Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Someone asked on another thread at what point/number of grams that it's considered VLC instead of moderate carb.

Are there official definitions/carb limits for each variation?

My thoughts are:

Zero Carb = 10 or less

VLC = 30 or less

Low Carb = 50 or less

Moderate Carb = 100 or less

But I completely made that up. LOL.

flag	asked Mar 29 2011 at 21:52 sherpamelissa 18.6k●1●21●69

Sounds right to me! – Brad Mar 29 2011 at 22:53

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The nutrition facts on any food label states that we should be eating 300g/d. We should call that SAD Carb or something. – Travis Culp♦ Mar 29 2011 at 23:47

I know, Travis! I almost added in something like that! – sherpamelissa Mar 30 2011 at 1:52

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300 g/d could be called metabolism hijacking death sentence carbs. – Chickenosaurus Rex Mar 30 2011 at 17:36

Ambimorph · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-30 14:08:10Z UTC

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Sounds more or less right to me, too. Though I might put ZC at 5, VLC at 20, and LC at 30. There is no official answer, only informal consensus, so it's soft.

answered Mar 30 2011 at 14:08

Ambimorph
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	Thank you! I didn't even know if 5 was feasible, LOL. I figured I skewed a bit high, but like I mentioned to mari, once you get to moderate it's probably more of a % thing. – sherpamelissa Mar 30 2011 at 14:11
	Oh, I don't know. I'm also making it up! There's probably a tiny bit of glycogen in muscle meat, so "zero carb" is almost certainly a misnomer, but I'm sure under 5g is doable. – Ambimorph Mar 30 2011 at 14:17

Shari Bambino · Answer 2 · 2011-03-30 01:45:12Z UTC

I pretty much agree with your figures Melissa. I think the low carb community would say VLC = under 20.

The other question I have had is are these net or total carbs? In the LC community people specify but it seems there is come common understanding within the Paleo community because I never see anyone specify. I just don't know what that is.

mari · Answer 3 · 2011-03-29 22:30:30Z UTC

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That seems about right. I've heard 20 or less for VLC, but honestly that's just nitpicking and it really doesn't matter. I do consider myself "moderate carb" though, with 100-150g a day.

answered Mar 29 2011 at 22:30

mari
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	I almost think at some point it should be more % of calories than grams? I eat pretty low cal, so my 75 grams is probably equal percentage-wise to your 100/150 grams. – sherpamelissa Mar 29 2011 at 22:33
	That's true, I didn't think of that. Ah well, I'm not gonna stress :) – mari Mar 30 2011 at 0:15
	Note that the Atkins induction phase dictates 20g of carbs, which is probably why 20 keeps coming up. A lot of people now have that hardwired into their brains. – Eve M. Mar 30 2011 at 3:53

Oranges13 · Answer 4 · 2011-03-30 01:13:43Z UTC

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Sounds right - I'm doing "Low Carb" for weight loss now and plan on heading up into the Moderate range for maintenance once I lose these 40 pounds. So far, so good :)

answered Mar 30 2011 at 1:13

Oranges13
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Jack Kronk · Answer 5 · 2011-03-30 16:48:10Z UTC

I tracked everything I put into my mouth from Aug 21, 2010 to Dec 21, 2010 and counted the carbs.

When I was consciously watching my carb intake, I was hovering around 20-30g per day for several weeks with a low of 14g. Then I raised it a bit and was averaging about 60 carbs per day, and it definitely still seemed low carb to me.

Here's my estimations based on my personal tracking:

Zero Carb = 10 or less

VLC = 30 or less

Low Carb = 70 or less

Moderate Carb = 150 or less

Dean Bocari · Answer 6 · 2012-11-11 02:36:14Z UTC

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Here's a full chart breakdown of carb consumption safe zones depending upon your desired results: http://deansdailydose.com/2012/10/26/carb-consumption-safe-zone/

answered Nov 11 at 2:36

Dean Bocari

community wiki

Definitions/Quantities: ZC, VLC, Low carb, Moderate Carb?

6 Answers