hi lisa,
i am referring to people en masse, not those that have particular problems, such as diabetes, or such. it is my belief that none of us differ in our requirements, by all that much, in terms of our genetic make-up. what is more important is our activity levels, and the environment in which we live. for example, on a day that i do vigourous cardio activity, i need a lot of carbs. that is true for everyone. i want to see a marathon runner, etc., who is not intaking a lot of carbs. carbs are by far and away, our best and fastest source of energy. however, on a day that i do weight training, and do not put any large strain on my body's resources, i do not need nearly as many carbohydrates. people are too focused on losing weight. the goal of nutrition is not about weight control, although correct nutrition will stabilize one's weight. the goal of nutrition is to keep the body healthy, and working as it was designed.

when you mention that i am too focused on those early stages, you could be correct. but then we should change the name of it to something other than "low carb", because low-carbohydrate diets are not optimal. let's start naming it the "optimal nutrition" diet. even in my "optimal Nutrition" diet, i would not have a first phase of low carbs. the diet that is best for an individual on day 1000 is also the same one that is best on day 1.