It seems like we just can’t learn to leave carbs alone.  There is a constant flood of diets plastering the media, many of which seem intent on advising us just how to eliminate, reduce or choose the carbohydrates in our diets.  Carb cycling, as the name suggests is no exception, being a diet that bases its weight loss principles on the amount of carbohydrates you eat and when you eat them.  Unlike some other carb controlling diets however, carb cycling does advocate a number of general healthy eating principles as well as moderating carbohydrate intake.

What is Carb Cycling?

Carb Cycling diets, also known as carb rotation diets, were made popular by books such as Jay Robb’s The Fat Burning Diet and The Carb Rotation Diet by Jayson Hunter.  However, carb cycling is nothing new, having been used in the body building world as a method for burning fat and building muscle for some time.

Essentially carb cycling involves a cycle (as the name suggests), of low or no carb days with days when you are allowed to eat carbs.  The idea is you get some of the benefits of a low carb diet, but avoid the flat lethargic feelings or carb cravings that can occur if the body is deprived of carbs for too long.

There are many different approaches to carb cycling, with the length of the cycle being the main variant.  Some choose to follow a low carb eating plan for five days a week and then have two high carb days (this plans fits in nicely with the weekend!), although the high carb days do not need to be consecutive.  Others follow a shorter rotation, with two low/ no carb days followed by one high carb.  Carb intake on the no/low carb days varies, but in his Carb Rotation Diet, registered dietician Jayson Hunter recommends using a low carb approach rather than eliminating all carbs in order to make the diet easier to stick to.

In general on high carb days you should obtain about 50% or less of your daily calories from carbs, whilst on lower carb days this should be reduced to zero to 50 grams per day.  Overall calorie intake on low calorie days should also be lower.  When starting the diet, you need to calculate your required daily calorie intake and work out how much carbohydrate you should be eating.  If you are aiming for a healthy weight loss of one to two pounds per week, make sure that your calorie intake on low carb days is low enough to achieve this.

Aside from varying carb intake, most carb cycling or rotation diets also promote a diet of healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, low GI, high fibre carbohydrates, low saturated fats and a moderate intake of healthy unsaturated fats.  Many also recommend avoiding any form of sugar (with the exception of that in fruit) and refined carbohydrates.

Carb Cycling claims

The theory behind carb cycling diets rests on the idea that we can ‘trick’ our body into maintaining muscle mass and dropping fat when we vary the amount of carbs we eat day to day.  Promoters of these diets have suggested that methods designed originally for heavy lifters can also be beneficial for the rest of us, who far from wanting to look like pumped up gorillas would just like to lose a little flab from our hips.  In The Fat Burning Diet, Jay Robb says that when we eat carbs this stimulates the release of insulin, a hormone required to help cells utilize blood sugars for energy.  This is a sound principle, acknowledged by scientists around the world.   If we don’t burn this energy, it is stored as fat.  Robb goes on to suggest that if we keep our body guessing, by mixing up carb intake, this will stop it from storing the extra energy as fat.

This theory is based on controlling glycogen levels.  Glycogen is the form in which we store broken down carbohydrates in our muscles and liver for energy.  These stores are used up as we exercise, or simply go about our normal day to day lives, and need to be replenished.  By only eating carbs every few days, the idea is that the stores of glycogen are replenished when needed, but not saturated.  If you consume more carbohydrate than can be stored as glycogen, it will be stored as fat.  In theory this means we are only refuelling those stores when we need to, in order to maintain energy levels.

What are the benefits of Carb Cycling?

Weight Loss

Many followers report significant weight loss on this type of diet, and a lot of low carb dieters claim to have used it successfully to break through weight loss plateaus.  Carb cycling is likely to lower your calorie intake to a level that promotes weight loss

Healthy Diet

Many carb cycling diets offer meal plans which promote healthy diets rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and unsaturated fats, which aside from contributing to weight loss will make you feel better and may offer some protection from lifestyle diseases.  Make sure you choose a diet that promotes a healthy balanced diet, or run it past a dietician to check you will be meeting nutrient requirements. The Carb Rotation Diet was created by a registered dietician, and the recommended meal plans reflect this.

