# Is Carb Loading a Placebo?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fuelin-sessions-7001876/is-carb-loading-a-placebo
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fuelin-sessions-7001876/is-carb-loading-a-placebo.md
Podcast: [Fuelin Sessions](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fuelin-sessions-7001876)
Published: 2026-07-23T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fuelin/episodes/Is-Carb-Loading-a-Placebo-e3mds0n
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f5a9b988/podcast/play/123186647/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-22%2F428437027-44100-2-3e0ec26e476c4.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fuelin-sessions-7001876/episodes/is-carb-loading-a-placebo
Duration seconds: 4980

## Resource

In this episode of Fuelin Sessions, Scott Tyndall is joined by Dr. Alan McCubbin, accredited sports dietitian and Monash University researcher, to pressure-test carb loading against the new "Beyond Belief" review paper. They dig into why a 50-year-old practice rests on just two flawed double-blind trials; why old physiology studies were never designed to answer today's performance questions; and why blinding carbs is so hard. The takeaway isn't a debunk: lack of evidence isn't evidence of no effect. Carb loading stays. it's low-cost, low-risk, and probably still worth it. Study Beyond Belief? Absence of Double-Blinding and Limited Ecological Validity in Carbohydrate Loading Research Fuelin on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check Out The Fuelin App⁠⁠

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## Transcript

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