Q&A: Will following a low- carbohydrate diet help me run faster?
Posted August 17th, 2007 at 10:30 AM by Martha Jones
Section: Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Race Prep & Recov
There is no evidence that it will. Runners get fuel for their muscles from fat and sugar in muscles, fat and sugar in the bloodstream and, to a lesser degree, from protein. The key to increasing endurance for racing is to store as much sugar in muscles before you race and keep it there as long as possible. Muscle sugar gives you the most energy for the least amount of oxygen.
Restricting carbohydrates does not stimulate muscles to store more sugar (Sports Medicine, April-May 2007). A low carbohydrate diet may impair performance if carried out for extended periods because a runner cannot train on a low- carbohydrate diet.
If there are benefits from depleting muscles of their stored sugar supply, they probably come from the high- volume depletion workouts, not from the diet. To maximize stored muscle sugar, a runner should reduce his workouts for two to three days before a race. He should not restrict carbohydrates.
This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and used with permission. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, click here.
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Tags: bloodstream, carbohydrates, deplete, dr. gabe mirkin, energy, fat, muscle sugar, muscles, oxygen, protein, race, running faster, speed, stimulate muscles, stored sugar supply, sugar, sugar supply
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August 17th, 2007 at 11:41 amHi,
The above site information is Weight diet.It is a three-phase eating plan for losing weight is based upon the restriction of carbohydrates in the diet and forbids consumption of potatoes, fruit, bread, cereal, rice, pasta, beets, carrots.For further information click on this link
August 20th, 2007 at 7:27 amLow Carbohydrate diet
I can verify that reducing carbs makes training tough. I briefly experimented with a restricted carb diet (30%) and I couldn’t even complete a 10 mile training run. At 8 miles, I was completely zapped of energy.
I don’t recommend it.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:34 pm