It’s easier than low carb!

As this diet is essentially a more relaxed version of a low carb diet, it should be easier to follow.  The diet is less restrictive as you are allowed to eat carb based foods every few days, meaning you are less likely to fall of the band wagon.

What are the drawbacks?

Limited scientific evidence

Whilst the theory behind the diet is based on the known biochemistry of the body, there is little actual evidence to suggest that it will promote weight loss.  There is a definite lack of scientific controlled studies done in this area to support the theory and draw attention to possible side effects.

Carb cravings

There is also a possibility that as you are eating carbs every few days, this may make it harder for your body to function without them on the low carb days.  Some followers report increased cravings for carbs with a cycling diet than with a traditional low carb, when the body is more accustomed to the lack of carbohydrate.

Carb Binging

Whilst carbs are allowed on given days, it is essential that you don’t go overboard.  Having carb free days may make you crave them which in turn may lead to a binge on high carb days.  It is still important to control your calories and stick to recommended carb amounts on these days or you will undo all the hard work from the previous low carb days.

It’s complicated

Maybe body builders dedicating their lives to finding the exact combination of nutrients that will build muscle and eliminate fat, with professional help, can afford to spend time calculating the exact requirements for calories and carbs on low and high carb days.  For most of us this is a lot of hassle and may be enough to make us give up on the diet all together.  Calorie and carb intake also needs to be adjusted for exercise and a good knowledge of the carb content of just about everything you intend to eat is needed.  Unless you have professional support, this can be a daunting task and may require a significant number of extra hours shopping, researching and calculating each week.

The Verdict – Does Carb Cycling work?

Carb cycling is definitely not the worst diet out there.  It is likely to be easier to stick to than traditional low carb diets and in general promotes healthy eating.  The speed of weight loss will be dependent on your calorie intake, and also your exercise levels, so it may not be any faster than other methods and ideally will fall in the healthy recommended range.

But does weight loss really need to be so complicated?  It is completely possible to lose weight with carbs in your diet.  As long as your calorie intake is less than your output (i.e. the calories you burn), you will lose weight.  Therefore, if carbs are a big part of your life, this is probably not the diet for you, and there is no need to follow such as complicated method for weight loss.  By choosing the right types of carbohydrates and other foods, in combination with reducing portion sizes and exercising you are likely to lose just as much weight.

No diet is suitable for everyone, so if carb cycling seems like a good fit for you, the only way to find out is to try it.  As with any diet, it is advisable to consult with a health professional before undertaking the diet to ensure nutrient requirements are met, and your calorie intake is optimum for weight loss.  In a carb cycling diet it is also important to consider your exercise regime and factor this into your carb requirements.

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You may have heard a lot about GI or glycemic index recently.  Many well known food products use ‘low GI’ as a marketing message, promising ‘long lasting energy’.   Other products simply boast the small GI symbol on their packaging.  There is a GI diet, and many recipe books and magazines feature recipes that are low GI.  But what exactly is GI and is a diet based on low GI foods beneficial for our health?

What is GI?

GI or glycemic index is a rating system from 0 to 100, based on the effect that a food has on blood sugar levels when it is eaten. Only foods containing carbohydrates can have a GI rating, as carbohydrates are broken during digestion to their simplest form, sugars.   High GI foods with ratings of 70 or more are those which are digested and absorbed quickly, causing a rapid increase in blood sugar, usually followed by a substantial drop in levels.  Low GI foods, with a rating less than 55 on the other hand, are absorbed and digested more slowly and therefore cause a more gradual rise in blood sugar levels that is maintained over a longer time frame.

Why is GI important?

The GI of the food you eat is important for everyone.  Quick rises in blood glucose levels, such as those produced by high GI foods, can cause us to feel hungry again soon after eating.  This is due to the rapid drop of the blood sugar after the initial peak.  Low GI foods however, can keep you full for longer, as your blood sugar is maintained at a constant level over an extended period of time.

