Carb Daily Intake

(John) #1

I was just wondering what the thought is on carb daily intake. I know we shoot for 20g a day or less but does it matter if they are spread out through the day. I dont do OMAD but i was courious how that worked. If 20 in one meal doesnt kick you out of ketosis then is that like saying 20 per meal wouldnt either? As long as the meals were spaced long enough apart? When i say 20g i am just using that as an example. You can swap the 20 with whatever your carb tolerance number is.

(Robert C) #2

It is not whether you get kicked out of ketosis or not – it is whether you want weight gain or not.

If you mix 20 grams of carbs into a high fat meal, insulin will rise and storage of the dietary fat might start. If 20 is your max grams per day then your other two meals won’t move your insulin up much so fat storage (for the day) is kept down. But, if you add 20 grams of carbs to 3 meals – you’ll likely store 3 times the fat.

Even if you stay in ketosis (based on measuring blood ketones) the whole time – you’re still working the extra mealtime storage against the (now shortened) periods between meals where fat burning (hopefully) is happening.

(John) #3

I mix it up from meal to meal and day to day. Some days are almost no carbs, some days I go a bit heavier.

In general I like to have SOME healthy carbs with each meal if I have the option. I’ve had side salads with my breakfast bacon and eggs. Usually, though, it’ll just be some berries or almond milk with breakfast, and I save salads for lunch and dinner.

I feel, function, and lose weight better when I keep my carb intake a little higher than some folks seem to around here. Not talking about bread and fruit - just make sure that I get my veggies, salads, and occasional berries.

(Carl Keller) #4

I have done 64 in a day (Thanksgiving) and it didn’t kick me out and if it did, it was not for more than a few hours. I think 20 is just a good honest number that gives you a safety net and restricts carbs enough so you that can see results in the mirror and on the scale. Many can probably double that and still maintain a state of ketosis.

So of course I don’t see a problem with eating 20 carbs in one a meal day as long as it doesn’t leave you uncomfortably full.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

It’s an interesting question, and one I’ve never really thought all that much about. Thanks for raising it.

I’m not sure it matters all that much. The recommendation is couched in terms of the daily total, and I don’t think it matters if its 6.5 g at each of three meals or 20 g in one. The point is to keep your carbohydrate intake so low that your insulin rise after each meal stays below the threshold to inhibit ketosis and cause all the other problems chronically high insulin causes. If weight loss is your goal, you can’t lose fat if insulin is high; if restored metabolic health is the goal, you want to keep insulin low for that reason, too.

One’s personal threshold for carbohydrate may actually be higher than 20 g/day. We say 20 g/day on these forums for two reasons: (1) no newbie is going to want to go directly to 0 g/day, and (2) 20 is low enough that everyone can get into ketosis at that level, except possibly a few people who are really messed up, metabolically speaking. So, especially before we become fat-adapted, it is a very good idea to stay below 20 g/day. Once fat-adapted, those having trouble keeping carbohydrate that low can experiment to see if they can tolerate more; but many people find that they like staying that low, or they even want to try zero-carb/carnivore to see if it works for them.

The way I look at it is that I want to keep my total carb intake for the day under a certain figure, and I generally end up eating almost all of it at supper, not because I plan it that way, but because it works that way naturally. I never really worried about it, and not only did I lose 60 pounds, but much more importantly, I am no longer pre-diabetic, and my blood pressure and liver enzymes are completely normal, and my lipid numbers are healthy as well. A solid win all around! :smiley: