Carb Cycling

by Donna S. on October 29, 2009

Carb cycling is used by body builders and others who want to develop lean body mass. For three days you deplete carbs from your body by eating fibrous, complex carbs.

The philosophy behind carb cycling is that for 3 days you will deplete carbohydrates, forcing your body to burn muscle glycogen and body fat. The few carbs that are eaten in these three days are complex carbs. The following three days include a cycle in which you load up on mostly starchy carbs to replenish glycogen in your muscles.

When I first looked into this, I wondered how in the world it could work. The premise behind it is that our digestive system has a hard time breaking down complex carbs so they move through the body like a broom. Carb cycling requires you to eat these fibrous carbohydrates every 2 hours which is said to speed metabolism. Because the complex carbs aren't easily digested it takes more energy to push them through the digestive process than calories found in the foods. The cycling pattern brings your body close to ketosis but doesn't reach it so you don't have to worry about losing muscle mass.

Exercise also plays a role in carb cycling. The first three days 35-45 minutes of cardio exercise helps burn more stored body fat. Exercise on the carb loading cycle days is optional. Expected weight loss is said to be between 1-2 pounds a week. While I'm considering a low carb diet, this does not sound like the approach for me.


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