Nutrition Nugget: Carb Cycling
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline
Carb cycling is a new(ish) concept that’s gaining traction among those wanting to eat their carbs in a world preaching keto, low-carb and no-carb diets. But does it help you reach your goals?
Carb cycling requires strictly monitoring your carbohydrate intake and then varying it on certain days based on a specified schedule. For example, one day you’ll eat high-carb and the next day you’ll eat low-carb. The main objective is to “cycle” the carbs with your body’s carbohydrate needs, which are generally associated with activity levels. However, a lot of evidence on carb cycling is anecdotal and there isn’t much science or any long-term studies on this approach.
To make the case, people will reference studies showing high carbohydrate intake can replenish glycogen stores in our muscles which may improve performance and reduce muscle breakdown. There are also claims that the high carb parts of carb cycling improve our body’s response to leptin and ghrelin, the hormones which tell us when we’re satisfied and when we’re hungry. Researchers have also discussed how low-carb days may teach our bodies to burn fat instead of carbohydrates. You’ll hear that matching your carbs to your workout days can support insulin sensitivity.
What makes carb cycling particularly challenging is that cycles could be daily, weekly, or monthly. They depend on specific goals and needs of each individual; there is no “right” way to carb cycle. This approach adds thousands of layers of experimentation to fine-tune because you must experiment with what amounts of carbs you eat each day will work. It also can take time for the body to respond. So how long will this take before you know what works or doesn’t work for your body? It’s clear as mud!
We must remember our other macronutrients too. The assumption is that your protein intake is roughly the same each day, it doesn’t change like the carbohydrate variation, but your fat does. Fat is supposed to compensate; such that your higher carb days have less fat and vice versa.
This approach is not for the faint of heart. Athletes may opt for it given their consistent training and may include carb cycling for different purposes, like training for the Olympics or a marathon. Counting macros (or counting anything!) consistently is not easy. It requires a tremendous level of commitment which, for many of us, is unsustainable. It’s challenging to plan and potentially time-consuming, plus it requires meticulous portion control. This makes carb cycling unsustainable in the long run.
Furthermore, this hyperawareness and meticulous counting/planning may be counterproductive. For some of us, it could create an obsession or more intensity. Ultimately, to live the rest of our lives, we’re looking for the ability to focus on other things while maintaining our health.
Overall, I don’t recommend carb cycling or anything that makes getting the nutrients we need more challenging than it needs to be. Instead of carb cycling, I recommend eating low glycemic-impact foods, which means choosing carbohydrates that offer more fiber and nutrients, to keep blood sugar levels balanced and therefore keep our bodies out of fat-storage mode. Eating low glycemic-impact foods will also help you notice how you feel, and on occasion, indulge! Whether you’re craving more after an intense training session or it’s your birthday and you deserve to celebrate, enjoying life is critical for our long-term health and wellbeing. My best advice: opt out of a plan that doesn’t allow for life!
