Transcription
Here I've got a chart showing how many carbs I'd eat depending on age. Now, I'm 5'2" tall. I'm 115 lbs and I've eaten under 20g of carbs a day for a while. I've also eaten over 200g of carbs a day. And for me, both of those experiments didn't go very well.
Nowadays, I eat between 60 to 80g of carbs a day. And that's my sweet spot. Meanwhile, my husband is 39 years old, 5'10" tall, 160 lb, and he eats around 200g of carbs a day, and he's thriving. So, today I want to help you find how many carbs would be best for you. My name is Lily. I'm a certified nutrition health coach. And if you've watched any of my videos in the past, you know I am not team zero carb. I'm also not team high carb. I'm team whatever works best for you carb.
So today in this video we are covering three things. First, are carbs actually making you fat? Because I want to settle this once and for all. Second, what happens to your body when you eat carbs wrong? Both when you eat too little or when you eat too much, what are the real consequences? And lastly, how to actually figure out your personal carb number. I'll show you this chart which breaks down carb targets by age. And if you enjoy this kind of content, then don't be silly. Subscribe to Lily.
Now, before we continue, I have to address the elephant in the room. Oh, no, not that elephant. The elephant in the room being you. I don't know what you're eating right now, but statistically speaking, according to the CDC, the average American is consuming 230 to 300g of carbs a day. And we're not just talking about carbs from blueberries and sweet potatoes. We're talking about muffins, crackers, cookies, sodas, alcohols, oatmeal packets, macaroni and cheese, pizza, the standard American diet. And therefore, almost all of the carbs being consumed are from what I would call dead carbs. Meaning foods that have been so processed, they have almost no protein, no fiber, no real nutrients left in them. They don't fill you up. You eat them and you're hungry again 30 minutes later. So you eat more and more and before you know it, you've just had 800 calories of Lays potato chips. That's not the carbs fault. That's the foods being engineered to keep you having more.
But with real food carbs, they behave completely differently. A sweet potato has fiber. Full fat yogurt comes with protein and fat alongside its carbs. Fruit has water, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. These foods work with your body, not against it. And here's one of the most important things I'll say in this entire video. If the person who's eating 250g of dead carbs cuts their carbs, they will likely lose weight, sleep better, have better blood sugar control, feel better. But was it the carbs? Or was it because they cut the chemicals? Because if that same person swapped 250g of dead carbs for 250g of real carbs, meaning from pasta to sweet potato, from pretzels to fruit, from alcohol to milk, that person might end up still having the same results without cutting a single carb. So going forward in this video, when I talk about carbs, I'm not talking about the dead carbs. I'm only talking about the real food, single ingredient carbs, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, dairy, honey, things that you can find out in nature, not from a factory.
And so now, once we've eliminated the dead carbs, this is a great question. How many real carbs should I have? Well, first, let's answer the question, does eating carbs actually make you gain weight? And the short answer is no. No singular food causes weight gain. Weight gain is generally caused by eating more food, more fuel than your body needs. Things like stress, sleep, your current metabolism, hormones, those things can play a role. But when it comes to the food itself, if you eat more food than your body needs, then you'll likely gain weight.
Now, I want to give an example. If I duplicated myself. And there's Lily A and Lily B. Both eat zero grams of carbs. Lily A is going to only eat one burger patty a day. That's it. Every day for 30 days. And Lily B is only going to eat 20 burger patties a day, every day for a month. Well, by the end of the 30 days, both Lilys are going to look different even though they ate zero carbs. On the flip side, I could make myself lose weight eating only carbs. If for the next 30 days, I said I am only going to eat one orange a day and that's it. Well, at the end of the 30 days, I'm likely going to have lost weight and muscle. So, the food itself doesn't cause weight gain. Overeating does.
However, there is one scenario where having carbs can make fat loss harder. And I want to be transparent about that because I like to give you guys the full picture. If someone is insulin resistant, meaning their body is already having a hard time managing its insulin and blood sugar levels, well, then having more carbs even from real foods can make insulin stay elevated. And elevated insulin can make fat loss harder. Not impossible, but harder. And so, if you're insulin resistant or have blood sugar issues or type 2 diabetes, then going lower carb tends to give you a real advantage. Not because carbs are evil, but because your body needs a break from processing them while you heal. And we'll get into more details here in a bit about how many.
