Should you cut carbs for fat loss?
For many people, they think the easiest way to lose fat is by cutting all the carbohydrates from their diet.
YES you will lose weight, note I said weight, because most of the time when you totally cut carbs you will drop a couple of kilos purely from stored water within the body. Yes you may lose some fat, this due to being in a calorie deficit from eliminating a food macro source, but could you lose more keeping carbs in your diet??
Well the answer is YES.
You see our bodies are built to run off glucose, we need to be eating 100g minimum a day to function the way we should be.
Many of our organs and hormones require carbohydrates to function at a healthy state.
When we exercise, 99% of the time unless doing slow and steady exercise, we tap into our glycolytic stores which is glucose fuelled.
The more energy we have the more we output, the stronger. we get, the fitter we get, the more lean muscle we build. Now the more muscle we have, the faster our metabolic rate, the more calories we burn at rest.
Without doubt, when people eliminate carbs from their diet then try to perform in the gym, they just don't have that 2nd gear and will always struggle for energy, leading to a poor output over time.
The issue with people thinking carbs are the devil, is because most processed foods are carbohydrate dense, but lacking micronutrients. They raise our blood sugars quickly, tend to be overeaten which leads to overconsumption of calories and unwanted fat gain.
So the key is to eat earth grown, nutrient dense complex carbs in controlled portion sizes.
Think 30-40g at each meal.
If you want to play around with nutrient timing ie eating majority of carbs around training and night time, this has been shown to help some people who may have deeper issues ie, insulin resistance, cortisol levels out of place etc.
But for the majority of us, eating a controlled portion of carbohydrates each day in a controlled calorie setting, will only benefit us long term, is a sustainable approach, will make us stronger and fitter along with building more lean muscle and keeping unwanted fat stores at a minimum.
CARBS are good...embrace them :)
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