Can Carb Cycling Help You Lose Weight?
Is carb cycling just another dieting fad or is there real science to back up the claim that carb cycling can help you burn fat?
What is Carb Cycling?
For years, dieters have been hammered by the notion that carbohydrates are “bad” if you’re trying to lose weight. That, it turns out, is not entirely true. No nutritional group is essentially “bad (or essentially “good”).
Like all nutrients, carbohydrates are essential but can derail a weight loss program if they’re consumed in excess. A study published in the medical journal Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism concludes by stating that carbohydrate intake should always be tailored to suit the individual’s specific needs.
However, can manipulating carbohydrate intake really burn fat? A surprising amount of research (and anecdotal evidence) suggests that varying the amount of carbs consumed daily can play a powerful role in your personal weight loss journey.
This manipulation of carbohydrate intake is called carb cycling. Essentially, the process consists of an alternating schedule of carbohydrate intake on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Why Does Carb Cycling Work?
Carb cycling appears to help individuals overcome the inevitable “plateau effect” that we all stumble upon at some point in our weight loss journeys. This plateau happens when our bodies get used to the diet and exercise routine that we’ve been following for weeks or months and adapt to maintain steady weight no matter the nutritional value or energy expenditure we adopt.
Carb cycling essentially allows individuals to ramp-up or decrease the amount of carbs they’re eating on a daily basis in concert with their predicted energy expenditure.
In short, you eat more carbs when they’re beneficial for you (say the day you hit the gym for a heavy cardio workout) and eat fewer when they won’t be beneficial (like when you’re stuck in the office all day behind a desk).
The Science Behind Carb Cycling
The success of carb cycling doesn’t just come from calorie manipulation. Several scientific studies have looked at the actual mechanism of carb cycling and found that it helps individuals actually decrease excess weight, burn more fat, and increase lean muscle mass by specifically targeting the production of glucose (a sugar that travels through the bloodstream) in time to feed muscles and spur regrowth.
On heavy-draw days, your muscles will burn the readily available carbohydrates in your blood for fuel. On low-draw days in which you restrict your carb intake, your body will burn fat stores to maintain a steady amount of available energy.
How Carb Cycling Can Help Diets Last Longer
The real “magic” behind carb cycling diets is that they allow people who struggle with traditional calorie-restrictive diets to “cheat” on days that call for more carbs (workout days). This reward system can be used to overcome many mental roadblocks that keep us from sticking to new dietary routines and/or the feeling of loss or deprivation that we often suffer when dieting.
How to Easily Control Your Carb Cycle
Need help getting through those low- or no-carb days? Cheated a little with a tasty treat or a pasta dish and need to get back on track?
That’s where Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet® can help. This delicious liquid formulation was designed to be used as a fasting aid. As such, it delivers all the micro-nutrition—and necessary hydration—that your body craves without the excess calories it doesn’t need. With just 25 grams of carbohydrates per serving, you can limit your carb intake to just 200 grams in a 48-hour period. Cut out up to 64% of the carbohydrates you would normally consume in a week!
This great-tasting juice detox comes ready-to-use. All you need to do is add water. Grab your favorite water bottle, mix up your daily drink (four ounces of water to four ounces of juice drink concentrate), and you’re ready to go.
Plus, the amount of fluid you’ll be drinking helps you feel fuller longer without pesky hunger pangs.
Thinking about starting a carb cycling diet? Learn more about the specific, targeted nutrition available and hydration of the Hollywood 48-Hour Miracle Diet® today.