How much carbs should I eat to lose weight? The number of carbs will always depend on your physical activity level, age, body type, etc. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that carbs provide 45 to 65% of your daily calorie intake for all age groups. According to the Federal Drug Administration, (FDA) the Daily value for carbs is 300 grams per day when consuming a 2000 calorie a day diet.
How much carbs should I eat to lose weight? Photo credit: iStock-photka
If you read enough stuff on the internet or fitness magazines it will make you believe you have to be on 50 grams of carbs per day to lose weight. But that is just not true, you need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight.
So, you can still lose weight and drop body fat consuming 100 grams or carbs per day. So, if you have a goal of dropping body fat or losing weight focus more on the number of daily calories you consume versus how many carbs you are consuming.
There are studies that have shown that eating 100 to 150 grams of carbs daily, that the weight loss is still the same even if you are on a low carbs diet. So essentially there is no difference in weight loss if you are on a low carbs diet vs a moderate carbs diet.
Eating 100 to 150 grams of carbs per day would be considered moderate carbs intake. And that is enough to give you energy throughout the day to execute your normal day to day lifestyle.
Some of the carbs you can eat on a moderate carbs intake dietary lifestyle would be:
- All types of vegetables
- All types of fruit
- Moderate amounts of healthy starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans.
- Healthy grains like brown rice, wheat bread and oats.
Everybody is different in terms of the amount of carbs that they need to consume to execute their fitness or weight loss goals. So, the best thing is to play and experiment with it until you can figure out the sweet spot for yourself.
If you look at the Keto diet it is based on consuming 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day. Most people can’t do that because it is not sustainable, and it can drastically affect your energy levels. If you eat less than 50 grams per day your body goes into ketosis mode.
Some of the carbs you can eat on less than 50 grams per day are:
- Carbs from foods such as avocados, nuts, and seeds.
- Low carbs vegetables.
If you are on a low carbs diet, you will lose up to 5 to 10 pounds the first week because of the water loss. Many people who push their low carbs diets will push that in their marketing slogans, “lose up to 7 pounds in the first week”. And this can be appealing to the person who wants to lose weight fast.
It is not entirely enjoyable to always be drowsy, fatigued, and have low energy because you are on a low carbs diet. So, you just have to figure out how many carbs per day work best for your activity level. If your goal is to lose weight going the moderate carbs intake route is a safe bet to be successful weight loss wise.
“So, if you have a goal of dropping body fat or losing weight focus more on the number of daily calories you consume versus how many carbs you are consuming.” Celebrity Fitness & Nutrition Expert Obi Obadike
The Bottom Line is you don’t need to be on a low carb diet to lose weight. You need to be on a balanced diet that puts you in a caloric deficit that will illicit weight loss.
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References
- Hu T, Yao L, Reynolds K, Niu T, Li S, Whelton P, He J, Bazzano L. The effects of a low-carbohydrate diet on appetite: A randomized controlled trial. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2016 Jun;26(6):476-88. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2015.11.011. Epub 2015 Dec 12. PMID: 26803589; PMCID: PMC4873405.
- Volek J, Sharman M, Gómez A, Judelson D, Rubin M, Watson G, Sokmen B, Silvestre R, French D, Kraemer W. Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2004 Nov 8;1(1):13. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-1-13. PMID: 15533250; PMCID: PMC538279.
- Wylie-Rosett J, Aebersold K, Conlon B, Isasi CR, Ostrovsky NW. Health effects of low-carbohydrate diets: where should new research go? Curr Diab Rep. 2013 Apr;13(2):271-8. doi: 10.1007/s11892-012-0357-5. PMID: 23266565; PMCID: PMC3595318.
- Eric C Westman, Richard D Feinman, John C Mavropoulos, Mary C Vernon, Jeff S Volek, James A Wortman, William S Yancy, Stephen D Phinney, Low-carbohydrate nutrition and metabolism, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 86, Issue 2, August 2007, Pages 276–284, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/86.2.276
- Dietary Guidelines For Americans- 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (health.gov)
