In this week’s Friday Focus we’re talking carb cycling – what is it, and what are the pros and cons of the diet?
Carb cycling is a method of dieting that involves planned increases and decreases in carbohydrate intake, in order to avoid some of the negative effects of low-carb dieting.
Carb cycling is considered a high level nutrition strategy, which is only suitable for people who train regularly.
Eating low-carbs consistently can have a huge negative impact on your exercise performance, as well as increasing hunger levels, lowering your metabolic rate and making it more difficult to focus and concentrate on tasks.
Carbohydrates are used by the body to fuel our workouts and give us energy throughout the day. This is why cereals and breakfast foods, such as porridge, tend to be very high in carbs. Carb cycling allows you to gain the carbs you need to keep your body fuelled, without adding body fat.
Carbs are not nearly as damaging as the media makes them out to be, they’re vital for a balanced diet and can also have a huge positive impact on your workouts and general mentality. Those who carb cycle tend to eat the majority of their carbs early in the day and after a heavy workout.
If you are consuming carbs but not working out or utilising the fuel they provide then the body will store them as fat, however if you are training then your body will store glycogen, the form of energy broken down from glucose, in the muscles.
One way to cycle carbs is to have three low carb days, followed by two higher carb days, in order to replenish your energy and kick-start your metabolism again.
Eventually, if you use the same regime coupled with the same diet you will plateau, and this will mean switching up your carb intake. By having a day where you effectively pile on the carbs you are effectively shocking your metabolism into gear, restarting the fat burning process. Our bodies can be resistant to change and it will eventually adapt to any of the changes we make in our diet, and this is why it is vital to switch things up at least every 4 weeks.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to stay on top of your carbs intake, because it’s amazing how quickly they can build up! As long as you keep a pattern of low intake followed by high intake you should begin to feel more energised, ready to workout and more satisfied with your meals!