Refeeding/recarbing on fibrous veggies instead of starch and sugar?

[Ceebs]

Here's a question that's been knocking around in my Ceeby noggin...

In theory (because I doubt there've been any studies done on this), would there be an appreciable boost in leptin by having a refeed comprised solely of fibrous veggies, rather than starches and sugar? Broccoli, green beans, red peppers, and vine tomatoes are a huge part of my diet - I'm wondering if I simply couldn't gorge myself on them on a refeed day, rather than eat high GI food that leaves me hungover the next day.

 

[the nature boy]

IMO I don't see why not, you'll just have to eat a boat load of those veggies to get your desired amount of carbs. I know on my carb up day I'm supposed to consume over 700 grams of carbs, so its much easier for me to consume high GI carbs in the form of a protein/carb drink for at least one or two "meals".

to each their own.

 

[Ceebs]

Oh, I'm sure I could manage to eat enough. The question remains whether it would have an effect on leptin worth looking six months pregnant 'till the veggies wound their way out of my system. Thanks.

 

[the nature boy]

well if leptin levels are raised by the presence of carbs... then I don't see what the problem is. However since I'm not an expert, I'll bump this up.

 

[abc 1]

i was under the impression that only high gi carbs and sugars affect leptin.

have you tried it yet? if so, did it work?

 

[Vageta]

No, no... The correct answer is "who cares?". Refeeds are the one day of the week that you can enjoy some of the things you've been craving during your diet. Not only is this the best time to indulge yourself, but all of the indulging is actually helping you by restoring leptin levels and giving your metabolism a much needed boost. People need to get the rid of the "cheating" stigma when refeeding. Sure you can go overboard and do some harm if you really try but I doubt most of us are in that situation. I don't think I've ever gone so far as to overflow and gain fat during a refeed, and believe me I've had some seriously gluttonous moments. I'm a bit more structured nowadays and currently doing a Friday evening and all day Saturday refeed schedule and the weight is still dropping. I went to Coldstone twice this past weekend and I stepped on the scale the morning after the refeed and it was still within a pound of my weight before I started the refeed

At any rate I'd have to think that the idea to use fibrous veggies probably would not work, at least work "as well". Higher GI carbs seem to have the greatest influence on leptin which leads me to believe that fibrous, low GI foods that barely effect insulin levels would not have the same effect. My guess is that the amount of these foods you would have to eat to achieve the same benefit as a standard refeed would make it pretty much impossible. You could attempt it and see how it goes but I still have a hard time with why you would want to refeed on the same foods you eat all week long.

Unless you are dieting down for a contest or are a model who relies on their body to pay the bills I just don't see why you would want to go so extreme. You can have a healthier refeed than the norm simply by choosing better foods. Stick with whole foods like oatmeal, whole grain breads, potatoes etc... and drop the cookies, cake and junk(not saying you eat that stuff already). Personally I'll stay with some of the junk since it makes the next week so much easier to survive.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

It won't work. You will not physcially be able to consume that much. Do you have any idea how much broccoli it would take to get 300 grams of carbs? A gallon? Not even close. An entire gallon of steamed broccoli or green beans doesn't even have a hundred grams.

 

[Ceebs]

I know, thanks. I quit bumping the thread when I realized that I'd have to eat almost 28 pounds of broccoli to get to my target refeed carb number, and the fiber would surely slow things down. Not going to try it.