Diet - Carbs in the evening
Looking to re vamp your diet for weight loss/maintenance? Low carbohydrate dieting is becoming increasingly popular thanks to its quick onset of weight loss for bodybuilders and recreational lifter a like. Some of the most common struggles with low carbohydrate diets are centered on a lack of energy and compliance to limiting daily intake of carbohydrates.Recent research by Israeli scientists on obese police officers confirmed that consuming carbohydrates in the evening increased dietary compliance and subsequently weight loss. How is this possible? It has always been assumed that consuming carbohydrates in the evening would lead to an increase in fat stores.
The reasoning behind this is based on the fact that there is less potential for energy expenditure in the evenings and because leptin levels (signal satiation) work through circadian rhythms throughout the day, and they are highest in the evening. Although this is true, what must be remembered when it comes to weight loss is that the two factors that supersede nutrient timing are the total number of macronutrients consumed in a day and most importantly: the total number of calories consumed in a day.
If you were on a very low carbohydrate diet of only 100 grams of carbs a day and you consumed that quantity at night before going to sleep, do you believe that would halt weight loss? While it wouldn’t be ideal, your body would still have to metabolize more fat for fuel when the sum of the low carbohydrate days are added together.
Noticeable fat loss doesn’t happen in a day, you can’t eat healthy for one or two days and expect a change; fat loss occurs when a sum of calorie/macronutrient restricted days are put together. With that in mind, consider this: consuming carbohydrates in the evening does spike insulin, however the large spike in leptin levels increases satiation and thus compliance with a dietary regimen the following day.
So don’t be afraid of consuming carbohydrates at dinner time while on a low carb diet, as long as you’re not surpassing your total daily carbohydrate limits, this strategy will actually work to increase diet compliance.
Dustin Elliott is the Head Formulator for Betancourt Nutrition.
