We just received a question about carbohydrates, how much is enough, and how much is too little.
Personally, I like to aim for about 30% of calories as carbohydrates, with as many as possible being whole grains, vegetables, and whole fruits. Remember, the brain and nervous system run primarly on carbs and you can't completely eliminate them.
Doing the math, the amount of carbohydrates corresponding to common calorie levels are as follows:
Calories Grams of carbohydrate
1500 113
1600 120
1700 128
1800 135
1900 143
2000 150
BTW, just how important is your brain in the big scheme of metabolism?
--A pound of fat burns 2 calories per day.
--A pound of muscle burns 6 calories per day.
--A pound of brain/nervous system tissue burns 109 calories per day!
Could be that this explains why we always want to eat when we're stressed…it's ramping up the metabolism.
Manage the stress, manage the appetite, lessen the carbohydrate need.