(Firstly, what are better results for you?)
According to a recent study published in the journal Nutrients… No….
(The gloves are off, the debate begins among keybaord warriors…)
Researchers reported that a “balanced diet” outperformed a “cyclical ketogenic diet”when it came to improving body composition.
Just throwing this out there, this is just one study, and that is just the headline, and equally, the form of carb cycling in the study is one of an aggressive nature, it certainly does not represent the big picture of carb cycling, because done efficiently and correctly, it can be very very effective. So don’t think this write up is ‘anti-carb cycling’.
Saying that, as always, it’s important to look at things with an open mind, carb cycling can be different for different people. Just the same as the word ‘diet’, somebody can be trying new ‘diets’, where as somebody else can be working to truly improve their diet, the approach and understanding is paramount to the outcomes.
So What even is carb cycling?
Carb cycling involves restricting carbs (sometimes for several days) followed by shorter periods of eating a high carb diet…lots of claims on social media promote this approach (the type in the test, and some accounts/people, no carbs at all) as the gospel for transformation, because of big weight shifts. Like anything else, the perception and true understanding of it can often be misunderstood with the over emphasis on aesthetic change. The ‘Keto’ diet is the latest phase.
The theory goes something like this…
By keeping carb consumption low most of the time, the body will start to use fat for fuel, therefore burning excess body fat. Carb cycling advocates say it accelerates fat loss as well as to build/maintain muscle mass on the high carb days as a result of a hormone boost.
How the study was rolled out:
- 25 males (early to mid 20’s, with at least one years experience of resistance and aerobic training) that were randomly assigned to a Balanced Diet or a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet.
- For each diet, the subjects were instructed to eat 500 fewer daily calories than what their body’s would require to maintain their weight (based on researchers estimates).
- Both groups performed strength training 3 x per week for roughly 60 minutes as well as 3 x aerobic workouts for roughly 30 minutes.
The outcomes?
Well, predictably, both diets led to significant weight loss, fat loss and improvements in body fat %. Pretty straight forwards considering energy requirements below maintenance was implemented on both.
But! But but but, is effective weight loss just about ‘losing weight’? What about the quality of that weight?
The cyclical keto diet displayed an overall weight loss of 4.6kg (10.1lbs), 4kg (8.8lbs) of which was from lean mass and 1.9kg (4.2lbs) from fat mass.
The balanced diet displayed an overall weight loss of 4.5kg (9.9lbs), 0.7kg (1.5lbs) of which was from lean mass and 4kg (8.8lbs) from fat mass.
Very different outcomes for overall health, vitality, energy, metabolism, strength, aesthetics and sustainability.
Factors from the study to acknowledge with an open mind towards the findings.
- It wasn’t monitored with 100% focus, participants were not controlled in a lab and they recorded their own food journals.
- Some of the data is a little misaligned, when you add the decrease of the fat mass and lean mass loss they don’t completely add up to the overall decrease, this doesn’t mean that the results are wrong, but it does raise questions regarding the accuracy of the data.
- This study doesn’t apply to ALL carb cycling approaches, there are different definitions of carb cycling with different ratios. different goals as to why, lengths of time, other variables regarding choices and hydration.
Takeaways:
This is just one study with a small pool of subjects, so this isn’t a study to say ‘carb cycling sucks and it doesn’t work’, although this particular type of cycling unperformed in this study.
There are other factors to account for such as different people, different body types, with different backgrounds (age, gender, stage of live, pathologies such as diabetes or people with obesity). This is simply another piece of evidence that points to the direction that there just is not a ‘one diet fits all’ approach. We are all unique with different parameters. Carb cycling (done right) may be great for one person and not as effective for another. The key is what works for you and your parameters.
The fact of this high carb vs. low carb matter is, there just isn’t a massive amount of research on the matter, so as always, keeping an open mind with the understanding to healthy nourishment in coalition with your unique set of variables and goals as well as the respect of other peoples views ad choices is key, even if it doesn’t match with yours.
And with that said, individual results may vary and different people can regulate and have success with different ratios (although I say ALWAYS cover what your body needs) based on there genetic polymorphisms.
Soooooo, who might carb cycling actually be a goo d shout for?
- Somebody who does the fundamentals well, somebody who is already lean and wants to experiment with other approaches.
- Somebody who actually enjoys and responds well to a lower carb approach (not complete restriction because somebody online exhibited short term ‘desirable’ results) instead of the restrictive nature of the typical keto diet.
- Somebody who DOES NOT have a history or a tendency for disordered eating.
- Not somebody who has seen somebody exhibit masses of weight loss on social media and thinks that that’s their magic formula. Although this study may have some areas for debate on the other side, it’s still far more sound than ‘my friend did this’ or somebody from America or Australia on Instagram has lost loads of weight because of keto or this or that…link in the bio….
As the study shows, by restricting calories of course leads to an inevitable drop of weight…Just to say, that’s all Keto is. It’s not down to the magical ‘benefit’ to the absence of carbohydrates, it’s down to the same factor that all of the other ‘diets’ are identical with, it’s merely a different way of reducing overall energy coming into the body, and going by the results of this study you can see what happens with that, that’s not rocket science. The smoke and mirrors effect of ‘weight loss’ is celebrated as the new ‘best thing’ with little regard for the big picture of health, longevity, sustainability or relativity …That’s all a ‘diet’ is…Improving your diet is a whole other ball game…a massive part of that, is true understanding of that narrative…following a trend is not.
Before ‘trying something new’, understand the implications it can have on your health. Is it sustainable? Where is your information coming from? Does it cover the fundamental nutritional principles first before the ‘way it will make you look’?
Always health first, and as a heath coach, I can happily say that your body will morph as a result of effective self care and a balanced nutritional approach. By all means, experiment with things, share your insights, but above all else, tick the box of the fundamentals first, your health is far too important not to.
Don’t be a sheep, don’t allow the wool to be pulled over your eyes, ewe will not benefit from that, follow a sustainable plan instead of bababaaaaaaa’d one. Sheep puns. I bet you wish I would shut the flock up.
On that note, Peeeeeaeaaaaaaccccceeeeee out.