Carrots - good or bad for cutting?

[rockymania]

Here's another one am getting mixed messages on. Are carrots too sugary to be eating if you are trying to get cut and shredded?

Any thoughts?

[adguy]

Here's another one am getting mixed messages on. Are carrots too sugary to be eating if you are trying to get cut and shredded?

Any thoughts?

Bump, I also wondered about this.

[stahlhart]

No. One cup of carrots has about 6g of sugar, most of which is sucrose, and less than a gram each of glucose and fructose.

You've got far bigger fish to fry in your diet than this (so to speak).

[oldsuperman]

No. One cup of carrots has about 6g of sugar, most of which is sucrose, and less than a gram each of glucose and fructose.

You've got far bigger fish to fry in your diet than this (so to speak).

Sorry, IMO sugar is sugar when it come to fructose and glucose it is high complex and will spike blood sugar. Avoid carrots like the plague when cutting. LOOK AT ME! I KNOW ABOUT CUTTING!

[stahlhart]

Sorry, IMO sugar is sugar when it come to fructose and glucose it is high complex and will spike blood sugar. Avoid carrots like the plague when cutting. LOOK AT ME! I KNOW ABOUT CUTTING!

Where are you getting 100 calories and 22g carbohydrates per cup?

http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruits.../p/Carrots.htm
http://www.thefruitpages.com/chartcarrots.shtml
http://www.personalhealthzone.com/nu...es/carrot.html
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/cal...NhcnJvdHM.html

[oldsuperman]

Where are you getting 100 calories and 22g carbohydrates per cup?

http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruits.../p/Carrots.htm
http://www.thefruitpages.com/chartcarrots.shtml
http://www.personalhealthzone.com/nu...es/carrot.html
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/cal...NhcnJvdHM.html

If you calculate 8oz of carrots that is one cup raw compacted cup of carrots it works out to about 100 cals give or take, and about 22 g carbs. Slices, chopped, etc are about 1/2 or a little more the amount per cup of shredded compacted carrots. I guess if you want to you can eat a small to mediam carrot a day, do it, yet why would anyone cutting eat any "sugar" to raise ones blood sugar while cutting. Carrots IMHO have too much sugar. There are better foods with less impact.

Stick with carbs that digest slower and you get more food to eat than a carrot like eating oats, brown rice, red potatos insterad. I repeat, I know about cutting. Look at me. Best of luck in your cutting. ed BTW, I'm done talking carrots.

[Datoyminaytah]

They're OK as long as you only eat shredded carrots.

[BELLC]

Wow! Didn't know this. I eat baby carrots all day long as snacks.
.

[rockymania]

Sorry, IMO sugar is sugar when it come to fructose and glucose it is high complex and will spike blood sugar. Avoid carrots like the plague when cutting. LOOK AT ME! I KNOW ABOUT CUTTING!

Thanks Old Superman....I was hoping you would reply on this one!

[Hibiscus09]

Here's some interesting reading from a nutrition site regarding root vegetables:

Roots are a diverse group nutritionally, too. Celery root (also known as celeriac) and parsnips are good sources of soluble fiber, which lowers cholesterol, stabilizes blood sugar and helps control weight, while Jerusalem artichokes (also called sunchokes) are high in iron. Beets, potatoes, rutabagas, salsify and turnips are all good sources of potassium.

?As the single best root vegetable, though, I?d probably nominate the sweet potato,? says John La Puma, MD, coauthor of The RealAge Diet (HarperCollins, 2002). ?You can see how good it is. It?s bright orange inside, so you know it is a terrific source of beta carotene.? Beta carotene is an antioxidant, meaning that it bonds with unstable oxygen molecules, known as free radicals, in the body. Researchers have found close links between antioxidants and reduced cancer risks. Both sweet potatoes and carrots are packed with vitamin A in the form of beta carotene. In fact, a half cup of either vegetable, cooked, contains two to three times the recommended daily intake of the vitamin.

Other potential cancer-fighting root vegetables include turnips, radishes, rutabagas and horseradish ? all cruciferous vegetables. A number of studies have suggested that cruciferous vegetables (the family also includes nonroots like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale and collard greens) may protect against cancer, particularly of the lung and digestive tract.

