Can you eat more carbs on keto if you exercise?
In this brief guide, we will provide an answer to the question, “Can you eat more carbs on keto if you exercise?”. We will also elaborate on the reasons to avoid or eat carbs on keto.
Can you eat more carbs on keto if you exercise?
Yes, you can eat more carbs before the workout while on a keto diet. These carbohydrates will then be used for energy for exercise. Generally, it is prescribed by the nutritionist to consume minimal 50 grams of carbohydrates while following a keto diet.
What is the keto diet?
The keto diet is characterized by low carbohydrates and high fats that shares many aspects with the Atkins and low carbohydrates diets.
It involves significantly reducing carbohydrate consumption and substituting it with fat. This decrease in carbohydrates places the body in a metabolic phase called ketosis.
This increases the body’s capability to burn fat for energy. It also burns fat to form ketones in the liver, which provides energy to the brain.
Keto diets can bring substantial drops in blood glucose and insulin levels. This, in addition to the increased ketone levels, provides many health benefits.
What is a unique carb count on keto?
Carb count refers to those numbers of carbohydrates that you should consume to maintain ketosis. There are no hard and fast rules for carb consumption on a keto diet. You can even consume up to 50 grams while following the keto diet but in some strict keto diets, you can go for a maximum of 25 grams of carbs.
In the duration, while following the ketogenic diet, the number of carbs in the body reduces to a harmful level. So, it is always recommended to go for more consumption of carbs-containing food after the completion of the keto cycle. The carb count should reach up to 0.5 mmol per liter in blood ketones.
How to reduce the level of carbs in my workout?
You should initiate your workout by consuming 15 to 30 grams of carbs. But it is also suggested that if you follow a good workout schedule then for maintaining carbs content, you should consume carbs in phases such as before and after a workout not at the same time.
Why is it recommended to eat carbs on workout?
The people who follow the ketogenic diet along with workouts or exercises should consume carbs before and after the workout.
The intake of carbs will firstly help them to be energetic. They will serve as a source of fuel to carry out the exercise or workout activities by glycolysis. Glycolysis is a mechanism of producing energy by splitting glucose molecules.
Secondly, carbs intake will help to perform different activities of workout and exercise. Carbs will be utilized for the production of energy for the workout and ultimately shifts the ketogenic state of the consumer.
Although, carbs are not essential for protein synthesis while fat or protein is the major requirement.
Which foods are allowed on a ketogenic diet?
Some examples of food entities are described below which are keto-friendly:
Seafood
In seafood, fish and shellfish are considered keto-friendly products. Some other seafood products such as salmon and fish are also enriched with nutritional contents such as Vitamin B, selenium, potassium. These seafood consumables are free of carbs.
But in shellfish, the carbs are present in different forms. If we consider the shrimp, there is no consistency of carbs. Some shellfish do have carbs. The number of carbs you can obtain from a 100 gram serving of some shellfish are described below:
- Clams: 4 grams of carbs
- Squid: 3 grams for carbs
- Octopus: 4 grams of carbs level
- Mussels: 4 grams of carbs
- Oyster and squid consistency is almost similar, both are enriched with 3 grams of carbs
It is also recommended to consume fresh fish because it contains fewer toxins along with fewer virulence factors which could cause diseases or other serious syndromes. Fresh fish intake aids to improve cognitive health.
That’s why it is majorly recommended by the Heart specialists of the American Association to consume seafood twice a week.
Vegetables having a low amount of carbs
The non-starchy veggies have a low amount of carbs with many other significant nutrients such as vitamin C and various other minerals. Vegetables also have some consistency of fiber which is not digested by the body and perform activities like other carbs.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we have provided an answer to the question, “Can you eat more carbs on keto if you exercise?”. We have also elaborated on the reasons to avoid or eat carbs on keto.
