How many carbohydrates should I consume per day?
The short answer is 20 to 50 grams per day
There are a number of factors to understand to help you work out your carbohydrate tolerance levels.
Important Information To Consider:
1. We don’t need any dietary carbs. The small amount we need in our blood can readily be generated from protein and fat via gluconeogenesis.
2. The average Australian is consuming 300grams of carbs per day, which is around 50% of total calories.
3. 120 grams of these carbohydrates are coming from sugar. That is 30 teaspoons of sugar. This is plain craziness! This sugar is largely coming from added sugar in processed food. Avoid processed food like the plague!
4. To obtain optimal weight and health, sugar consumption needs to be reduced right down to 0 to 5 teaspoons per day. Much lower levels of sugar consumption have recently been endorsed by the World Health Organisation and in US Dietary Guidelines.
5. We advocate zero teaspoons per day while you find your own carbohydrate tolerance level.
6. Our aim is to have a fat burning metabolism rather than a sugar/glucose/carb burning metabolism. We can easily achieve this eating healthy whole foods. Avoid processed food. Eat meat, eggs, non starchy vegetables, olive oil, nuts and dairy* (*unless not tolerated)
7. Avoid bread, rice, pasta and potatoes.
8. Fruit is high in sugar. We suggest only eating berries (up to a handful per day) to begin with.
