Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet? - PaleoHacks.com

Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-02-23T17:46:33Z

If so, why? What is your experience on it, and what constitutes the bulk of your carbohydrate intake. Obviously those with weight issues don't, but how about others with a "healthy metabolism"

Answer by paleoboy for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-02-23T19:22:04Z

Well primarily the Paleo diet is not really high carb. But if you ate plenty of vegetables and fruit, it wouldn't exactly be that low the carb intake.

Or you could eat starchy tubers which are natural - sweet potatoes, bananas?

Potatoes are natural too, but they wouldn't be on a low carb diet.

What kind of foods were you exactly proposing to add to this "high carb" paleo diet?

Answer by Philosopher for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-02-23T19:36:08Z

I do have potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas and apples on a regular basis, as well as squash, carrots, etc. I think of my diet as balanced since I do have lots of meat, fish and eggs. I was able to lose some twenty pounds (all I needed to) on this diet, over a four month period. I feel great and I recommend a moderate carb, moderate fat and protein diet to everybody!

Answer by Travis Culp for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-02-23T20:14:13Z

I think it's a good idea to scale your carb intake upward with an increase in glycogen depletion. If you suddenly have an increase in high-draw activity (in general or for a day) then, assuming you want to keep your glycogen tank topped off, you'll want to have a commensurate increase in starch intake. Clean (low-fructose) starches include white potatoes and rice. You'll know if you're overshooting because fat loss will stall or reverse. Adjust accordingly.

It's definitely possible that you could ingest 3-400g of carbs and not gain a gram of fat if you actually have the activity to balance it out.

Answer by Jay for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-02-23T21:56:26Z

I have a balanced "paleo" type diet, with about 750-1000 calories per day from potatoes, wild rice, buckwheat, and fruits and other vegetables.

Answer by MDH for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-05T20:14:33Z

Jay, a Paleo diet does not consist of wheat or rice and usually not even potatoes, although some experts will disagree on this one ... just sayin ...

Answer by Bread-Eating Beelzebub for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-05T20:20:05Z

I listed some good starches here: http://paleohacks.com/questions/31667/what-are-some-nutritious-starch-options/31668#31668

The ones I eat include yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, bananas, berries, and chestnuts. I get around 100 grams of carbs a day. I try to use resistant starch and some fermented starch. It amazes me that the ave American gets like 300 grams!

I have IBS-CD and this starch seems to be important for getting rid of the "roller coaster" digestion issues that I get if my diet is too high or low in fat or vegetable fiber.

Answer by cliff for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-05T20:25:46Z

Right now my macro nutrient ratios break down to about 55% carbs 35% fat 15% protein. I eat around 4500-5000 cals so I usually get around 600g carbs mainly from white potatoes.

I find this works great for my lifestyle which is extremely active. I usually end up walking at least 10 miles a day due to being car less plus lots of surfing which usually entails a couple miles of biking followed by a 4 hour surf session. On top of this I lift weights and do other random stuff. Probably end up burning about 1000 cals on a typical day. I'm also trying to gain an additional 20-25 pounds(I'm currently ~175 6'2").

If you live an active lifestyle lots of carbs are the way to go imo, if not YMMV.

Answer by Eric S for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-05T20:40:08Z

I eat sweet potatoes regularly, and bananas, occasionally, mostly because I do heavy lifts with HIIT about 4 times a week. In the beginning of the diet I was purposely LC but I found that it interrupted my sleep. I also eat a little white rice when its served at restaurants, since its just starch. When bread is served, I take a bite or two, but my rule is that there has to be almost as much butter as bread. Sometimes I buy sweet potato chips, which are fried in seed oil, but I only eat them with liver pate, which I find to be an acceptable tradeoff. Fwiw, I never count how many grams I'm consuming, nor do I pay attention to macro nutrient ratios, but I know that a medium sized sweet potato has about 30 grams of carbs, so eating one a day doesn't really put me in the high carb paleo category, even though it feels like it, because a whole sweet potato looks pretty big in mashed form.

