Define Low Carbohydrate

Define low carb

If we are going to get anywhere with these discussions about nutrition and low carbohydrate / high carbohydrate / food pyramid yada yada yada – there needs to be some agreement on what actually constitutes low carb. And I mean in terms of grams per day

What is Is low carb. Is it :

20g and under per day?

50g and under per day?

100g and under per day?

150g and under per day?

300g and under per day?

What if the person is an athlete?

What if they’re and endurance athlete?

What if they’re an anaerobic athlete?

What if they’re a sedentary desk worker?

What if they have insulin resistance?

What if they have poor insulin sensitivity?

What if they have good insulin sensitivity?

Does it make a difference if you’re male or female?

What if you weight train once a day?

What if you weight train twice a day?

What if you weight train twice a week?

What if you weight train like a machine?

What if you weight train like a fairy?

What if you’re trying to add lean tissue?

What if you’re trying to lose fat?

What if you just want to maintain?

What if you do long endurance aerobics ( over 90 mins )

What if you do short endurance aerobics ( under 60 mins )

What if you do HIIT?

What if you’re pre diabetic?

What if you have type 2 diabetes?

What if you have type 1 diabetes?

What is the source of the carbs?

What is the refined sugar content?

What if you’re carbs are high GI?

What if they are low GI?

What sort of carbs are they?

What satiety response do they give?

What if they have poor gut health?

What if you’re obese?

What if you’re skinny fat?

What if you’re a hard gaining ectomorph?

What about periodic refeeds?

How much alcohol do they drink?

Are they on medications?

How does daily calorie intake affect all of this?

What if

What if

What if

This by no means is an exhaustive list but all the above CAN have an affect on how many carbs you should have every day.

When people ask me how many carbs they should have per day, this is what MY BRAIN thinks before I answer them.  Haha!

One mans low carb is another woman’s high carb. There are no absolutes. Nutrition is a highly individualised situation.

When Suggesting Carbohydrates

So if you’re going to start throwing around generalisations you need to clarify the circumstances.


A pre diabetic, 35 year old female, seated computer worker with 35% bodyfat, who gets less than 3 x 30 minute sessions of intense exercise per week, who doesn’t weight train, and is in a 300-400 calorie deficit daily, could quite easily lose weight on 130g of carbs per day if protein is kept moderate ( 1.5g per kg of lean mass ) and fat low ( 0.8g per kilo of total mass ) and one large reefed meal allowed per week.


A 90kg, 26 year old male, who weight trains 6 times per week, has a bodyfat of 10-15% bodyfat, is looking to maintain their size and bodyfat, good insulin sensitivity and is on their feet all day could quite easily consume 400g of carbs per day if calories are set to maintenance and protein and fat adjusted accordingly.

See what I’m saying?

Feel free to leave your thoughts below!


For nutrition suggestions based on your own unique set of circumstances visit my online training option here – CLICK LINK

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