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I'm currently following the Paleo Diet for a few months now, and I've skipping on the carbohydrates, although I give myself some "free" days to let myself eat fries or rice maybe once to twice a week.

I'm feeling good, yes. But what I might not be seeing is the long-term effects.

Are there any long-term effects to not eating carbohydrates?

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  • I don't have a reference handy, but as an inspiration for another answer I would look into correlations between very low carb intake and lowered testosterone.
    – G__
    Oct 30, 2014 at 3:56

2 Answers 2

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Lyle McDonald wrote a while back that he doesn't feel carbohydrates are necessary at all, because glycogen can be provided by fat and protein. From the article:

The second criterion is the reason that dietary carbohydrate is not an essential nutrient: the body is able to make as much glucose as the brain and the few other tissues need on a day-to-day basis from other sources. I should mention that the body is not able to provide sufficient carbohydrate to fuel high intensity exercise such as sprinting or weight training and carbs might be considered essential for individuals who want to do that type of exercise.

So it depends a bit on your activity level. You won't find many high level athletes who don't eat a single carb.

Expanding a bit, gluconeogenesis allows for glucose to be created from fat and protein. "Do I need carbs?" is a very different question from "Do I need glucose?"

Additionally, eating truly zero carbohydrates is nearly impossible. Most foods, including whey protein powders, have trace amounts. You're asking a theoretical question (which is fine), but outside of laboratory conditions it's not really going to happen.

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Carbohydrates have gotten a "bad rap" in the last several years. For every article or non-standard diet that demonizes carbohydrates, you'll find an equal number that doesn't. Notice the discrepancy with the first answer posted here.

Except under conditions of starvation, it was thought that the brain always had an ample supply of glucose. "While this is the case in terms of consciousness, the new findings suggest that glucose is not always present in ample amounts to optimally support learning and memory functions," said Gold, who is director of the Medical Scholars Program in the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Any Registered Dietician will tell you that removing all carbohydrates from your diet is not a good thing because carbs are an essential nutrient. Not only do they provide energy, but, they assist in brain functioning. And, while there's no agreement on the long term efficacy of zero carbohydrate diets, the potential implications are widely known.

The best that you can do for yourself is to become knowledgeable on how certain foods affect you because, regardless of popular opinion, there's no such thing as a universal diet that meets the needs of all people.

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  • You're mixing and matching glucose and carbohyrdates though. Glucose is essential for body functions, and although carbohydrates are the most ready source of glucose, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis makes carbohydrates unnecessary. The question isn't about glucose, it's about carbohydrates.
    – Eric
    Oct 30, 2014 at 16:33

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