Which Carbs To Rotate?

I have been taught that all fruit and vegetables fit into the carbohydrate category. I have also been taught that when cutting, carbs like fruit should be kept to a minimum. Ive learned that carbs basically fit into two categories, simple and complex. Under complex carbs, you have your starchy carbs like potatoes, oatmeal, and brown rice. You also have fiberous carbs like lettuce, spinach, and broccoli. Simple carbs are basically fruits.

Now, some do not consider fiberous vegetables as carbs and say thay should be eaten all the time regarless if your cutting or bulking. These same people consider starchy carbs to be the ones that should be rotated.

My question is, when rotating carbs for fat loss, which carbs do you rotate? Or do you rotate them all? Any help wuld be appreciated! Thanks

Carb cycling doesn’t really mean you’re rotating the type of carbs, but rather the amount of carbs you take in each day. For example, on a high day you might take in 600 total grams of carbs while on a low day you might take in 150 total grams. The breakdown of the type of carb usually is not rotated, but rather they are each consumed at times when they would be most useful. Simple carbs are most useful Para-Workout and consequently would want to be kept around that time and MAYBE first thing in the morning if you need to. Complex carbs are the staple carb that you cycle in your meals. Oat’s, whole grains, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat pasta etc. are the carb choices that fluctuate in amount throughout the different days and over the course of each meal throughout the individual day. So one may have 60 grams of carbs from oatmeal in a meal on a high carb day while they would only have 20-30 grams on a low carb day. Vegetables usually aren’t counted in the total carb count (that is unless you call corn or potatoes a vegetable : ) ) because they simply require too much to even make a dent in the carb count.

Seems like a lot when I reread it, hope it helps answer your question.

Yes, Thanks ebomb. So basically as you said, the main carbs that should be rotated are the starchy carbs. This is kinda what I figured. its sometimes really hard to sort through all of the “Carb Phenomenon” Thats so present these days. I recently hit a plateau and I think the reason is because of all the information and mis-information about carbs!

Thanks again!

I do remember reading an article (forget by who) that advocated not traditional carb cycling, but carb type cycling like jor mentioned. Basically the article suggested eating primarily starchy carbs for 3 days in a row, then eating mostly fibrous veggies for 3 days.

In effect this is the same as carb cycling- veggies are basically carb-free so its effectively 3 high carb days followed by three low carb days.

read this for a more standard way to carb cycle:

[quote]Jor-El wrote:
I have been taught that all fruit and vegetables fit into the carbohydrate category. I have also been taught that when cutting, carbs like fruit should be kept to a minimum. s[/quote]

you were taught wrong. Eat fruits and fibrous vegetables every day. Only remove fruits if you are going keto, they should be the last thing, and fibrous veggies should be a part of every diet. Starchy carbs have the most carbohydrates. If you are carb cycling, these are generally what people put on high carb days and remove for lower to moderate carb days. Some in moderation can be eaten any day it fits into the kcal scheme, but fruits are amazing for you and should always come first.

[quote]Jor-El wrote:
Yes, Thanks ebomb. So basically as you said, the main carbs that should be rotated are the starchy carbs. This is kinda what I figured. its sometimes really hard to sort through all of the “Carb Phenomenon” Thats so present these days. I recently hit a plateau and I think the reason is because of all the information and mis-information about carbs!

Thanks again![/quote]

Exactly, by starchy carbs I hope you mean complex carbs. But exactly. Carb cycling is great because it can be utilized to gain muscle while also minimizing fat gain, but also can be a less mentally taxing way of fat loss. It can be manipulated for any goal because it constantly keeps the body, glycogen levels, and metabolism on it’s “toes” per say.

Yes, I mean complex carbs. Thanks for all the great info guys!!