by low energy status.

Although insulin promotes fat storage, it causes a proportionate increase glucose oxidation, so no net change in caloric balance.

Insulin can drive de novo lipogenesis, but only when energy status is high enough.

All biochemical pathways are regulated by cellular energy status. Key players are ATP, ADP, AMP, AMP kinase (AMPK), NADH/NAD+, FADH2/FAD, Ca2+, CoA and acyl CoAs, and citrate.


https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2017/07/22/biochemistry-insulin-doesnt-make-fat/
 

cyclops

Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
1,636
Whenever I had been very high carb I struggled to keep weight ON. Now that I"m eating like 60-70g of fat I don't lose an ounce.

I been very low fat for a while losing body fat slowly . I included some cocoa butter past few days because of recent threads saying it helps burn body fat. I feel like I got fatter already lol. For me the fat i think the fat is the fat I wear .
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
I been very low fat for a while losing body fat slowly . I included some cocoa butter past few days because of recent threads saying it helps burn body fat. I feel like I got fatter already lol. For me the fat i think the fat is the fat I wear .

+1

Took me like 2 years to accept this fact. The fat you eat is the fat you wear even if it's SFA's.

Now that I'm eating very high carb and virtually zero fat, my weight is finally shifting down.

All dietary fat is estrogenic, even SFA. I'm sure SFA is a little less estrogenic than PUFA, but it's still not helpful to eat much or even any SFA if you're fat.

I wish I realized this BEFORE I got myself fat...
 

brix

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
733
+1

Took me like 2 years to accept this fact. The fat you eat is the fat you wear even if it's SFA's.

Now that I'm eating very high carb and virtually zero fat, my weight is finally shifting down.

All dietary fat is estrogenic, even SFA. I'm sure SFA is a little less estrogenic than PUFA, but it's still not helpful to eat much or even any SFA if you're fat.

I wish I realized this BEFORE I got myself fat...

How much fat are you eating per day now?
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
How much fat are you eating per day now?

Less than 10 grams total and less than 2 grams PUFA, so total intake is low and PUFA intake also really low.
 

brix

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
733
That’s impressive. How long have you been eating that low of fat? Are you mainly eating fruit?
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Couple weeks so far. My main carb source is starch, but I also eat a respectable amount of fruit. Energy level has definitely improved noticeably. I still have a long way to go but I am starting to feel like I am finally "pulling up" so to speak. Eating sugar as the sole carb source started to destroy my teeth and also cause major insomnia and chronic hunger pangs. Starch helps bring stability to things for me.

Randle cycle really hits you harder when you're unhealthy. So I now think someone unhealthy has no business eating fat. Wish I could tell my younger self this.

I do think some fat intake is likely optimal once you've achieved both an optimal body weight AND an overall sense of well-being/healthy metabolism. Going too low in fat for too long might cause one to lose *too* much body fat, but I'm very overweight, so for now, I'm not worried about it.
 

CLASH

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
1,219
+1

Took me like 2 years to accept this fact. The fat you eat is the fat you wear even if it's SFA's.

...


All dietary fat is estrogenic, even SFA. I'm sure SFA is a little less estrogenic than PUFA, but it's still not helpful to eat much or even any SFA if you're fat.

@Cirion
I’m going to have to disagree with you here to the point of saying this statement is entirely false. Many people go on keto diets and lose massive amounts of body fat rapidly (I’m not promoting this tho).

Also, from what I recall, you got fat going on a dairy and granulated sugar diet (as many of us have and still do, me included). Just a few weeks ago your diet was like 5000 calories with alot of granulated sugar if i recall correctly. From what I can gather you seem to switch diets rapidly every week on a whim based on something you read on the forum. Then you make a broad sweeping statement such as the one above and then the next week completely change your diet. This isnt a personal attack, its more an observation of behavoir. Months ago we had a conversation on a thread talking about how you were the thinnest and had the best libido on a high fat keto diet and then gained weight when you switched to peat.