Answer by ben61820 for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T01:41:26Z

I eat high carb. 40% of my calories are from carbohydrate. All starch. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes and the carbs in yogurt and cottage cheese.

Gram wise I usually do about 200-250 grams of carb per day.

I eat this way because i am trying to gain strength and gain weight. I am trying to grow so Im eating a lot.

I feel great on it: energy throughout the day, don't need to sleep more than 8 hours (but on LC I routinely slept 9), digestion is solid, eating is very enjoyable again, etc.

Answer by Olivia for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T02:08:08Z

I eat high-carb. Not sure of percentage of calories because I don't track that closely but for sure at least half my calories usually come from starchy foods. I eat a ton of sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and white rice a few times a week. Also squash, parsnips, carrots, etc. I feel great eating this way, have lots of energy, maintain my weight and everything. Higher fat just makes me feel tired and heavy and gross, and my stomach HATES it. I think it also works well for me because I'm small and don't need huge amounts of calories. I can see how it would be hard to get like 4000 cal/day of mostly starch without adding a lot of fat. I'm really active, have a physical job, and walk or bike everywhere so I really don't see any reason to worry about my carb intake. Plus I think panicking over insulin and small amounts of carbs (if you're healthy, I mean) has turned into a sort of Paleo CW (to use a term I hate) and it annoys me since I sometimes see the same types of people making fun of non-paleo people who worry about small amounts of saturated fat.

Answer by thhq for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T03:54:25Z

I eat anything I thrive on. I am grateful to be lactose tolerant, and free of celiac disease and gluten allergies. I'm here because I consider paleo to be a behavior. I am active and I stay hungry, and that's 95% of paleo IMHO.

Answer by Cave Tomboy for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T09:16:04Z

Not sure your definition of "high" carb. I definitely eat way less carbs than when I was vegan. But I eat more calories as carbs (~30%) than protein (~20%) though I'm hoping to make those two more equal in the coming month.

My carbs are vegetables (incl. sweet potatoes) and fruit.

Answer by turkeytyme for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T11:14:17Z

I guess my understanding of what constitutes a paleo diet is different from many. My understanding is that it's low to moderate carb by default because paleo man was a hunter gatherer and wasn't eating a lot of high carb foods because he didn't have access to them. He certainly didn't eat them year round like we do today. Unless you are an athlete or do hard physical labor I think you are probably better off healthwise to eat fewer, not more carbs.

Answer by animalcule for Does anyone here follow a high carb paleo diet?

2011-07-06T21:33:35Z

I seem to have a healthy metabolism (in that I've always been thin and lean) and am active, but too many carbs, paleo or not (I have by far the worst reaction to wheat though) still mess me up. My dad and I are both thin, lean people with a history of reactive hypoglycemia symptoms (but no testing of actual blood sugar levels, or official diagnosis). We both react horribly to any sort of fasting (migraine, shaking, brain fog, inability to speak clearly), I never felt well in ketosis, and both of us have had lifelong problems with 'crashing' after eating lots of carbs.

I really should get a blood sugar meter.

I say I eat moderate carbs, I don't log my intake any more but I'm pretty sure I get about 100-150g carbs most days since I eat a consistant diet. And when I've gotten more cardio than usual I will make an effort to eat more... but I simply can't eat too many grams of carbs, especially in one sitting, or I 'crash'. 2-4 hours after too many carbs I get extreme exhaustion and sleepiness, sweating, and generally feel rather ill. This went on my whole life. With a more moderate carb intake I NEVER feel sleepy anymore, until I lay down in bed at night.

Most days I walk and ride my bike a few miles (lots of hills around here) since I don't drive, and do power yoga or lift weights. Plus at work I am constantly walking, lifting, carrying, shelving items, and cutting giant blocks of hard cheese which isn't always easy. I would think that would be enough to burn up lots more carbs than the 200g max I take in.

Suggestions welcome!