Is SANE Eating a Low-Carb Diet?

The brilliant MooseGeorge from the Support Group asked a wonderful question the other day:

There are 3 types of carbs, fiber, sugar and starch. Really only 2 types as starch is just long chains of sugar that are broken back down to simple sugars by our digestion. Fiber isn’t digested by humans and so we don’t really care how much we eat. That leaves starch/sugar. 

I believe SSoS recommends staying away from starch/sugar. So it seems to me at this point SANE eating really just devolves to be the Low-Carb diet? Or am I missing something?

(I’m coming from the point of view that “modern” Atkins says eat as much fiber as you want.)

Personally I don’t mind if SANE == Low-Carb. SSoS does a damn fine job of explaining WHY we avoid sugar/starch, and many other important nutritional points. But I can see why positing this question the way I just did might cause undesired confusion. 🙂

And I can’t help but wonder if I’m not over-simplifying a bit and missing something important.

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Love this! Thanks George. My 2-cents:

Hey MooseGeorge – In most context low-carb diets limit carb intake to fewer than 75 grams per day…often lower than 50. Some implementations of a SANE lifestyle could be on the higher end of low-carb, however, just as many could be moderate carb. Keep in mind that the average American eats an extremely high carb diet, so just just about any way of eating that avoids nutrient poor sources of carbs (aka starches and sweets) *seems* low carb…but is more accurately thought of as moderate carb. I think both moderate carb SANEity and low carb SANEity can be wonderfully effective for different individuals. 

When using “low” or “high” I think we may be best served thinking about high Satiety, low Aggression, high Nutrition, and low Efficiency…rather than applying “high” and “low” to macronutrients. After all, there are “high” and “low” quality sources of all three macronutrients…that’s why we have to look a level deeper at SANEity.

Does that help and seem reasonable? 

Have a great weekend brother.

George’s reply:

Yes it does.

Actually lightbulb just went off in my head. 🙂 I’ve been focused on carb macro nutrient for so many years that I’ve lost site of the SANE forest for all the carb trees.

Thanks dude 🙂

Thanks to George for the great question. I hope this is helpful. Have a great week!

Learn the exact foods you must eat if you want to finally lose weight permanently. Click here to download your free Weight Loss Food List, the “Eat More, Lose More” Weight Loss Plan, and the “Slim in 6” Cheat Sheet…CLICK HERE FOR FREE “HOW TO” WEIGHT LOSS GUIDES