Perhaps finding a base group of foods that you know for a fact dont bother you like #the_low_vitA_diet food list of beef and rice or beef and juice and then adding in foods individually and/or playing with macros individually all in a somewhat systematic way will allow you to actually figure out what works for you. Atleast, this is what worked for me. Its a b*tch and requires discipline but it pays off.

Also, I’d avoid making sweeping claims without disclaimers of “I think” or “in my experience”. These statements could sway people trying to figure out thier own Sh*t from experimenting out of fear of becoming “fat and estrogenic” as you say in this case. This has definetly happened to me on this forum more than once.

EDIT: I have also eaten my words many times making broad statements. Now i always try to add a modifier. I’m definetly not an authority, just an assh*le with observations and a keyboard :)
 
Last edited:

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
@Cirion
I’m going to have to disagree with you here to the point of saying this statement is entirely false. Many people go on keto diets and lose massive amounts of body fat rapidly (I’m not promoting this tho).

Also, from what I recall, you got fat going on a dairy and granulated sugar diet (as many of us have and still do, me included). Just a few weeks ago your diet was like 5000 calories with alot of granulated sugar if i recall correctly. From what I can gather you seem to switch diets rapidly every week on a whim based on something you read on the forum. Then you make a broad sweeping statement such as the one above and then the next week completely change your diet. This isnt a personal attack, its more an observation of behavoir. Months ago we had a conversation on a thread talking about how you were the thinnest and had the best libido on a high fat keto diet and then gained weight when you switched to peat.

Perhaps finding a base group of foods that you know for a fact dont bother you like #the_low_vitA_diet food list of beef and rice or beef and juice and then adding in foods individually and/or playing with macros individually all in a somewhat systematic way will allow you to actually figure out what works for you. Atleast, this is what worked for me. Its a b*tch and requires discipline but it pays off.

Also, I’d avoid making sweeping claims without disclaimers of “I think” or “in my experience”. These statements could sway people trying to figure out thier own Sh*t from experimenting out of fear of becoming “fat and estrogenic” as you say in this case. This has definetly happened to me on this forum more than once.

Noted, but to address your points

- Yes people lose weight on keto... at first. Also, a lot of "weight" loss isn't fat -it's water. And yes even at that sometimes it works for seemingly longer times. It's actually not a contradiction. You are most likely to feel good on almost pure fat or almost pure carb. Because this avoids the effects of the randle cycle. I have experienced this firsthand. As you noted when I was keto. Going high fat while having moderately high carbs however is a disaster. Also, I was younger when I was on keto... I am kind of doubting it'd work for me again... but I won't find out because I'm not doing it again lol.

- I have never been on a granulated sugar diet ever. I have always focused on nutrition filled sugar foods like fruit, syrups, juice. Also I still eat pretty high calorie but the weight has finally stopped going up.

- I don't think I'll be changing my diet again any time soon. This is the first thing I have done that is actually shifting my weight down in 6 months.

- Yeah I am basically doing food adding/elimination now. My diet is very simple now. And zero supplements (But I may be adding B12 supplements since I don't eat much meat anymore).

- I usually do add disclaimers, but sometimes I do forget. If it helps I can certainly add it to my signature in the cases I forget.

We cannot deny that sooo many people crash and burn with mixing carbs and fats though. Only healthy people seem to handle it. And that seems consistent with my beliefs now with the randle cycle probably affecting unhealthy people a lot harsher. I don't think unhealthy people are metabolically flexible enough to mix carbs and fats - so they should likely only go keto OR carbs only. Again, your comment on keto is not necessarily a contradiction (But I still don't recommend keto). If my statement wasn't clear - the context of "the fat you eat is the fat you wear" is in the context of moderate to high carb intake as well. But even beyond that, there are plenty of fat keto people out there, but I'm not gonna spend my time arguing why that is. Peat already explains this better than I ever could anyway.

