The practice of consuming carbohydrates at specific times to improve energy, muscle-building, and fat-loss has been a topic of interest in the fitness community for several decades. The carb cycling approach alternates between days of high and low carb intake. This is done in order to boost athletic performance or for weight loss.
To get the best results from carb cycling, you need to understand the science of the diet, be dedicated to a plan that fits your body and goals, and be aware that this isn’t a one-size-fits-all diet.
Common Misconceptions
Some people believe that eating too many carbohydrates is harmful. While too many carbohydrates can cause weight gain and health problems, moderate intake of carbohydrates is not harmful and does not need to be avoided.
Carbohydrates are one of the three main food groups that make up the human diet, along with fats and proteins. Carbs are an essential source of energy and nutrition which is especially important as a fuel for exercise. Elite athletes “carb-load” to increase their glycogen stores, which provides them with more energy. Power bars and carb cycling are popular among athletes because they help to replenish glycogen stores quickly and efficiently.
The confusion about carbohydrates and weight loss often comes from the unrealistic restrictions of diets like Atkins or the Whole 30. If you’re considering cutting carbs, be aware that blindly eliminating them could do more harm than good.
If you want to feel your best during training and recovery, you should learn how to balance your intake of healthy carbohydrates.
The carb cycling diet is a way of eating that involves consuming more carbs on some days and fewer carbs on others. Decreased speed, stamina, and strength can be a result of not having enough carbohydrates in one’s diet. Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for the body in the form of glycogen stores.
Carb cycling and some sports can lead to extreme weight loss, but this weight loss may not be beneficial to overall health. The weight loss may be due to the breakdown of glycogen stores, which includes water and carbohydrates, as well as lean body mass (muscle).
What Is Carb Cycling?
Carb cycling is a nutrition strategy that alternates between high and low intakes of carbohydrates. To follow this diet correctly, you must be very disciplined and only eat this way for a short period of time, as recommended by many nutrition experts, including Tony Maloney, an ACSM-certified exercise physiologist.
Carb cycling’s aim is to encourage the body to use fat as fuel rather than glycogen (a stored form of carbohydrate). If you work out while following a low-carbohydrate diet, your body will better be able to burn fat for fuel once it has used up its glycogen stores.
However, this cycling doesn’t result in better performance. Depending on the type of sport, carb cycling may not meet your nutritional needs. A marathon runner will most likely consume different types and amounts of food before a race than a sprinter.
The carb cycling method you choose should be based on your goals. You can optimize how your body uses carbohydrates byphaseing low- and high-carb days into your diet, eating more carbs on the days you are active, and fewer carbs on rest days.
Before trying carb cycling, figure out how many baseline carbohydrates your body needs, which can be calculated by taking into consideration the following factors:
- Your age, weight, and height
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
- Activity level (sedentary, active, etc.)
- Daily macronutrient breakdown (proteins/carbs/fats)
Most carb cycling plans involve following a high carb diet on some days, a moderate carb diet on others, and a low carb diet on others. Athletes should consume a high or medium amount of carbs on days when they are training, and a low amount of carbs on days when they are resting. General guidelines are as follows:
- For high-carb to medium-carb days, decrease baseline intake by 15–20%.
- For medium-carb to low-carb days, decrease by another 20–25%.
According to Maloney, carb cycling should only be used as a last resort for people who have tried other, more sustainable, nutrition strategies and failed.
How It Works
The plan involves alternating your carbohydrate intake levels throughout the week, with the intention of putting your body into a caloric deficit on the days where you have a lower carbohydrate intake. This should promote weight loss. The aim of carb cycling is to make the most of the carbs you eat and the glycogen stored in your body. Carb cycling is a common method used by athletes toperiodically manipulate intake to elicit a specific physiological response. Maloney outlines two common carb cycling schedules.
Large “Re-Feeds”
Re-feeds of carbohydrates are given every seven to 14 days when following a low carb diet. Then, you’ll choose one day to consume significantly more carbohydrates and increase exercise levels.
“Re-feeds” are used as breaks from low carb eating. If you go for long periods of time without carbs, your body will learn to use stored body fat as an energy source. Your body will burn fat once it has used up all of its carbohydrates.
Moderate “Re-Feeds”
One way to stick to a low carb diet while still getting the benefits of carbs is to have a high carb day every three to four days. This will ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need without completely giving up carbs. People also alternate between high-carb and low-carb days.
What does carb cycling do , exactly?
It can do a lot of things in theory. This is a list of the top five benefits of carb cycling. We need to know that there is very little research on carb cycling in humans before we start.
Although we don’t have much concrete evidence, there are many stories about how carb cycling is effective, as well as some ideas about why it might work based on chemical processes. Carb cycling may be valuable, but it is not based on a lot of scientific evidence and therefore is not a very reliable method.
Remember carb cycling when you come across claims about it. Okay, enough with the disclaimers. Here’s what carb cycling might do.
#1: Carb cycling may help keep your metabolism humming during fat loss.
Among other things, it starts to break down your muscle tissue for fuel. Your body breaks down muscle tissue for fuel when you eat less. For example:
- Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) drops
- You expend less energy when you exercise
- Your daily activity outside of workouts tends to decrease naturally ( you move around less without even realizing it).
