What Is Carb Cycling?
I'm a Nutrition Coach, and This Is What You Need to Know About Carb Cycling For Fat Loss
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Carb cycling may sound complicated, but it's actually a pretty simple concept. Carb cycling refers to eating more carbs on certain days and fewer carbs on other days. You can also do a mini-cycle in a day by eating more carbs when you're active and a smaller amount of carbs when you aren't active.
The focus is on carbs instead of fat and protein because carbohydrate intake is the most variable of the three macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat). In the Precision Nutrition certification manual, John Berardi, PhD, CSCS, wrote, "Fluctuating them can have a large impact on many important hormones (namely insulin, glucagon, thyroid, and leptin)."
By changing the amount of carbs you eat in a day, you can continue to lose fat without the adverse effects of long-term carb restriction.