according to the latest studies - only if you can eat more than 2200 EXTRA calories a day for more than 5-6 days! you read that right. the researchers claim that carbs are primarily used as energy and hardly ever stored as fat, contrary to popular belief.  scientific research has shown time and again that extra carbs are burned and released as heat - not stored as fat.  so what makes us fat then? that’s pretty simple - it’s FAT. when you eat something containing fat, the fat gets stored immediately as fat in your body.  so those fried chips go directly to your thighs (or belly, or butt, you get the point).

so does that mean we can eat all the carbs we want??? i don’t think so, imo. at the end of the day, it’s still a basic energy equation, meaning that if you eat more calories than your body can use, you will most likely gain weight. and eating alot of processed carbs is never a good idea. not only have all their valuable nutrients been striped and they cause your blood sugar to go up (which is very bad for many different reasons), but they are also probably filled with preservatives (read-chemicals!).

so my final thoughts are - everything in moderation.  eating to much of anything can be a problem. but i wouldn’t worry too much about whether something is a carb or protein (or fat, fot that matter). i think the important thing is to eat things that have nutritional value - and that typically means whole plant foods that have little or no processing. besides, adding a hint of sugar on top of that freshly cut grapefruit has far more benefits than not eating the grapefruit at all - yummm (besides, 1 teaspoon of sugar only has 16 calories, or better yet make that agave syrup and your guilt will totally subside:).