As you lose weight, you will need to continue eating less in order to maintain your results.
If you start a 2,000 calorie a day diet, you will gradually lose weight. Over time, you might find that stops working. In order to continue losing weight, you may need to reduce your daily calorie intake to 1,800.
Metabolic adaptation is a problem because it causes the body to slow down the metabolism in order to conserve energy.
The more your metabolism slows down, the more you have to restrict your food intake.
This means that if you have a difficult time reaching your weight loss goals, it will be even harder to keep the weight off in the future. Some people believe that carb cycling can help prevent the body from adapting to the same foods.
The reason for this diet is that eating high-carb, high-calorie foods regularly “jumpstarts” your metabolism and keeps it from slowing down.
There is no strong evidence to both support and refute this claim.
This is the same principle that is used for reverse dieting.
#2: Carb cycling may help regulate hormones affected by fat loss.
Intense dieting can mess with your hormones. Specifically:
- Leptin
- Thyroid hormones
- Reproductive hormones (testosterone and estrogen)
When you reduce calorie intake, your leptin levels will drop after a few days. Your brain tells you that you need to eat to prevent starvation.
The key point to remember is that leptin is one of the hormones that causes you to feel hungry when you eat less than usual.
When leptin levels drop, so do thyroid and reproductive hormones.
So, how does carb cycling work with regards to weight loss?
The point is to eat more carbohydrates periodically to raise our leptin levels temporarily.
If this were to happen, it would send a signal to your brain saying that you don’t need food, and your desire to eat would go down.
#3: Carb cycling may make it easier to stick to a low-carbohydrate diet.
Low-carb diets may help with weight loss, especially for those with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. It should be noted that low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets are not necessarily more effective than high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets.
What counts as low carb? Any diet containing less than 30% of daily calories from carbohydrates can be referred to as a “low-carb diet”. Nutrition experts cannot agree on an exact percentage, with some say it should be 20% and others suggesting an even lower number.
The ketogenic diet is more specific than a popular form of low-carb eating. It is a high fat and low carbohydrate diet.
Though low-carb and ketogenic diets can help people lose fat, most people have a difficult time sticking with them for an extended period of time. This means that if you are eating a restrictive diet, you should do so in a way that is mindful and does not restrict your food intake unnecessarily.
#4: Carb cycling may support athletic performance on a low-carb diet.
The ketogenic diet is also sometimes used by athletes who want their bodies to be able to burn fat for energy. If you are fat-adapted, you can burn more fat at higher intensities, according to research. 7 8 9
So how does carb cycling fit in?
This diet is super-low in carbohydrates and extremely high in healthy fats. The premise is that you become better at burning fat by eating a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates for a period of time. You then have a couple of days where you eat foods that are high in carbohydrates.
The glycogen stores are like a muscle’s energy tank. You can think of these high-carb days as filling up your glycogen stores. The hope is that you can maintain the benefits of the ketogenic diet without disrupting it.
This could provide you with a lot of energy from both carbohydrates and fat.
While the ketogenic diet has some potential benefits, more research is needed to determine if these benefits are widespread.
Because the ketogenic diet can be difficult to maintain, it is not recommended specifically for the purpose of improving performance.
#5: Carb cycling may promote muscle gain without fat gain.
Fat gain almost always accompanies muscle growth.
While some may say that the key to gaining muscle without gaining fat is the hormone insulin, others may disagree.
Whenever you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar rises and insulin is released in order to bring it back down.
Insulin helps regular your blood sugar levels. Amino acids are also important for muscle growth and glycogen storage.
The hypothesis goes:
- If you eat high carb on days you resistance train , you can take advantage of insulin’s muscle-building and recovery properties
- If you eat low carb on rest or conditioning workout days , you can simultaneously lose fat and improve insulin sensitivity, making the high-carb days even more effective
That’s the high-level version. But the reality? The claim that salt causes high blood pressure is more complicated than a single study might suggest and there is no definitive evidence from diet studies that support the claim.
Efficacy
A new study has found that carb-cycling- going through periods of high and low carbohydrate intake- can help improve sports performance and aid in weight loss. Carb cycling is a popular method for breaking through weight loss plateaus. Many people use steroids to achieve a competitive advantage in bodybuilding and athletics.
The goal of low carb days is to encourage the body to burn fat by improving insulin sensitivity. Insulin allows your body to absorb energy from carbohydrates.
If we cut back on carbohydrates for a little while, our bodies will become better at using insulin.
On high carb days, you eat foods that are high in carbohydrates in order to refuel your muscles, boost metabolism, enhance athletic performance, and improve appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin. Leptin tells our brain that we are full after eating while ghrelin is the hormone that tells us we are hungry.
Carb cycling should be re-evaluated and adjusted periodically to make sure it is still providing the intended health benefits. It is ideal to consult your physician or nutritionist to create an individualized plan.
Some people choose to eat more carbs on certain days as part of a carb-cycling plan. Although not as precise as traditional carb cycling, eating more carbs on certain days can still help boost leptin levels and rev up the metabolism. It can also be a motivational reward for sticking to a more limited diet on other days.
It’s not a good idea to have strict rules and expectations about when you will and will not allow yourself to eat certain foods if you’re trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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