Carbs or no carbs? White rice, quinoa or brown rice? Gluten or NEVER? Keto or moderate carbs?
As you can see, trying to figure out the answers and what is best can seem complicated. But it truly doesn’t have to be. There are definitely a lot of tending diets out there that all say contradicting things. Now I am going to start by saying I do not believe there is ONE diet for everyone. Every body, everyone’s goals and lifestyles are different so it is a matter of where you are in your life right now, what foods are working for you, your diet habits and also food favorites. It is NOT about finding the most miserable diet out there to get the best results, it is about finding the best diet out there that is going to deliver results without you hating life.
I really don’t even like that word diet and try not to use it but this articles purpose, I am going to use the horrible word.
The diet you should follow is one that you can follow with a smile and follow consistently. That is not to say that you have to pick your path for the next 50 years of your life NOW but I would suggest you pick your path for at least the next 3 months or so to be able to see how you did with that plan. How do you know if something is for you if you are just dabbling for a few weeks and by dabbling, meaning you aren’t even doing the diet 100%.
You are trying KETO but saying yes to that slice of pizza or mindless munching on your kids PB&J sandwich. Well then, even if you are 95% KETO that 5% you are not means you are NOT following a KETO diet. In order to get the most out of any diet or have sound proof of how your body responds and how you feel, you need SOLID weeks being 100% to see what’s working and what isn’t.
Since we are talking KETO, my favorite are the people that complain that they are not losing weight and actually gaining weight following KETO. Then you find out, they are upping their fats, dropping their protein, dropping their carbs <---- all GOOD but THEN they are having those extra BLT's throughout the day of mindless carbs. That my friend is a recipe for disaster. Not only are you now not doing KETO at all but you have increased fats and combined them with mindless carbs and not only will that not kick you into ketosis (using ketones of energy) now you have a very high chance to be kicked into the perfect scenario for fat storage. There is a scientific way to get your body into ketosis- it is not an easy process actually. Your body will use carbs for energy if it has carbs to use so any smell of carbs, your body is using that for energy. It can take 1-10 days to get into ketosis since we all have unique metabolisms and diet history. So as you can see, it takes time but it will take a whole lot of extra time if you aren't doing it "perfectly". Now if your goal is just to reduce carbs but not necessarily get into ketosis then that may be fine to dabble however if your goal is to try the KETO diet, then you need to COMMIT to the KETO diet and not just dabble. What about a Carb Cycling program (which is what I love, do and promote in all my plans)? Same goes here that if you want to try the diet then you need to go all in. If you are following only 70%, following it "for the most part" but adding in some carbs on a fat day or fats on a carb day well then that is defeating the entire formulas of carb cycling... Speaking of all the diets out there and which is the "right" one for you, the best thing you can do is try them all and see which you get excited about. You can quickly learn what diet feels like a chore and one that feels like you can totally do this for life... There is a difference. When you find that one that turns on that light switch for you and gets you excited that you can really eat this way, then THAT is the diet for you. Let's dig into my preferred and favorite diet. This has been the light switch for me and thousands of my success stories all over the world. What is Carb Cycling?
Carbohydrates: Why They’re NOT Evil
To preface, there are no denying diets like the keto diet or AIP diet (or other diets for autoimmune conditions) that hold a beneficial place in the diet world. These types of diets that eliminate entire food groups for a specific purpose and a specific amount of time are great for healing certain conditions, cutting weight quickly, or even to manage a food intolerance.
However, there’s also no getting around the fact that glucose from carbs is the preferred fuel source of your body and brain. When given the choice between using fat or carbs for energy, your cells will opt for the carbs. [*]
We also recognize that just because your body can technically get by on no carbs by burning fat … this doesn’t necessarily mean that running on no carbs is your body’s optimal state 24/7.
In fact, unless you are dealing with blood sugar or other issues that require a low-carb diet intervention, you may actually be limiting your gains and performance by completely cutting carbs for an extended period of time. This is especially true if you’re an athlete or working out heavily most of the week. Let’s take a look at why.
Carbs are your preferred energy source.
Your body derives energy in the form of ATP from glucose to fuel activities. This is especially true during high-intensity workouts, where fast energy is needed to fuel muscle firing.
To understand this, it helps to understand a little about our energy pathways. At any given time, your body is never burning just carbs or just fats: it simply adjusts the ratio of which one its burning more of depending upon which energy pathway you’re using.
