Amazing Wellness January/February 2019

when they are reintroduced.
Figuring out how many grams
of carbs to eat each day is an
individual choice, but as a
general guideline, many people
consume about 60 percent of
their calories from carbs (or
roughly 1,000 calories for a
1,800 calorie diet) on high-carb
days. On low-carbohydrate
days, this can drop to 5–10
percent of calories. A mediumcarb
day during the week
could see you consuming
about 40 percent of your
calories from carbs, but some
people just stick to a low- and
high-carb cycle.
Pros: Many people find that
moving between periods of
different carb intake is less
onerous than sustaining more
prolonged periods of low-carb
munching. It’s easier to march
through a couple of low-carb
days if you know that a bowl
of pasta is on the horizon.
“Refeeding” means you don’t
suffer the consequences of longterm
carbohydrate deprivation,
making carb cycling a good
middle ground.
Cons: Here’s the challenge
for most people: The cycling
period, as well as the amount
and the type of carbohydrate,
is not defined, so you have to
try different types of cycling
before figuring out what works
for your goals. The planning
and tracking to be successful
means the diet can be mentally
draining. And for some people,
obsessing about counting calories
and macros can spiral into an
unhealthy relationship with
food. Though some studies allude
to the weight-loss benefits of
a low-carbohydrate lifestyle,
relatively few delve into the
concept of swinging between
carb intake, so much of the data
out there remains anecdotal.
Make it Better: Whether high
or low, make sure the majority
of your carbs are coming
from wholesome sources
such as whole grains, fruits,
and vegetables. High-carb
days shouldn’t be filled with
muffins and French fries.
When trimming the calories
you get from carbs, eat enough
quality proteins and fats to
make sure your body is getting
the nutrition it needs. But
remember that when carbs
go high again, you’ll need to
scale back your protein and/
or fat intake to compensate for
the shift in calories. On days
when you’re crushing it at the
gym, aim to consume more
carbohydrates, which are the
main source of energy for hard
efforts. Save low-carb days
for desk jockey days or times
when training is less intense.
PLANT-BASED
Nuts and Bolts: Not a diet
per se, plant-based eating
stresses that your diet is
centered around foods grown
in soil, namely vegetables,
fruits, whole grains, legumes,
nuts, and seeds. You can do
all this and still allow for
meats and dairy in your diet,
making it more flexible than
vegetarian and vegan diets. So
committing to a plant-based
diet can mean committing to
eating several meatless meals
and snacks throughout the
week, with some dairy and
meat sneaking in there from
time to time.
Pros: Research is piling up that
there is longevity power in
plants. Case in point: A study
in the Journal of Nutrition found
There’s evidence that a veg-heavy diet
makes it easier to trim the waistline
compared to serving up a meat-heavy menu.
that a healthy plant-based
diet is associated with less risk
in all-cause mortality. Eating
more plants makes it easier to
load up on health-hiking fiber,
vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
There is also evidence
that adopting a veg-heavy diet
makes it easier to trim the
waistline compared to serving
up a meat-heavy menu. And
it’s a healthy diet for Mother
Nature, too, as data shows that
eating more plants and less
meat can help in the battle
against global warming.
Cons: Depending on how
plant-centric your diet is,
you’ll need to make sure to get
enough of the nutrition readily
found in animal-based foods,
such as protein and vitamin
B12. It’s surprisingly easy to
eat a very unhealthy diet even
when cutting out animal
products. Some people will
simply swap out the meat and
dairy in their diets with hyperprocessed
packaged foods full
of refined grains, sugar, and
unhealthy fats—definitely not
a nutritional upgrade.
Make it Better: If you’ve been a
hardcore carnivore, consider
easing into a plant-based diet
by setting small goals. This
can be as simple as a couple
of meat-free meals each week
and working up from there. To
keep your palate excited and to
make sure nutrition needs are
being met, include a variety
of plant foods in your menu.
Experiment with items such
as tempeh and hemp seeds
to help nail your protein
quota. For plant foods at their
nutrition and flavor peak, aim
to get more of them from a
local farmers’ market.
Matthew Kadey is an Ontario, Canada-based dietitian
and food writer who has contributed nutrition
and recipe features to dozens of publications. He
is also the author of Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed
Food for Sports + Adventure (Velopress, 2016).
38 WINTER 2019 | AMAZING WELLNESS