Fluther: Are there any downsides to buying low-carb diet friendly type items?

Are there any downsides to buying low-carb diet friendly type items?

Asked by DigitalBlue (7102

) September 9th, 2013
9 responses
“Great Question” (2

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I tend to buy certain foods that are geared toward low carb dieters, even though I do not follow a low carb diet. I do so, because they always have a lot of fiber compared to the regular or even the whole grain options and I try to eat a high fiber diet, but I don’t really eat a lot of grain products. I also do not eat fruit, so relying entirely on vegetables to get the fiber that I need is possible, but sometimes difficult.

I know that with low fat or reduced calorie foods, there is often an increase in salt or sugar to improve the taste. Is there something about these items, or is the only downside that most people don’t care for the taste? Or is there likely some sneaky and unhealthy catch to the low carb items that I don’t know about?

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Topics: nutrition, low carb

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Answers

http://m.spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/3/137.full

Yes there are. Many the sugars such as aspartame splenda etc reduce satiety and increase cravings. Even though the FDA has approved these sugars there has been increasing controversy on the safety of such items.

A good way to get fiber is from nuts or berries or beans. If you are worried about weight and it seems that you are daily bean eaters have been shown to eat less calories a day and not gain the typical two pounds a year.

The link I provided has different info covers the topic from a different perspective. It is partially aimed at type 2 diabetics but also includes low carb dieters.

Unbroken (10746

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@Unbroken I should specify, I don’t mean “low carb.” I mean low carb friendly. For example, the tortillas that I buy have 19g of carbs and 13g of fiber. The same brand of tortilla, in the regular “whole grain” flavor has 22g of carbs and 3g of fiber (it is also larger and has more calories than the carb friendly version). They are marketed toward low carb dieters, I think because those diets let you subject fiber from total carbs? Or something like that? But they are not “low carb.”

My fiber intake has to do with digestive health, not weight gain or loss. I don’t deliberately consume artificial sweeteners, but that’s a good point to bring up. I don’t see any indication that they are used in the products that I have, but I will make sure to watch for them in the future.

DigitalBlue (7102

)“Great Answer” (0

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I don’t see any downsides to this at all. The fibre basically absorbs the carbs, so you count the difference in their content as the effective carb content—from what I understand. There’s growing evidence that it’s a good idea to restrict carbs anyway, so you’re probably not losing much by cutting out fruit, which should only be eaten in moderation anyway… unless it’s something like avocado.

Kropotkin (13761

)“Great Answer” (1

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The main downside I can see is that they are far more expensive.

downtide (23815

)“Great Answer” (1

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@downtide yeah, I don’t like that part! But, considering that I eat them for the fiber content, I still end up getting a lot more bang for my buck. (Never thought about that before this little discussion.)

DigitalBlue (7102

)“Great Answer” (0

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Nothing should be wrong about tortillas though some of them hydrolyzed flour and a few other ingredients one should avoid.

But low carb protein bars you need to examine more thoroughly. Some have a lot of crap in them. I mean like wood pulp crap (cellulose). Yeah your system can’t digest it so it goes straight through acting as a fiber. But really its just cheap fillers you pay ridiculous amounts of money for and has no nutritional content. Fig newtons are an example.

Steel cut oats, quinoa, seeds some healthy low carb cereals are ok. But if you don’t know what an ingredient is look it up. It’s probably not food and thus not healthy for you.

Unbroken (10746

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http://www.aqualitylife.info/2012_edition/tortilla_ingredients/tortilla_ingredients.html

A list of tortillas and their ingredients so you can pick a healthy brand.

Unbroken (10746

)“Great Answer” (1

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@Unbroken awesome, thank you.

DigitalBlue (7102

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