Carb cycling
What is carb cycling?
Carb cycling is a nutritional strategy in which you vary the amount of carbohydrates daily or weekly. Do not think of a diet strategy but a separate concept. Because you eat little to no carbohydrates for a few days, your body will burn fat faster. But then again, if you suddenly add a lot of carbohydrates during weight loss, you will see that you get an anabolic reaction. This gives you the chance to quickly build muscle and maintain muscle. But in both scenarios you will retain muscle. It will also be the case that after a certain time if you have little carbohydrates in you, your thyroid hormone levels can decrease. This will lead to an increase in your metabolism. This allows you to burn more fat.
In addition to all this, if you eat few carbohydrates for a few days, the amount of glycogen that is stored in your muscles decreases. This will allow your muscles to absorb the carbohydrates like a sponge. This will ensure that your muscles will grow bigger, so to speak.
The amount of carbohydrates you consume will differ per person. What I'm trying to say with this is that carb cycling is more of a guideline. It all depends on your body weight and height. You can here find out exactly how what you should take and what is wise for you.
For people who do the keto diet, this will all sound a bit more familiar. It may very well look the same. Yet there is indeed a significant difference. With a keto diet you simply eat as few carbohydrates as possible and with this diet it is varied.
How does Carb Cycling work?
Carb cycling works like this; you eat different amounts of carbohydrates on different days. You have low carb days, medium carb days and high carb days. On low-carb days you eat meals with few carbohydrates, on high-carb days you eat meals with many carbohydrates. And then on medium-carb days you eat in between. There are also a number of rules that you must adhere to every day. You don't eat more or less than 5 meals a day. The first meal (breakfast) consists of proteins, valuable fats and carbohydrates. You should have breakfast in the first hour of waking. Your snacks are based on your daily schedule. It is important that your dinner is a low carbohydrate meal. ALWAYS!
Carb cycling weekly menu
The schedule you stick to when carb cycling is entirely up to you. All schedules you find online are guidelines. Still, here's a sample schematic for beginners to show you roughly what it's going to look like.
Monday – low-carb
Tuesday – high-carb
Wednesday – low-carb
Thursday – high-carb
Friday – low-carb
Saturday – High-carb
Sunday – High-carb
As you can see, it doesn't always have to be medium-carb days.
How do you use vitamins with Carb Cycling?
Vitamins are of course very important for your body and health. If you're carb cycling, supplements are of course always useful. Here are some supplements that are useful during carb cycling.
- Pea protein isolate
- Apple cider vinegar
- Glucose Disposal Agents
- Digestive enzymes
- Acetyl l carnite
- Supergreens
Pea protein isolate is a supplement that contains all 9 amino acids that your body does not produce itself. It therefore also has a high content of proteins. This supplement is also rich in iron, helps with muscle building and keeps your body full.
Apple cider vinegar is fermented apple sugar. How ACV is made is very similar to how alcohol is also made. Apple cider vinegar is very good for you during carb cycling. This is because it regulates your blood level well and keeps it low. This is useful because often during carb cycling your blood level rises.
Glucose Disposal agents are supplements that are especially good for your muscles. GDA will start helping your body with exercise. GDA are perfect for the High carb days. That's because then it's the perfect fuel for you.
Digestive Enzymes is a supplement that helps your body break down your food into smaller pieces that are easier to digest. It is very wise to take the digestive enzymes if you take a lot of proteins.
Acetyl-l-carnite is an amino acid that your body produces on its own. The efficacy that this has is very broad and will help with your metabolism and your brain. Taking this supplement will help your body produce energy. It will also make you feel very good.
Super Greens are supplements that you often see in vegetables. Many people don't eat nearly as many vegetables as they should. And this supplement will help with that. One portion is enough for the whole day and then you immediately have all your necessary vitamins in you. You will also find many vitamins in our own Cupplement Koffie!
I hope you find my research into carb cycling useful and good luck!