A low carb diet is typically defined as being under 130 grams of carbs a day. Now, I tend to be in that lower carb camp because for me personally, when I go above that 130g, I find my period cramps are so painful. I get more clotting, but on top of that, I tend to hold on to more water weight, especially my face and my arms become a little bit more puffy. I may have more skin breakouts, more dandruff, more irritability. I find I'm constantly thinking about food. I'm hungrier. I have an afternoon crash and I feel a little bit more bloated.
Now, I want to be transparent that I can't tell you if the reason I have those kinds of symptoms are because of the carbs itself or because when I'm having foods with carbs, like more dairy, more fruits, more veggies, then those things come with, let's say, more fiber, more anti-nutrients, or just other components that could be contributing to the bloating or to these other symptoms that I listed. So again, I can't pinpoint where the symptoms come from, but regardless, I know that when I pull back on the foods that have these carbs, then those symptoms tend to disappear.
Now, let's flip it. What can happen when you go too low in carbs? Well, for me personally, when I was under 20g of carbs a day, meaning I was having just ground beef, butter, eggs, and some yogurt, at first I felt amazing. I had a lot more focus. I was feeling satisfied. I wasn't constantly hungry. I felt really good. But then the longer I did that, eventually my sleep got way worse. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep. I would wake up feeling cold all the time. I started losing more hair. I wasn't able to push it as much in the gym, therefore not build as much muscle mass. And my butt turned into a pancake, which that right there, I was out.
Though, here's what was really happening underneath the surface. When I was just eating lots of protein and fat, I was not hungry. I was so full all of the time that I under ate. I wasn't trying to be in a deficit. I wasn't trying to restrict my calories. I was just so flipping stuffed that I naturally was eating so little. And when your body doesn't get enough food, that's when the body can start down-regulating. The thyroid can slow. There can be hair loss, feeling cold all of the time, hormones can get disrupted. For men, testosterone can go down. For females, their menstrual cycle can become irregular or disappear entirely.
So, for me personally, having some carbs does something very important. It stimulates my appetite and keeps me eating more food so I don't undereat. Now, there are some people like Shaun Baker and Steak and ButterGal who eat zero carbs and still consume enough food, but for me personally, and for the majority of my clients, eating 4,000 calories of steak a day just ain't going to happen. And so having some carbs can help with yes, not only eating enough food, but also helping with sleep, energy, with being able to have quick energy for the gym, to put on more muscle mass, and to get that booty back up in her. And honestly, blueberries, yogurt, and oranges just make me happy and make me want to keep eating healthy long-term. If I ate 0g of carbs, I would sever my arm off for a blueberry. And when that becomes the reality for me, I end up wanting to go and eat Ben and Jerry's ice cream and Oreos. And so for me, having more carbs in the form of like some fruits or some yogurt makes me lose weight because I'm able to eat in a way that is sustainable for me. To some people, I eat too little carbs. To other people, I eat too many carbs. And yet, I'm able to lose weight. And so for me, I just want to make sure I'm doing something that makes me happy. If I am miserable, then I'm not going to continue eating healthy long-term.
The point is, there's a real cost to going too low and too high. And the goal is finding that sweet spot. And one of the biggest clues that your carb target is off is your hunger. So for me, I dial up the carbs to feel hungrier. I dial down the carbs to feel more full. Another clue is your sleep. For me, when I was going too low carb, that's when my sleep started getting worse. My anxiety started creeping up. And it makes sense because carbohydrates hydrate our cells. And so when you cut the carbs, then our bodies can flush out more electrolytes. And magnesium tends to be one of the first things to go. And magnesium is responsible for over 300 processes in our body, including our sleep, our stress, our hormones, and our blood sugar regulation.
