{"id":186115,"date":"2021-09-07T12:42:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T12:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=186115"},"modified":"2021-09-21T11:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T11:22:03","slug":"keto-diet-for-cycling-what-are-the-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/09\/07\/keto-diet-for-cycling-what-are-the-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Keto Diet for Cycling \u2013 What Are the Benefits?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Keto is all about giving up carbs and sugar. Can that be good for cyclists? As crazy as it sounds, there are benefits of getting in ketosis. In this series, we will take a look at the keto diet and whether you as a cyclist should do it and how.<\/strong><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Cyclists are used to carb-loading and fuelling on sugary snacks and drinks to maximize performance. Keto is almost the complete opposite. Most people on keto stay below 50 g of carbs per day, which is very different from the usual 300-500 g of carbs that a typical cycling enthusiast on a high-carb diet would eat.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How does a keto diet work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When you reduce carbs below 50 g per day, your body switches from burning carbs to burning mainly fats for energy. That can be fat from food or your body fat stores. Burning fat for energy produces ketones and that\u2019s the fuel that goes into your muscles and brain and keeps you going. The diet is called \u201cketo\u201d because of them. So, you will essentially replace the carbs you cut with fats. Your macronutrient profile on the keto diet should look something like this.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 5-10% of the calories from carbs<br \/>\n\u2022 60-75% of calories from fat<br \/>\n\u2022 15-30% of calories from protein<\/p>\n<p>This switch from carbs to fats has several key advantages. Here are the main four that you should know about.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Your body stores more fats than carbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Even a very lean cyclist with 10% body fat that weighs 70 kg carries 7 kg of body fat. That is equal to something like 55,000 kcal. You can ride well over 2,000 km on that!<br \/>\nOn the other hand, your body stores carbs in the form of glycogen. Even well-trained athletes can only store around 500 g of glycogen, which is roughly 2,000 kcal and would be enough to ride something like 80 km at best.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BLgRAKmjHEo\/<\/p>\n<h2><strong>You experience freedom from bonking<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Going keto makes your body much more efficient at burning fat. Studies show that fat-adapted athletes can burn almost 3x as much fat per minute as high-carb athletes. They can run almost entirely on fat up to 70% of their max intensity.<\/p>\n<p>That means you have much better access to that big fuel tank with 55,000 kcal you\u2019re carrying around on every ride. Especially if you\u2019re riding very long at a low to moderate intensity, your body will be able to burn almost exclusively fat and preserve more of the glycogen. This could help you avoid the dreaded bonk because bonking is caused by running out of glycogen.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>It\u2019s easier on your digestion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>You know how it goes when you\u2019ve been riding for hours, you\u2019re tired, and you try to force food down. Your stomach doesn\u2019t cooperate, your digestion is slow, and all of that sugar starts fermenting. You get gas, cramps, and other unpleasant, potentially ride-ending side-effects.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that you can use your own body fat as fuel on keto means that on those long endurance rides you don\u2019t have to consume that much external fuel in a form of energy bars, gels, and so on. This could save you many digestive issues.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BLyU6CShnSd\/<\/p>\n<h2><strong>It can help with weight loss<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Research shows that the keto diet is an effective tool for losing weight. Cutting out carbs and sugar makes it easier to reduce calorie intake and get into a calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss. Being in ketosis also makes you feel more satisfied after food and between meals so people naturally tend to eat less.<\/p>\n<p>Getting back to race weight might be a lot easier on keto. But keto isn\u2019t magic. All of these benefits come at a price. There are downsides to keto and it\u2019s not always the right eating strategy. We will discuss if it\u2019s right for you in the next article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keto is all about giving up carbs and sugar. Can that be good for cyclists? As crazy as it sounds, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":186118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[5651,5650,5652],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-186115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-cycling-keto-diet","tag-keto-diet","tag-keto-diet-for-cycling","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Keto Diet for Cycling \u2013 What Are the Benefits? - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Keto is all about giving up carbs and sugar. Can that be good for cyclists? As crazy as it sounds, there are benefits of getting in ketosis. In this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/09\/07\/keto-diet-for-cycling-what-are-the-benefits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keto Diet for Cycling \u2013 What Are the Benefits?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keto is all about giving up carbs and sugar. Can that be good for cyclists? As crazy as it sounds, there are benefits of getting in ketosis. 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