Maintaining blood sugar levels at a constant level is particularly important for people with Diabetes.  Type 2 Diabetics do not respond to insulin, a hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar levels by allowing the uptake of sugar into the cells for energy.  If people with diabetes experience large increases in blood sugar levels, over time, this can do extensive damage to the body.

GI is also important when doing sport.  Athletes need to eat the correct foods for training and competing to ensure their blood sugar levels stay constant.  Exercise increases insulin production, so if a person does a lot of exercise their blood sugar levels can drop very low.  An athlete may need to eat high GI foods before competing or during a race to boost depleted levels of blood sugar quickly.

What are the benefits of a low GI diet?

A low GI diet has proven benefits for health. A diet based on low GI foods can be beneficial for weight control, due to delayed hunger and appetite control produced by stabilized blood sugar levels.  This means that you eat less overall, contributing to weight loss or control, and are less likely to crave high sugar and calorie foods.

Insulin resistance is also reduced with a low GI diet.  When the body is constantly producing insulin to facilitate the uptake of glucose into the cells of the body and reduce the blood glucose levels, eventually the body can become resistant to this insulin.  This means that blood sugar levels stay high, which can do damage to blood vessels and organs in the body.  This is how type 2 Diabetes usually develops.

The Harvard School of Public Health has performed studies that suggest that the risk of lifestyle diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease are related to the overall GI of a person’s diet, and that a lower GI diet reduces risk of these conditions.  The World Health Organisation (WHO), recommends that people living in industrialised countries should follow a low GI diet to reduce risk of these common diseases.

What are some low GI food options?

So we know a low GI diet can have health benefits, but what foods should we actually be eating?  Choosing healthy low GI options can be more difficult that it seems.  Whilst fresh foods are easy to identify as low or high GI, composite foods made up of multiple ingredients can be more difficult.  Unfortunately, foods with a high fat content usually have a low GI.  This is because fat slows gastric emptying and therefore increases digestion time.  Ice cream and chocolate are both relatively low GI foods, but are obviously not healthy choices and are likely to contribute to weight gain.

Combinations of foods in a meal can also affect blood sugar levels.  If a high GI and low GI food are eaten together for example, the effect will be a moderate rise in blood sugar levels.  An example of this is eating a potato with baked beans, the potato is high GI, but the beans are low, so the effect on blood sugars is moderated.

For optimum results it is best to eat low GI foods the majority of the time, however, if the occasion arises where this is not possible, try to at least combine high GI choices with lower GI options to reduce the effect on your blood sugars.

Easy low GI food swaps

Cereals

Swap puffed rice cereals (GI 82), cornflakes  (GI 80)and puffed wheat  (GI 80) for porridge (GI 58), natural muesli  (GI 40)or All-Bran (GI 50)

Bread

Swap white bread (GI 71), baguettes (GI 98) and bagels (GI 72) for wholewheat(GI 49), soya and linseed  (GI 36)or sourdough (GI 54).

Swap taco shells (GI 68) for wheat tortilla (GI 30)

Fruit

Swap dates (GI 103) for prunes (GI 30)

Swap watermelon (GI 80) for apples (GI 34)

Vegetables

Swap potatoes (GI 60) for sweet potatoes (GI 48)

Swap pumpkin (GI 75) for carrots (GI 41)

Most vegetables are quite low in carbohydrates and have a low GI

Snack foods

Swap pretzels (GI 83) for nuts (GI 13-25)

Swap water crackers (GI 78) and rice cakes  (GI 87)for oatmeal crackers (GI 55)

Swap maple flavoured syrup (GI 68) for  jam (GI 51) or Nutella(GI 33)

Swap scones (GI 92) and donuts  (GI 76) for a nut and seed muesli bar (GI 49).

Pasta and rice

Swap short grain rice (GI 83) for long grain (GI 50) or brown rice (GI 50)

Swap rice noodles for wheat pasta (GI 54) or instant noodles (GI 47)

Dairy

All dairy products are low GI with the exception of ice cream which is classified as medium (GI 62)

Legumes

All legumes are low GI.

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