For instance, when you’re sitting or even going on a slow walk or doing daily activities, you’re using your aerobic system and burning mostly fatty acids for energy. However, if you decide to do sprints or an intense flow, you’ll be activating your anaerobic system, which naturally reaches for more carbs to produce ATP, rather than fats.
The thing is your body stores very limited amounts of readily available glucose. If not replenished, your stores become depleted, and your body has to make the shift to using fat for fuel. There’s nothing wrong with this, per se, but if you’re an athlete and have ever felt the feeling of hitting a wall during training, this is probably one of the reasons why. Fat can be used as fuel, but the energy supply isn’t as quick when intensity is required. Especially when that intensity involves fast action in muscle fibers, like during HIIT training.
The key takeaway here is that if you’re looking to improve performance, endurance, response time, etc … cutting carbs may slow the process because the process of using fat for fuel can take longer than using the glucose pathway.
Won’t Carbs Jack Up Insulin and Promote Fat Storage?
One of the biggest contentions surrounding carbs is the fact that, yes, they do spike insulin levels, and yes, that can lead to fat storage. However, and this is a big one however, this highly depends on the type of carbs you’re eating, how many in one meal, what you’re eating them with, and your training level.
Carbs from whole food sources that have all of their fiber and nutrients intact typically have a pretty low glycemic index, meaning they cause a minimal insulin spike. This is minimized even more when eaten with a protein or fat, which slows the release of glucose into your bloodstream and thus reduces your insulin spike.
Processed carbs not coming from whole foods have their fiber removed, leaving only pure sugars that rapidly enter your bloodstream and spike insulin to high levels. If this happens repeatedly, your body will attempt to store the excess glucose as fat to remove it from your bloodstream to save you from the damaging effects of high blood sugar.
The key with this is that your body (when healthy with no insulin issues) will convert glucose to fat only when there is too much glucose coming in too quickly, and only when muscle and liver stores of glucose (glycogen) are full. When you consume moderate amounts of whole food carbs as fuel for your muscles and activity, they will be released slowly and be taken up by your muscles and liver to be stored for your next activity, which is a good thing, because it fuels performance.
We get into trouble with carbs when we eat them in processed form and eat above and beyond our training needs.
So How Many, and What Type of Carbs Should You Consume?
Obviously, not everyone’s need for carbs will be the same. The number of carbs you need to consume on a daily basis doing an hour workout 5 days a week will be totally different than someone else training 6-7 days a week, several hours a day for a competition or a match. Other people may also not respond as well from an insulin standpoint and require or thrive on fewer carbs overall.
The point is that you should tinker with whole, real food carb sources to determine your ideal amount. Perhaps eating a whole sweet potato a day is too much for you, and instead of eating a banana with breakfast feels better and you start to see gains. Just because the sweet potato isn’t working for *you* specifically doesn’t mean it’s time to banish carbs altogether.
You may also be able to reduce carbs a little more if your training schedule has slowed down, or you want to lean out a little quicker than normal. Again, it all depends on your goals. And if you do decide to drop carbs for whatever reason, a carb cycling approach where you reduce carbs for a specific period of time, then “refeed” by eating more carbs for a few days or a week, maybe a better approach than say, forcing yourself into keto for several months.
Strategy: Experiment with different carb amounts, and different types, just keep them in whole form. Be sure to only eat a serving at a time combined with healthy fat and protein.
• Nix: chips, flours, pastas, breads, cookies, granola bars, gluten grains (can irritate the gut and increase inflammation) and anything in a package.
• Focus on: sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, squash, yucca, parsnips, berries, quinoa, etc … and eat them with a serving of protein and healthy fat.
The Dolce Diet: Carbs Made Simple
When in balance, your body thrives on all food groups: fats, protein, and carbs. This is why I love the Dolce Diet because it includes each of your macros from whole, real food sources. If we avoid a food group such as dairy or certain grains, it’s because they contain unnatural (i.e.: not real) hormones, inflammation-inducing gluten, artificial chemicals, or genetically-modified ingredients.
Instead, the focus is on the quality and quantity of whole food sources of carbs your body needs and craves, versus the artificial kind that encourages fat storage. Think sweet potatoes ad squash versus bread and pasta made with processed flour. These carbs are then balanced with plenty of protein and healthy fats to minimize their glycemic impact so that, instead of storing them as fat, we use them as fuel for gains.