With some notable starchy exceptions (yep, the good old potato), root vegetables tend to be pretty low in calories. Beets, carrots, celery root, jicama, rutabagas, salsify, parsnips and turnips all have fewer than 50 calories per half cup. But in recent years, root vegetables have gotten a bad rap because they tend to rank high on the glycemic index (GI),?a measure of how quickly food is converted to blood sugar. While it?s true that potatoes and carrots rank above white bread on the glycemic index, it?s important to examine those numbers within a broader nutritional context, says La Puma.

?Root vegetables provide nutrients that are hard to get elsewhere,? he notes. ?Parsnips are an excellent source of folate and contain beneficial, cancer-fighting phytochemicals. Beets are rich in potassium, choline, beta carotene and vitamin C. Sweet potatoes are one of the best sources of the six mixed carotenoids used by the body.? La Puma advises cutting sugary processed foods from your diet, rather than root vegetables. ?You shouldn?t worry about the sugars in root vegetables unless you?re insulin-resistant, have metabolic syndrome, or have diabetes or pre-diabetes.?

You can also moderate the glycemic impact of root-vegetable sugars by combining them with other foods, like nuts, that contain a small amount of protein and fat. These additional macronutrients will slow the absorption of sugars into the blood stream.

That being said, the only root vegetable I was allowed while cutting for a contest are sweet potatoes. Other than that, it was mostly broccoli and asparagus. I was not allowed white potatoes, corn or carrots. I never asked about beets (blech!).

I supposed it all depends on how lean you want to be. There's no need to obtain contest level low body fat unless you're doing one. It just isn't particularly healthy and not something anyone can maintain over time. I think you can obtain a reasonable level of lower body fat while consuming all sorts of vegetables.

[ChocoChick]

I think carrots are fine. Just once I want to meet the person who got fat from eating too many carrots... or tomatoes or...

8 large baby carrots have:

40 calories
8g carbs
0g fat
0g protein
328% of your vitamin A requirement

I'd really want to see what the rest of your diet looks like before you think this is going to have an effect.

[wubby]

I eat about 1/2 cup of baby carrots every day. I have never had any trouble cutting while eating them. Granted - I have never tried to get as lean as OS.

Cutting right now and have carrots and peppers packed in my lunch.

[Blake Austin]

Yuck! Carrots taste disgusting. Won't ever eat them, cutting/bulking/maintaining. LOL

[Mr. Someday]

Old Superman is correct, but to him and I cutting means something different that what it means to most on here. Carrots are just fine as part of a sensible diet where you are trying to reduce calories, you just have to include the calories in your daily count. With broccoli and asparagus, these are fibrous carbs that I don't count as carbs in my daily count as your body tends to use up just as much energy as it just took in in order to digest them....they are about the only non-starch carbs I take in as far as vegetables during a prep.....I may use some lettuce and cukes if I have a salad (again, theses are also free foods in my prep). One thing is for sure no matter what the intensity of your "cut" is....if your carbs are extremely low on certain days, to waste those carbs on carrots in lieu of a yam or oatmeal would not be a wise choice.

[4estGimp]

Here's another one am getting mixed messages on. Are carrots too sugary to be eating if you are trying to get cut and shredded?

Any thoughts?

Carrots are high on the glycemic index.

[ChocoChick]

Carrots are high on the glycemic index.

They have a GI of 47 and a GL (more important) of 3. Quite low in both cases. Plus, these numbers assume you are eating just carrots. If you pair them with other foods, the values will change.

http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

[irongrl]

I think carrots are fine. Just once I want to meet the person who got fat from eating too many carrots... or tomatoes or...

That's just what I was thinking..

[oldsuperman]

Old Superman is correct, but to him and I cutting means something different that what it means to most on here. Carrots are just fine as part of a sensible diet where you are trying to reduce calories, you just have to include the calories in your daily count. With broccoli and asparagus, these are fibrous carbs that I don't count as carbs in my daily count as your body tends to use up just as much energy as it just took in in order to digest them....they are about the only non-starch carbs I take in as far as vegetables during a prep.....I may use some lettuce and cukes if I have a salad (again, theses are also free foods in my prep). One thing is for sure no matter what the intensity of your "cut" is....if your carbs are extremely low on certain days, to waste those carbs on carrots in lieu of a yam or oatmeal would not be a wise choice.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I'm cutting for my last show this year, 5 wks from this Sat and I'm a cranky mindless sh*t rite now and probably not the most reasonable, pleasant person. For that I apologize! I dropped out of the forum and PM's about this time for the last show. Probably should again before I piss off more people! ed

[JustLost]

It sounds like the definitive answer, then, is, "It depends."

