Come out of the closet- Any HIGH carb TF'ers? - Page 2

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by sisteeesmama

I don't think TF means low carb at all, actually. I think TF varies widely around the world. I mean in Europe rye bread is a staple. In other places potatoes are. In tropical places fruit is. I think it depends on your constitution and what makes you feel very good, vibrant, healthy and alive. If carbs are a part of that equation for you and don't give you any bad side-affects then I think that is great for you and if they are prepared properly then that is TF plain and simple.

Just my 2cents!

Very true, IMO. I find that too many carbs leave me feeling yucky, but I still LOVE them! I cannot seem to get away from them completely for ever and always. We esp. love carbs for special occasions, and those are usually not at all TF. Cinnamon rolls at Christmas come to mind. However, for everyday eating, we do lots of stuff like sweet potatoes, sourdough, tortillas, rice, and very occasionally, pasta. Once in a great while I make dinner rolls or cornbread. We eat lots of meats, eggs, veggies, tubers, dairy (cheese, yogurt, kefir, raw milk), and fruit. Since we can get a lot of stuff locally, I don't worry too much about whether it is carb or not, as long as it fits in my budget. Atm, my pregnant body is craving salads, so I, and whomever else wants it, eat salad several times per week. I don't think carbs are bad, as long as they work for you and your family.

[nicolelynn]

After trying low carb grain free anti-candida GAPS diet I realized it dosn't work for me. My digestion immediately improved when I added back grains and upped my carbs in general, strangely enough. I don't consider myself high carb, I guess I am kind of at the mainstream reccommended 55% carbs, 30% fat 15% protein. And I am finally feeling good. I still eat TF fats and properly prepared grains, but just in different ratios than the WAPF reccommends.

[Kelilah]

Low-carb doesn't work for me either, though it works great for my husband. He needs protein like I need veggies and whole grains. Which makes it kind of a pain to cook! I think there's a lot of merit in the blood-type philosophy, that our blood types are indicators of what our ancestors evolved to eat in different climates with different food sources. I can go years without meat, and have, but I cannot go a day without bread or rice. I get really sick without them.

The way I figure it, you don't get more traditional than bread. It's such a staple that the word "bread" is a catch-all synonym for "food" in many languages, including ours. Plus there's just something about baking bread for my family that feels so much more nurturing than any other kind of cooking.

[Shazer]

I did LCish (sometimes 20 g/day or less, sometimes moderate) for almost six years and then was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue in May. Everything I read about AF mentioned needing a balanced diet and that going severely low carb could cause problems. So I had a food panel done, cut out some protein foods that scored really high, and then increased my carbs. It still is a gigantic learning process because going severely LC in the beginning cured blood sugar problems previously controlled by medication and other PCOS issues.

Although I didn't react to any grains on my food panel, I think it is best if I am grain free. However, having a picky toddler and being pregnant, I've been eating 1-3 servings of grains per day including rice, corn, wheat bread, and sometimes oatmeal.

I weaned my toddler back in June and while breastfeeding, I needed some carbohydrates. When my baby was 10 months old and for the next six months, I had to cut out all grains, starches like potatoes, nuts, and legumes because she reacted to all of those foods in my breastmilk. I was always hungry even though I ate 4 eggs a day, a stick of butter, coconut oil, fruits, lots of meat.

So anyway, I need higher carbs (while pregnant or breastfeeding) or I become emaciated and am always hungry.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by nicolelynn

After trying low carb grain free anti-candida GAPS diet I realized it dosn't work for me. My digestion immediately improved when I added back grains and upped my carbs in general, strangely enough. I don't consider myself high carb, I guess I am kind of at the mainstream reccommended 55% carbs, 30% fat 15% protein. And I am finally feeling good. I still eat TF fats and properly prepared grains, but just in different ratios than the WAPF reccommends.

This sums up where I am and think. I can't go low carb without throwing my system off.

[vermontmomma]

we love our carbs, maybe a bit too much! moderation and quality are key, just make sure to eat the healthiest carbs possible (whole grain, etc.) if they work well with you.

[swood]

I love carbs too and make no effort to reduce them. I just prepare them as TF as I can. I think I am actually a lot better off b/c now I eat a greater variety of whole grains when I make soaked grain muffins and pancakes. Prior to that, almost everything was wheat or rice.