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All right, let's figure out how to find your personal carb number. Step one, we need to figure out how many total calories to have. I'll put a chart on the screen that shows maintenance calories depending on your age and gender. It's not perfect, but it's a good starting place. And then I'd first fill in my calories with protein. And so step two is figuring out how much protein to eat. And I would usually aim for about 1g of protein for one lb of ideal body weight. So if I would like to weigh 170ish lbs, I would aim to eat about 170ish g of protein. Now, some people do better with more protein, some people do better with less, but in general, again, a good target is the one gram of protein per one lb of ideal body weight.
After that, I'd fill in some calories with healthy fats. Our bodies need healthy fats to survive. Now, actually, the amount of healthy fats we need is quite small. It's only about 30 to 40g of fat is what's necessary to keep us alive. Now, personally, I'm not just trying to stay alive. I'm trying to thrive. And fats are necessary for our hormones, our brain function, mood, energy. And so, for me personally, if I'm a female, my minimum target for fat would be 80g minimum. For men, it would be a minimum of 100g of fat a day.
Now, after that, step four is to fill in the rest of your calories with either more protein, more fat, or at that point, some carbs. I would adjust my carb level based on my activity level, my goals, whether or not I'm insulin resistant. I would adjust it based on how I feel. And so, here's how I think about it. If you're an athlete, you lift heavy. You do a lot of endurance training. Carbs are the quickest form of energy that can help support performance and recovery. If you're someone who's sedentary, then you may not need as much fuel. If you're someone who wants to feel more full and smash sugar cravings, then leaning into more fats and proteins tends to be a good strategy. If you're someone who you're not sleeping as great, then carbs can help actually lower cortisol and make the body feel more safe and relaxed and help prepare for sleep.
So, in general, here is just kind of a cheat sheet with signals your body gives you when your carbs are off in either direction. Now, a quick but important note here. As you get older, your body tends to not need as many carbs. Not because carbs are evil, but just because your body changes. Like I had mentioned, my husband is 39 years old and he eats currently over 200g of carbs a day. And he's very athletic. He's weightlifting consistently. That works great for him right now. It supports his performance, his muscle, his recovery. Though we've also talked about how as he ages, he's likely going to shift his ratios where he has even more protein and fewer carbs. So when he's around maybe 60, 70 years old, instead of being around 200ish g of carbs, it may be closer to 100ish g of carbs. And instead of being around 170ish g of protein, closer to 200, 225g of protein. Because as you age, your body's need for protein increases to maintain muscle mass. Muscle as you age is your armor. It protects your bones, keeps you strong and independent. Helps reduce your risk of serious injury if you were to fall. Plus, as you age, activity level tends to change, meaning older people may not need as many carbs.
And so, as promised, I'll put on the screen what I believe to be healthy targets for carbs based on age and activity level. Again, this is what I'd target for maintenance carbs. But if I were trying to lose weight, then I'd probably pull back on this. It's not perfect. It's very simplified. I don't know your height, your eating history, your current metabolism, and so it's just a good target and a starting place for most people.
Now, what are the best carbs to eat? In my personal preference of order, it would be first the dairy carbs like full fat yogurt, milk, cheeses. Then it would be fruit carbs. In comparison to vegetables, fruits tend to have less anti-nutrients and therefore be easier to digest. Then I would say more like the potatoes because the potatoes can tend to spike blood sugars a little bit higher. After that, it would be honey, maple syrup because those tend to have less overall vitamins and minerals in comparison to all the other carbs. Then I would put more of the grain carbs like organic white rice, soaked and sprouted oats, and homemade fermented sourdough bread. I put those towards the end just because those carbs in general tend to have even less nutrients, more anti-nutrients, and be harder on digestion for a lot of people. Plus, I find, especially if I talk about bread, it's just hard to get a good quality, not a ton of ingredients in the bread kind of bread. But if you tolerate it well and it works for you, then great.
In general, how many carbs should you eat? Now, for most people, it's not going to be zero and it's not going to be 200g. And considering nearly half of American adults have some form of insulin resistance, therefore I would think at least half of American adults would want to be below 130g of carbs, meaning a low carb diet. And after that, you can dial up and down your carbs depending on how you tolerate them. And like I had put on the screen for calories, this is the maintenance amount of calories. But if you're trying to lose weight, then I would check out this video right here. I'll put it in the video description as well. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up. Don't be silly. Subscribe to Lily. And I hope you have a happy.