[ctgblue]

Cutting for show, NO!
trying to lean out, not bad as long as they are used as a means to avoid eating the REAL CRAP you want to destroy yourself with.

Pre-contest, no carrots, no corn, no white anything except cauliflower

Dropping BF, eat veggies, if carrots are part of the mix that's OK as long as they are not the only mix and they are not prepared with butter and honey and cooked until they just melt in your mouth and oh my god I'M HUNGRY!!!!!

[SumthinOrNuthin]

........ There's no need to obtain contest level low body fat unless you're doing one. It just isn't particularly healthy and not something anyone can maintain over time. I think you can obtain a reasonable level of lower body fat while consuming all sorts of vegetables.

Cutting for show, NO!
trying to lean out, not bad as long as they are used as a means to avoid eating the REAL CRAP you want to destroy yourself with.

Pre-contest, no carrots, no corn, no white anything except cauliflower

Dropping BF, eat veggies, if carrots are part of the mix that's OK as long as they are not the only mix and they are not prepared with butter and honey and cooked until they just melt in your mouth and oh my god I'M HUNGRY!!!!!

Hurrah for you guys! Seriously, I cannot see anything healthy about going into this level of detail unless its part of contest prep. If its just dropping some BF for the summer or general fat loss then hell, eat the carrots, they're nice and they're good for you

[someday]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I'm cutting for my last show this year, 5 wks from this Sat and I'm a cranky mindless sh*t rite now and probably not the most reasonable, pleasant person. For that I apologize! I dropped out of the forum and PM's about this time for the last show. Probably should again before I piss off more people! ed

i've been eating and drinking for 2 weeks since our show and i'm still cranky and mindless nevermind having the patience to argue politely.

[Mr. Someday]

i'm still cranky and mindless nevermind having the patience to argue politely.

I can vouch for this!!!

[Ironized]

I think carrots are fine. Just once I want to meet the person who got fat from eating too many carrots... or tomatoes or...

8 large baby carrots have:

40 calories
8g carbs
0g fat
0g protein
328% of your vitamin A requirement

I'd really want to see what the rest of your diet looks like before you think this is going to have an effect.

I agree, no way someone puts on bodyfat eating carrots... It would take a ton of calories just to push the fiber through the gut


Albert beckels sp? A bodybuilder in the 70 early eighties got simply ripped on fish and pineapple.

[Mr. Someday]

No one in this thread said you'd get fat eating carrots. But hey, if you eat enough of anything with calories you'll get fat eventually.

We're just pointing out the ideal, the acceptable, and the unnacceptable. I'm no genetic freak and gain fat easily, so I need to keep my diet much closer to "ideal" than others will have to. There is no cookie cutter plan that will fit everyone.

[stahlhart]

No one in this thread said you'd get fat eating carrots.

Not in those exact words -- but what do phrases like "spike blood sugar" and "high on the glycemic index" suggest?

ChocolateGirl was just trying to bring some perspective into the discussion. If anyone needs to be called out here, it's me, for being ignorant about contest prep (and not realizing that this was a discussion about contest prep). Have at it.

[Mr. Someday]

Not sure why you are quoting me when I said nothing about what you have brought up, called out no one in this thread nor said this is only a thread for those that are getting ready for a show.

[Ironized]

Seems we have a few here in their cutting stage? Carrot anyone??

[Buffycat3]

Good thing I am not cutting for a show.
I eat at least 4 oz of raw baby carrots daily...Mmm, it's my sweetness.

[resurrected]

I know no one wants to hear my opinion but..... I have eaten carrots and lost weight at the same time. It all depends on how much one eats and what thier goals are. Carrots are good for you and should be eaten along with other veggies. i am concerned about my health first, cutting secondary.