[greenmamapagan]

I wouldn't say we are high carb but we are similar to this:

Originally Posted by ursusarctos

We are pretty high carb. Most of the carbs come from veggies and wholegrain and/or sourdough bread, and we do eat plenty of butter and olive oil with them too. We do some fruit but not a ton because it's just not seasonal here for most of the year. We both grew up with high carb diets and both do well on them (when the carbs are coming from the sources I mentioned and combined with other good food. Meat, eggs and good fat are very important for my wellbeing, DP can go without them much more than I can and still be sane ).

ITA with the last bolded bit. DH seems to cope with much less fat and more carbs in his diet than I feel good on. He can eat soaked oatmeal without butter or coconut oil added (say, 'cause we forgot ) and not be hungry until lunchtime but I feel faint and dizzy an hour later. If we remember the fat though I'm fine.

Originally Posted by Teenytoona

That said, I have an inkling that for me potatoes are not as hard on me as other carbs. Breads, pastas and the like I just cannot stop eating once I start. That's why they're out for me.

Yeah, this is interesting. DH doesn't do well with potatoes, bread (wholegrain sourdough) is much gentler on him. Me, I love potatoes (Irish blood ) especially roasted in LOTS of fat

[sapientia]

carb fan, here. I feel better when I have a higher oil/protein diet going on, but I don't feel right unless there are some carbs-moderation and all that.
I think the best I ever felt was when I was eating more protein, more olive oil, whole grain breads and veggies. I can't do the anti-carb thing in totality, it simply does not work for me.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by greenmamapagan

DH doesn't do well with potatoes, bread (wholegrain sourdough) is much gentler on him. Me, I love potatoes (Irish blood ) especially roasted in LOTS of fat

Now this is interesting to me--sounds sort of like food sensitivities and/or a genetic tendency to tolerate certain foods better than others (or a blend of both??)

[sapientia]

Originally Posted by FairyRae

Now this is interesting to me--sounds sort of like food sensitivities and/or a genetic tendency to tolerate certain foods better than others (or a blend of both??)

I was going to mention that in my post-all sides of my family have a very heavy irish/celtic background, and I was raised on a heavy starch/potato and meat diet, I do better that way-I just try to add more veggies and oils.

[snowbunny]

Originally Posted by Metasequoia

I don't think TF necessarily = WAPF or Sally Fallon, either.

What really bugs me about NT (WAPF/SF) is the unrelenting promotion of dairy. It seems they've realized that some people actually DO have problems with gluten, though I get the feeling from SF that she thinks it's over-diagnosed. But I don't get that same acknowledgment about raw dairy.

When carbs come into discussion, grains vs starchy veggies/tubers isn't always mentioned or recognized. I think there's a big difference, both health wise & discussion wise.

There are just soooo many variations under the TF umbrella. There's grain-free (but still fairly high carb), there's low carb (but still eating some grains), just a really wide range of combinations.

I don't think anyone here in the TF forum should ever feel excluded because they don't fit perfectly in every discussion. I often participate in discussions that I don't fit perfectly into, but I take what I can from them (& learn a lot!)

I'm not saying that WAPF is the end-all, be-all of traditional foods: it's not. But to say that they are unrelenting in their promotion of dairy or to imply that they place too much emphasis on low-carb shows a misunderstanding of the organization and its goals.

At their recent conference, they offered dairy-free options at every meal and expressed on multiple occasions that traditional diets are wide and varied. Some are high in grain. Some people eat a lot of milk. Some diets are high in meat. The emphasis that they do place on food is that those foods were nutrient-dense across cultures.

The only time I've ever seen low-carb equated to Traditional Foods is on this board.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by snowbunny

I'm not saying that WAPF is the end-all, be-all of traditional foods: it's not. But to say that they are unrelenting in their promotion of dairy or to imply that they place too much emphasis on low-carb shows a misunderstanding of the organization and its goals.

I don't think Metasequoia was saying WAPF places (any) emphasis on low-carb. I think she is saying that traditional foods, in her opinion, can include low carb eating, and varitions of it, ie: "grain-free (but still fairly high carb), there's low carb (but still eating some grains), just a really wide range of combinations". I don't think she was making any correlation between WAPF and low carb...(and I really think WAPF recommends moderate, at minimum, to high carbs in general...)

[serenbat]

DH seems to cope with much less fat and more carbs in his diet than I feel good on. He can eat soaked oatmeal without butter or coconut oil added (say, 'cause we forgot ) and not be hungry until lunchtime but I feel faint and dizzy an hour later. If we remember the fat though I'm fine.

there is a lot to be said about the differences in people and how they can eat in audrvedic philosophy - some bodies simply do better with a high carb and others do not