[quote]hipsr4runnin wrote:
Stronghold: I mix both all the time but question: carbs and fats (consumed in the same meal or seperate) are still digested at different “speeds”, correct? Fats take longer, which is why for any athletic competition its suggested to not consume fats prior because they slow digestion down. Carbs though are quickly absorbed and broken down, hence why we are told to eat them before training and immediately after training given a 30-60min window of recommendation because the body breaks down the carbs faster and shuttles the appropriate products into the muscle rather than storing fat.
I have also heard to lower carb intake closer to bed, some suggesting to not eat carbs 2 hours before bed, I think Thibs suggested that as well, do to causing and insulin spike with no where to go forcing your body to store fat as you sleep because it is unable to use it for fuel. This is wrong? [/quote]
If everything else is held equal, then it doesn’t matter.
If you’re eating 50g of carbs at your last meal, then that’s 50g that you didn’t eat earlier in the day and 200 calories that your body had to get from somewhere else.
If you’re eating at a deficit, then those 200 calories will replace 200 calories of fat and glycogen that were burnt earlier, equating to zero. Assuming that it all “went to fat” (unlikely in an individual who is resistance training and dieting), then it amounts to 1/159th of a pound of bodyfat. In order for this to really matter, then the 200 calories of deficit earlier in the day would have had to have come entirely from non-fat sources (glycogen, gluconeogenesis), which, once again, if you’re lifting heavy on a regular basis and not doing anything stupid, is highly unlikely.
In order to prevent the above “doomsday scenario”, it would be best to avoid inhibiting fat oxidation when it is highest (during the day) and consuming those carbohydrates instead at a time when they are more likely to be partitioned into muscle glycogen (the 12 or so hours after a resistance workout). This would ensure that more of the energy that you expend comes from adipose tissues and more of the energy that you consume “goes to” muscle tissue.
If you’re eating at maintenance, then the same holds true as it did in the scenario with the deficit: that energy surplus you created by eating those 200 calories simply negates the energy deficit you created by not eating them earlier in the day. Once again, since we’re talking about carbohydrates: whose most significant contribution to fat gain is via inhibition of lypolysis, the likelihood that those 50g of carbohydrates will have a net positive (increase) effect on bodyfat is highly unlikely for a hard training individual.
For our hypothetical trainee, it would be most desirable to consume these carbohydrates within the 12 hours following a resistance workout, since this is the time when carbohydrate consumption has the least effect on fat burning.
In a surplus, then those calories will be either be stored via glycogenesis (glycogen) or DNL (fat). In order for DNL to occur, total-body glycogen stores must already be filled. For our hard training individual, this is again more reason to eat carbohydrates at night (in closer to proximity to the completion of a resistance workout) than earlier in the day.
“x” being total caloric output, “y” being caloric input, and “z” being your body’s contribution to energy iput (ie: bodyfat/glycogen burned by the body)
x - y = z
That equation will always be balanced, in the sort term (in this case, a few hours) and long term (the entire day). Fat burning my go up beyond the range dictated by your caloric deficit acutely, but it will fall at another time to compensate and your mean output (or z in the above equation) will match your caloric defict.
Things like the body’s ability to continue burning fat in the presence of postexercise carbohydrate intake may seem to fly in the face of this, but remember that in order for this to occur glycogen stores must be at least partially depleted, meaning glycogen has been expended for energy and is a part of the x and z variables above.
This is not to say that there are ways to take advantage of the various metabolic states that the body is presented with throughout the day, and the focus should be first be on ensuring proper energy balance for the desired goal, and THEN on optimizing nutrient timing and partitioning. The point of my above post wasn’t by any means meant to claim that eating carbs later in the day is the solution to all body composition woes or a free pass to gorge indiscriminately, but to illustrate the futility and backwardness of the “no carbs at night” rule.
