Nowadays people are very health conscious. People want to stay fit which is essential to maintaining a long and healthy life. To fulfill these criteria high intensity workouts with a proper food plan are a must.
Here carb cycle comes into use. This food plan allows you to maintain weight during high-intensity workouts. In this article, we will check what is carb cycle, its benefits, and the carb cycle food list.
What Is Carb Cycle?
A Carb cycle is a food plan that follows a high carb and low carb food consumption schedule throughout the week. This food plan contains both high carb and low carb healthy foods.
However, junk food or foods with bad carbs like processed foods are disallowed in the carb cycling plan. But how to implement a carb cycling food plan? How do we know when to eat high carbs and when to avoid them?
Well, it depends upon your workout intensity. You have to consume high carbs during high-intensity days or when you are doing heavy exercises. The high carbs will be used as body fuel to prevent weight loss.
On the other hand, you should consume low carbs when you are doing just regular activities. What is an easy-to-follow carb cycle? A great and easy carb cycle is to take high carbs every alternate day and consume low or normal carbs on other days of the week.
However, you should follow the high intensity workouts or heavy workouts during the high carb day. Some heavy exercise examples are cycling, running, swimming, etc.
Carb Cycling Benefits
Carb cycling has numerous health benefits if followed accurately. It’s extremely helpful for athletes as they need to do heavy workouts. The excess carbs help them to stay healthy without losing weight.
Controlling obesity and maintaining a good metabolism rate is the first and foremost health benefit of carb cycling. This food menu contains both high carbs and low carbs and as a result, our body gets benefits from both.
In carb cycling, people consume high-carb foods on heavy workout days. Heavy exercising requires a lot of energy to maintain a healthy body condition. The carbs from carb-dense foods are broken by our body as glucose which acts as the body’s fuel or energy source.
On the other hand, low carbs or carb-restricted diets have several health benefits also. Studies have shown that a carb-restricted diet is effective in reducing body weight and, in patients with type 2 diabetes, improving glycemic control (1).
Another study has observed substantial and Sustained Improvements in Blood Pressure, Weight and Lipid Profiles from a Carbohydrate Restricted Diet (2). In fact, a carb-restricted diet can reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure within 3 and 6 weeks (3).
Also check: Low carb fruits for weight loss
What Do You Eat on a Carb Cycle?
You should eat both high carbs and low carbs on a carb cycle. For example, if you consume high carbs on days 1, 3, and 5 you should intake low carbs on days 2, 4, and 6. Day 7 should be a normal carb day to achieve maximum benefits from the carb cycle menu.
Let’s check the carb cycle food list.
Carb Cycle Food List
High carb foods
- Oats
- Bananas
- Sweet potatoes
- Beets
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Apple
- Lentils
- Corn
- Peas
- Squash
- Peanuts
- Almonds
Low carb foods
- Lettuce
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Asparagus
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew
- Plum
- Coconut
- Pecan
- Brazil nuts
Also check: High fiber foods with low carbs
