Are carbs necessary?

[A-Soldiers-Wife07]

I need someone who knows a lot about nutrition.

My husband's unit is doing this thing called Crossfit Training. I know several units at all different Army posts are now trying this new training to see if it helps Soldiers. Anyways, this morning he came home from PT and told me the nutritionist for Crossfit told them to cut out all carbs in their diet, that any and all are bad for them. Well, I went to a nutrition appointment a couple weeks ago, and granted it's for pregnant women. But the nutritionist said that everyone, pregnant and non pregnant people, need their daily value of grains. The nutritionist the unit is using said that our nutrition pyramid is messed up and all wrong. Well, my parents have been using it for many, many years and their completely and totally healthy. They were actually tested by a couple doctor's, and then were tested for life insurance and get more than most people because their so healthy. This reminds me of the Atkins diet, which I heard a few years back was ruled unsafe and they suggested people not use it.

It just doesn't make sense at all. People for years have been eating carbs and ruled some of the most healthy people. I thought our bodies needed a certain amount. I'm unsure of that amount...I know your supposed to have 6-11 grains a day. I just feel my husband's unit is feeding them bullsh*t. That they just want this new training program to work, and to prove it works so they want the Soldiers to loose weight faster. I'm worried for my husband's health. Who knows what they'll change next.

Updates

+1 y

I want to update that it is just bad carbs they have asked them to take out of their diet and that my husband and his Soldiers are doing really well with this new training program.

[Amrit]

His workout is very intense. How many hours does he sleep ? Since he is an ectomorph like me, he needs at least 8 hours of sleep. Also unlike other people, ectomorphs tend to carry less body fat, so it is less likey that he will get overweight like those fat guys.

link

Also he needs to consume milk. Read this.

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Just surf this website for getting more tweaks for ectomorphs.

HOWEVER

A word of caution. I would suggest that he begin by drinking only 2

litres milk a day. Also ask him to do stomach exercises like crunches &

leg raises so that his stomach doesn't bloat. Now the reason why his

stomach will bloat is because milk satiates.Ask him to do a complete

workout of stomach comprising of the upper abs, middle abs & lower abs

exercises.

www.exercisegoals.com

Now the thing is that milk increases testosterone levels (T levels)

significantly. I know this because I have tried this. Since his workout

is highly intense, he needs to consume whole milk. With milk I give you

the guarantee that he will gain weight. His weight will increase.

Also since milk is easier to digest, he may have to go to the loo often

for some number of days till his body gets adjusted to the milk

consumption.

Calorie Consumption for weight gain:

20 * (his weight in pounds)

So in your case 20 * 195 = 3900 approx. 4000 calories.So, he msut consume milk & his food in such a way that he consumes a total of 4000 calories per day.

After gaining his target weight, he must consume calories in order to

maintain it, given by the formula :

15 * (his weight in pounds) + 500

With daily milk consumption, his energy levels, stamina & muscles will

increase by 30% or more depending on his resting period & workout.

All the Best :-)

[regular-guy]

I would doubt the credentials of the unit's nutritionist. A few years ago the fad was to cut carbs, and to a limited degree that may be good, but you should not cut all carbs. Not only is that impractical, but it is very probably unsafe. Our bodies have evolved to function off of carbohydrates. Now simple sugars in large quantities are not good for us, but we absolutely need carbohydrates, and complex carbohydrates are good for us.

[regular-guy]

I would say that high carbohydrate diets and diets with high levels of simple sugars/carbohydrates are not good for you and do contribute to insulin resistance.

[regular-guy]

Well, eliminating "bad carbs" (i.e. simple sugars) makes a lot of sense. Congrats on the bun in the oven, by the way. =D

[Infogirl]

Carbs aren't just grains-foods like mashed potatoes have them too. Yes they will loose weight but it will be from muscles since they won't have fat to feed off of- the body will begin to feed off the muscles-that is why atkins was ruled unsafe. Cutting out carbs will cause yyour husband to have lots of ketone bodies become in a state of ketosis-which is a phisiological condition associated with chronic starvation. Tell your husband lack of carbs cause stress on the liver and destroys muscles: ketosis.

[A-Soldiers-Wife07]

It doesn't matter what I tell him. He has to follow orders.

[Infogirl]

I never said he shouldn't follow his orders. He has to follow orders-but that doesn't mean he has to be unaware of what's going on in his body. In short, yes, carbs are necessary. Good luck.

[BabyJenks]

My squaddie boyfriend eats tons of bread, tatties and pasta, so I'd ignore it and as long your other half is eating well and keeping his training up I wouldn't worry. Make sure he eats off base whenever possible (although if he's deployed that might be a bit tricky!)..and ultamitely he knows his body better than that nutrionist so let him carry on doing what he's been doing. Tell that silly bitch that an army marches on its stomach, so she should just stuff her wheatgrass smoothie up her arse!

[Amrit]

Carbohydrates are absolutely essential in our diet. If the body is the engine, then carbs are fuel to your engine. If you don't supply carbs to your body, how will we be able to carry out our day to day activities ?

Can you please elaborate on Crossfit Training ? I mean does he have to do more physical activities like running, climbing, etc. ?

[A-Soldiers-Wife07]

Their physical training is brutal. Here is the YouTube video to what they do. And their workouts are only about 20 minutes. So you can imagine how much energy they burn in that 20 or so minutes working out like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZFwzABvw4

[Amrit]

Aw ! I have the slowest internet connection. :-( Therefore I cannot view the video Can you please describe their routines ? I mean which exercises he does ? Trainings are of 2 types, strength & training & weight training.

(I assume that Crossfit Training is related to workouts in gym.)

[A-Soldiers-Wife07]

Ok its 25 pull ups, 50 dead lifts at 135 lbs (not sure what that is), 50 push ups, 50 box jumps with boxes at 24 inches high, 50 floor wipers (again don't know what it is), 50 clean and press with one kettlebell (again no idea what it is), 25 pull ups again. All in about 20 minutes. The video is intense.

[princess25sarah]

Carbs are just as important as proteins and fats. You just have to eat good carbs, the same as you have to eat good fats.

Whole grains, fruits, vegetables...all good carbs. If they want him to completely cut those then he's going to be malnutritioned because his body won't be getting a lot of the nutrients it needs.

[WeaponZero]

The thing about nutrition is that everything commonly found in food, from fat to carbs to calories to sodium, all of it, is all necessary. The thing is not to eat too much of any of it. It is unhealthy to go on any sort of diet that COMPLETELY cuts out all of any one thing.

[Reeses-pieces777]

yes they are all necessary. they are essential nutrients that one has to have in their diet, whether small or large, they are all needed for basic metabolic purposes according to many sources of scientific literature

fats, lipids, proteins, carbs, enzymes etc are all important things one should consider into their diet given that they are all within some sort of RDA value that is right for them

[MrNameless]

99% of food out there.. has some amount of carbs..

Carbs = energy. If you don't eat carbs all together, you won't have the energy to move and function every day.

[dasouthernicon]

Carbs will always be necessary. Carbs are fuel. And they usually taste good at that...

[skycat]

I do not believe 6-11 is at all necessary, but none, is crazy. A small amount will suffice. Even if you just have him eat oatmeal for breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Why do they want your husband to loose weight when he's already super skinny and possible a little underweigt?

[Amrit]

What is the height & weight of your husband ?

[A-Soldiers-Wife07]

Right now he's 195 at 6'6". He used to average about 170-175. So he's extremely skinny for his height. When he was deployed, he'd have me send him protein shakes and stuff so he could bulk up and I thought that stuff was loaded with carbs.