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Carb Cycling - What Is It and How Does It Work
Carb Cycling - What Is It and How Does It Work
Carb Cycling - What Is It and How Does It Work
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Carb Cycling
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Carbohydrates (or carbs) continue to be a hot topic. Right now, they’re coming under heavy fire from all sorts of nutrition experts as the cause for obesity,
diabetes and inflammation. But are all carbs bad? How much should you be eating each day? And what’s the deal with carb cycling? Here are the answers
to these carb-cycling questions and more.
A carb-cycling diet is a dietary strategy used among body builders, fitness competitors and certain athletes that are looking to increase muscle mass and
shed body fat. It can also be used by those who need to bust through a weight-loss plateau. As it is a very rigorous diet, it’s only used for a short time and
not appropriate for everybody.
Carb cycling involves planned increases and decreases in carbohydrate intake depending on the day. While a high-carb day calls for eating 2 to 2.5 grams
of carbs per pound of body weight, a low-carb day includes approximately 0.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight. There is also a no-carb day that
usually calls for less than 30 grams of carbohydrates. Carb cycling allows you to still eat carbs from clean sources, and cycling enables you to better utilize
fat for burning as fuel, as opposed to burning carbs and muscle tissue for fuel.
Lower-carbohydrate days, when done in succession for three days, encourages the body to use up its stored carbohydrates (glycogen) and switch over to
burning body fat (ketones) for fuel. Burning stored body fat will lead to weight loss (from both body fat and water).
Every carb-cycling plan is different, depending on your goals. A typical plan keeps carbohydrate intake low or very low for two to three days and then
increases carbohydrate intake for one day, usually on a day that includes heavy training. On low-carb days, carbohydrate intake is usually 50-150 grams
and comes from non-starchy vegetables and some dairy. Higher-carbohydrate days typically feature 20-400 grams of carbohydrate from starchy carbs,
whole grains, fruit and non-starchy vegetables, as well as dairy.
https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6468/carb-cycling/ 1/7
5/27/2020 Carb Cycling: What is It and How Does It Work?
Why
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Carb cycling is a type of low-carbohydrate diet, such as Atkins and ketogenic diets. These diets promise quick weight loss in the short term, even though
the lost weight is primarily coming from water. Once people are able to function on using ketones for fuel instead of glucose, they feel fewer cravings for
carbohydrate foods, feel fuller for longer and have more sustained energy levels. Low-carbohydrate intake can help keep blood sugar levels steadier,
decrease insulin resistance and reduce blood pressure.
Not everyone does well with carb cycling. For certain people, it can actually be counter-productive. People with adrenal fatigue or Hashimoto’s
(autoimmune hypothyroidism) can experience a decrease in thyroid hormone production and metabolism. Also, people who are pregnant, lactating,
underweight, have an eating disorder (current or history of), or have disordered eating habits should not try carb cycling.
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AUTHOR
U Rock Girl!
Contributor
Tiffani Bachus, R.D.N., and Erin Macdonald, R.D.N., are the co-founders of U Rock Girl!, a website designed to nourish the mind, body and spirit of women of all ages
and stages of life. They have just authored the rockin' breakfast cookbook, No Excuses! 50 Healthy Ways to ROCK Breakfast! available at www.URockGirl.com
(http://www.URockGirl.com)
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https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6468/carb-cycling/ 2/7