Is Carb Cycling Good for You?

Should you carb cycle?

If you’ve been reading or watching videos about weight loss, you’ve probably have heard about the keto diet. 

And if you’ve been reading deeper into keto, you probably have heard about carb cycling. 

But, is carb cycling good for you? 

In this article, we’ll discuss if carb cycling is good for you or not, & how to carb cycle correctly.

What Is Keto?

Keto is a low-carb diet designed for weight loss. People following a keto diet consume low amounts of carbohydrates and high amounts of fats. The goal of keto dieting is to enter nutritional ketosis, a metabolic state where the body burns its own fats for energy. 

If you’re looking to lose weight and improve your overall health, then this diet is a great option.

What Is Carb Cycling?

Carb cycling is a type of low carb diet that cycles between higher-carb days and lower-carb days. A carb cycling diet is very similar to the ketogenic diet, but instead of eating a high-fat diet all the time, you have some high-carb days in between. 

There are different variations of carb cycling, but the main idea is to eat low carb on certain days of the week, then “cycle” back to higher carb levels on other days. 

This method can help people not go completely off of their low-carb diet because they still have some days in between where they can still eat carbs.

Pros of Carb Cycling

The biggest pros of carb cycling are that it’s easier to follow, it may improve your gut biodiveristy, & it makes your body able to utilize both fats & carbs for fuel.

• Become “Dual-Fueled” — If you eat mostly carbs for a certain period of time & then mostly fats at a different time, then your body would become “dual-fueled.” This basically means that the systems in your body have adjusted to using both fuel sources, making your body more balanced.
• Easier to Follow — Carb cycling can be easier to follow than a keto diet because you have days where you can eat carbs.
• May Improve Gut Biodiversity — Carb cycling may improve your gut health if you eat healthy carbs like peas, beans, potatoes, etc. This is because these healthy carbs give your gut fiber & nutrients, which can make the healthy bacteria in your gut grow. However, if you eat refined carbs, it can have the opposite affect by promoting bad gut bacterias.

Cons of Carb Cycling

If you carb cycle, you’ll stop losing weight since you aren’t restricting anything, so your body won’t change. But worse than that, you may quit your low-carb diet altogether after not doing it for a couple days.

• You’ll Stop Losing Weight — If you stop eating carbs, you’ll start to lose weight. However, if you start eating carbs, then you’ll stop losing weight. This is especially true if you do shorter, more constant carb cycles. This is because your body gets kicked out of keto too often to ever go into a deep state of ketosis & fat burning.
• You May Quit Your Diet Altogether — If you carb cycle, you may never come back to eating healthily again. If you became unhealthy by eating carbs, you likely would start going back to your old bad habits once you quit your low-carb plan.

Basically, if you haven’t reached your goals on keto, don’t carb cycle since you’ll stop losing weight & might go back to your old way of eating.

Is Carb Cycling Good for You?

No, carb cycling isn’t good for you. If you haven’t reached your weight loss goals, then carb cycling isn’t a good strategy since it’ll just kick you out of keto, thus stopping your progress.

However, if you’ve lost all the weight you wanted to lose on keto, & you have done keto for more than a year, then you can carb cycle.

But, the type of carb cycling you do is very important.

Types of Carb Cycling

There are two types of carb cycling:

• Short-term carb cycling — Short-term carb cycling, like eating carbs two days out of the week, is the most common type of carb cycling. However, it’s also the worse one since you’ll get kicked out of keto too often.
• Long-term carb cycling — Long-term carb cycling, like eating carbs two months out of the year, is less popular then short-term carb cycling. But, it’s a lot better for you.

The reason long-term carb cycling is better than short-term carb cycling is because it takes time for your body to adjust to one fuel source. 

Your mitochondria, the energy producers of your body, have a life cycle of six weeks. 

So, if you constantly change how you eat, your body can’t benefit from either fuel source 100%. This would mean you would never become “dual-fueled,” just always tired & stuck in the middle.

That’s why doing a long-term approach to carb cycling, like two months out of the year, is a better alternative.

How to Carb Cycle Correctly

If you’ve lost all the weight you wanted to on keto, then carb cycling can be a great way to get your body to use both fules, enjoy life more & improve your gut biodiversity. To carb cycle correctly, eat carbs for two months of the year & keto the other ten months of the year.

Most people who carb cycle, including me, carb cycle near their biggest vacation, which for me is summer break. 

However, if you haven’t reached your weight loss goals on keto, don’t carb cycle since it will slow down your progress immensely. 

Conclusion

If you’ve haven’t lost all the weight you intended to on a keto diet, then don’t consider carb cycling as it will kick you out of ketosis & slow down your progress immensely. However, if you’ve reached your weight loss goal on a keto diet, then you can consider long-term carb cycling to enjoy more freedom.

If you’re interested in a way to lose weight faster on keto, you can read my article here talking about the benefits of OMAD & how to start.