I have the intellectual honesty to admit when I'm wrong. That's going to make me change my stance a lot, sure. I am not denying that. It's better than me continuing to spout incorrect things, in the name of "consistency". It is not a crime to change my stance. But if I haven't properly put disclaimers, then, that's fair and if that's the case then sorry for that. I however will not apologize either for strong opinions or changing my mind a lot. I consider being open-minded one of my better traits.

edit - signature added. Hopefully that helps address any concerns.
 
Last edited:

TeaRex14

Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
629
Also I think keto, or low carb in general, makes it harder to retain lean muscle mass. Carbohydrate is protein sparing, which is why virtually every pro bodybuilder will cut calories from dietary fat, maybe some carb calories too, but mostly fat. Keto due to the cortisol, is a good way to end up skinny fat with no muscle tissue. I think the main issue with high carb diets is the buildup of pyruvate and lactate. If you can keep krebs cycle going, and get a nice steady flow of pyruvate converting into acetyl-CoA and CO2, you won't have issues losing weight and keeping lean tissue. Thiamine, niacinamide, and biotin are some important co factors in the krebs cycle. Intense exercise (cardio) can damage this process as well. Of course protein is the one constant, and going low protein is a good way to stall any weight loss plan.
 

CLASH

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
1,219
Noted, but to address your points

1) Yes people lose weight on keto... at first. Also, a lot of "weight" loss isn't fat -it's water. And yes even at that sometimes it works for seemingly longer times. It's actually not a contradiction. You are most likely to feel good on almost pure fat or almost pure carb. Because this avoids the effects of the randle cycle. I have experienced this firsthand. As you noted when I was keto. Going high fat while having moderately high carbs however is a disaster. Also, I was younger when I was on keto... I am kind of doubting it'd work for me again... but I won't find out because I'm not doing it again lol.

2) I have never been on a granulated sugar diet ever. I have always focused on nutrition filled sugar foods like fruit, syrups, juice.

3) I don't think I'll be changing my diet again any time soon. This is the first thing I have done that is actually shifting my weight down in 6 months.

4) Yeah I am basically doing food adding/elimination now. My diet is very simple now. And zero supplements (But I may be adding B12 supplements since I don't eat much meat anymore).

5) I usually do add disclaimers, but sometimes I do forget. If it helps I can certainly add it to my signature in the cases I forget.

6) We cannot deny that sooo many people crash and burn with mixing carbs and fats though. Only healthy people seem to handle it. And that seems consistent with my beliefs now with the randle cycle probably affecting unhealthy people a lot harsher. I don't think unhealthy people are metabolically flexible enough to mix carbs and fats - so they should likely only go keto OR carbs only. Again, your comment on keto is not necessarily a contradiction (But I still don't recommend keto).

7) I have the intellectual honesty to admit when I'm wrong. That's going to make me change my stance a lot, sure. I am not denying that.


1) the first statement is a contradiction to your statements above of “saturated fat is estrogenic and the fat you eat is the fat you wear”. I’m not recommending keto, just aaying people lose weight on it to counter the “fat you eat is the fat you wear” statement. Yes people lose glycogen and water very fast on keto at first but subsequently over time many people lose significant amounts of body fat. There are people who lose hundreds of lbs...

