Carbs - when to eat them

In this post we talk about how to efficiently eat carobhydrates to aid fatloss and performance. 

Firstly stop. Consider how much you have read so far on nutrition and food and higlight the confusion. The first thing to consider is that everyone is different. So it is your responsibility to consider what it is that works for you and doesnt work for you.

So if you are eating your carbs try time them efficiently so they can positively influence your goals. Whether fatloss or performance. 

For example if you are working off Macronutrients (carbs protein and fat - counting calories) and you are aware of roughly how much you should be eating of carbs. Have a portion in the evening before bed. Eating your carbs before bed is a handy way to save your carbohydrate intake for effective recovery, sleep and thus hormone effectiveness. Carbohydrates (i.e., starch, fiber) can increase the free fatty acid concentration. The increased free fatty acid level consequently increases the brain levels of tryptophan, which indirectly increases the production of sleep-promoting melatonin in the brain. (1)

Tip #2

Great time to eat carbs is pre or post workout. Try start your morning without carbs but with more of a protein and fat (like eggs). Save them for when the body will use them to your advantage. The benefit of having protein in the morning is that protein synthesis can happen meaning that the protein gets to work on developing lean muscle mass which is what you want to do after trianing hard the night before. More muscle = a bigger furnace to burn food and fat :)

Reference (1)

Badawy AA, Morgan CJ, Davis NR, et al. High-fat diets increase tryptophan availability to the brain: Importance of choice of the control diet. Biochemical Journal. 1984;217:863-864.