Carb intake for a 1500 calorie diet?

While I definitely agree with the other poster that you don't NEED carbohydrates, they do make meals better. There are carbs in eggs, all fruits and vegetables as well as grains and dairy.

The best diet consists of natural foods, the less processed the better. Fruits and vegetables are great, but avoiding the high starch ones are the best (high starch ones are potatoes, corn, bananas, etc). Other than carbohydrates most fruits and vegetables contain little protein and usually no fat (although there are exceptions, like avocadoes).

Lean meats are loaded with protein and have some fats that are actually good for you. By meats I mean meat, fish or fowl. Shellfish too. There has been a lot of hype about fat being bad for us, and artificial transfats are, but if you really look at the research the fats that are fed to people are usually accompanied with large amounts of carbohydrates.

Protein and fat are what the majority of your diet should be. The carbs you eat should come from dairy, fruits and veggies and should be less than 10-20% of calories to loose weight, a bit more to maintain weight. (this is highly individual, depending on your metabolism, activity level, etc) Fats and protein also fill you up faster and keep you full longer.

There really is no requirement by the body for carbohydrates as long as you eat enough fat and protein. Fat can be metabolized and ketones (a byproduct) can be used for energy....in fact most organs prefer ketones. Protein can be metabolized to create what little glucose we need (about 1 tsp) for the organs that don't like ketones.

Many people find it hard to switch to a diet that is very low in carbohydrate, but once they get used to it, often find they feel better, sleep better, get sick less and loose weight. They also find they have lower blood sugar and insulin levels and their blood lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc) are usually much improved! Following a low carb diet is not just for loss though...as soon as you revert to a high carb diet you will quickly gain back the weight you lost....often even faster! The reason is the body will use carbs first....they are converted to glucose and cause blood sugar levels to rise. High blood sugar levels is not good, so the body tries to get it down, often by storing the extra sugar as fat.

Now...if you ask the ADA, AHA, etc they will tell you that all diets are the same and that you should get at least 45-65% of your calories from carbohydrates. But 45% is the equivalent of over 42 teaspoons of sugar!

There have been repeated studies of low carb diets and there is no evidence that, if followed correctly, low carb diets are at least as safe as low fat diets....and many will say they are safer! Low fat diets are almost always high carb, especially since the common wisdom is that too much will hurt your kidneys or over stress your liver. This is completely false....the kidney idea came about because people with kidney disease show protein in their urine....but that is because of the kidney damage, not the cause. As for the liver, part of it's job is to create glucose!

As the other poster said, we don't NEED dietary carbohydrates. If you stick with a diet that is mainly meats (meat/fish/fowl), nuts, dairy (full fat!) and stick to green leafy vegetables and berries you should do well, especially if the foods you eat are mainly natural and unprocessed. If you don't now, learn to cook your own food too!!

If you want some pointers on how to get onto a low carb diet in a sensible and healthful way, check this article: http://tinyurl.com/n2cn8d

[Edited to correct my math!]

none. Carbohydrates were never in our diet for 10 million years before we invented agriculture. A steak and pile of vegetables is all you ever need.