2), 3), 4), 5) Cant argue these

6) I disagree here. I havent seen people crash and burn mixing fat and carbs. I’ve seen people crash and burn doing only fat or only carbs. I’ve seen people crash and burn eating ridiculous amounts of sugar. I’ve seen people crash and burn drinking vast quantites of milk. I’ve seen people crash and burn doing carnivore. I’ve seen people crash and burn being vegans. I’ve seen peopl crash and burn eating large amounts of grains and beans. I’ve seen people crash and burn from eating lots of greens and cruciferous veg. I’ve seen people crash and burn from exercising too much. I’ve seen people crash and burn from using too much stimulants or too much hormones or too much supplments. I think the randle cycle is helpful. In some of your posts on youe thread you mentioned that you felt more satiated after a meal and could last longer with more fat. I think this is because the randle cycle in conjunction with sugar allows you to keep your blood sugar elevated for longer as the fats allow the body to spare the sugar for the nervous system while they are used for the musculature. Also fats seem to slow down digestion in the small intestine to some extent, I think this is beneficial leading to a better functioning of digestion and absorption here. Many enzymes in the small intestine are activated by bile to some extent and bile is released in response to fat. Sugar also helps to keep the blood sugar up compared to starch due to the blunting effect of fructose on insulin and the conversion of fructose in the liver to glucose allowing the liver to keep pumping out glucose over time. If you add fiber to this as well you slow down the release of sugars into the blood stream to some extent. So a blood sugar stabilizing meal that would carry you for a long time would be sugar, fat and fiber all together and of course some protein. Its not surprising humans crave fat and sugar together...

7) I’m not questioning your intelligence or your honesty. I personally think your a stand up guy on the forum. If I said what I said to some other members they’d ad hominem attack me for sure. My statment was more for others reading your post. My post in general was more along the lines of harsh observation after seeing your posts overtime in attempt to maybe help than it was to personally attack you.
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Also I think keto, or low carb in general, makes it harder to retain lean muscle mass. Carbohydrate is protein sparing, which is why virtually every pro bodybuilder will cut calories from dietary fat, maybe some carb calories too, but mostly fat. Keto due to the cortisol, is a good way to end up skinny fat with no muscle tissue. I think the main issue with high carb diets is the buildup of pyruvate and lactate. If you can keep krebs cycle going, and get a nice steady flow of pyruvate converting into acetyl-CoA and CO2, you won't have issues losing weight and keeping lean tissue. Thiamine, niacinamide, and biotin are some important co factors in the krebs cycle. Intense exercise (cardio) can damage this process as well. Of course protein is the one constant, and going low protein is a good way to stall any weight loss plan.

Yes, you stated it better than I could have. I may have remained at a reasonable weight, and others may as well - but keto is likely to be effective at making one lose muscle mass alongside the body fat and it's probably not effective at gaining muscle even in a surplus (I've tried it, it was an uphill battle to gain muscle mass on keto - it is one reason I stopped it). Water in cells tend to promote growth. But, it is challenging to impossible to keep water in muscles on keto (glycogen) thus they aren't receiving the proper signals to grow like they are in a high carb diet. I dunno if I agree with the low protein part though. BUT, I will admit I haven't been going low-ish protein long enough to say anything conclusively yet. So I'll hold my tongue on that one until I have more experience doing it. Also I do think dietary fat absolutely has some value - once you are metabolically flexible to handle it. That's the key. I don't think a 80%+carb diet is likely to be the ideal human diet long term but rather an intervention diet like in my case where I'm struggling to regain insulin sensitivity and body weight. Also dietary fat is probably desireable if someone is underweight. Eating low fat is likely not wise in that scenario. I likely plan to re-introduce some dietary fat once I reach my goal weight.
 
Last edited:

InChristAlone

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2012
Messages
5,955
Location
USA
I have a special place in my heart for haagen dazs because when I crashed and burned on the Peat diet it helped me not waste away and stabilized my blood sugar. I don't see how it harmed me at all. Its almost half fat half sugar.
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
@CLASH

We're just gonna have to agree to disagree. As I just stated previously, I am on board with the thought that dietary fat has some value in certain circumstances, but it is not helping me and I'll just leave it at that.

7) I’m not questioning your intelligence or your honesty. I personally think your a stand up guy on the forum. If I said what I said to some other members they’d ad hominem attack me for sure. My statment was more for others reading your post. My post in general was more along the lines of harsh observation after seeing your posts overtime in attempt to maybe help than it was to personally attack you.

Thanks for that. If I was younger I probably would have attacked you haha but I'm older and wiser now and realize that stuff just isn't worth it anymore. It probably helps I am bringing my serotonin down too =P
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom