Low Carb and Cycling

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

I tried Atkins once. Bought lots of meats, salad and veg. Within three days I felt the worst I have ever felt (vodka/sambuka induced not included), this was before my cycling days. I couldn't imagine going on a ride without a sufficient carb intake before.

After 3 days, you glycogen is running out, but you haven't gone into ketosis. Hence your cells / muscles have no fuel. This is why you felt bad. It's knows as induction 'flu', Basically you have to go cold turkey to wean yourself off glucose. If you had stuck with it, that would have passed and you would have felt full of energy and had no sense of hunger cravings.

 

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

A good article on why carbo-loading isn't necessary for athletic performance:-

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/athletic_diet3.html

 

[jimboalee]

Not so much 'Low carb' but carbohydrate counted.

I was on a strict low/no carb diet for about 4 years, within which I rode 200 km Audax at weekends and commuted 35 miles a day.
My experience was that after the initial 'induction flu' with the obligatory banging headache, my energy levels rose and stamina increased.
I hardly ate anything on a 100 km AUK Pop.
Ketostix were regularly deep purple.

Some say it was the 'Caveman' diet or 'Stoneage' diet, or even the 'Carnivore' diet.

I'm no longer on that diet due to a pair of kidney stones from excessive cheese consumption.

My considered opinion is my 200km performance has deteriorated.

 

[Rockus]

Yello, t'was a Freidian Typo that one mate. Just a thought fellas, you're Brain feeds exclusively on glucose, and its the fuel of choice for your body in times of stress - i'm all for eating right, i.e. cutting down on saturated fats and salt etc. but surely a balanced diet is key. omitting a vital source of energy is not what a hunter gatherer would do in my mind -common sense should prevail here. oh and insulin is produced by the body always; it stops you going into dangerous ketoacidosis and that IS something to worry about.

Love your body and it will love you back -fu*k the body beautiful

 

[yello]

Is carb the vital source of energy though? The only source?

Again my understanding is that it is the insulin spikes that the low carb advocates want to avoid. Not the production of insulin per se but the over production. Keeping the body chemistry as stable as possible.

I'm not a nutritionist, nor a body chemist, so I can't have an informed opinion on it all. I just have to keep reading and believing/disbelieving.

 

[RabbitFood]

a test was carried out the other week on Mice, one group did lots of exersise but eat crap food and one group ate good food and no exersise.

the group that exersised lost the most weight.

I think it all depends and what you are cycling for, to get fit or lose weight or both?

As long as your doing lots of miles then eating carbs will not be a problem and anyway you need to be working out 20 mins before the body starts to burn the fat and i think everyone is different, I did low carb diet and was jsut eathing meats and protien and lost 2 stone in 3 months and going to the gym every day and have never been fitter and Iw as doing lots of running during that time.

anyway i love my beer and pasta so i put a bit back on but then you should never weigh yourself look at how your body changes shape.

Rabbit

 

[GrumpyGregry]

fu*k the body beautiful

chance would be a fine thing ta dum!

 

[Rockus]

i do keep an open mind on theses things as yourself yello. but fundamentally the body has had many thousands of years to adapt its mechanisms to the lifestyle of the omnivore. A balanced diet free from added salt, saturated fat and excess cholesterol and minus factors that increase free radical production is the way forward.

insulin spikes are natural and not to be feared -they happen after every food because insulin stimulates the body to uptake and store not just carbs but amino acids (as protein) and fats. it also inhibits the body from 'eating' itself.

If you want to burn fat, eat less fat and cycle further. Im with Riverman and Fossyant

 

[I am Spartacus]

Nothing is as annoying as faddy theories about nutrition.. apart from trying to remember the French colloquial for hitting the wall .... think it begins with f anyone help out?

 

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

Nothing is as annoying as faddy theories about nutrition..

Faddy theories like low fat you mean? Low carb was seen as the way to lose weight successfully way before low fat was even thought of. Look up the term 'banting'. If you went the doctor to ask how to lose weight pre-1970's, you would have been told to cut out the stodge (bread, potatoes etc).
If you had lived in Great Britain a couple of thousand years ago, tell me what high carb food would have been available to you? A bit of fruit and honey in the autumn to help you to gain body fat ready for the winter!

 

[I am Spartacus]

and your point is...........???????

 

[Ohm Sweet Ohm]

I was just pointing out that low carb is not some faddy modern idea, but actually the natural way we used to eat.

 

[I am Spartacus]

and I find it difficult to fit all my Morrisons donuts in my jersey pockets

 

[jimboalee]

The amount and type of carbohydrate to eat for exercise is a complicated thing.
A good nutritionalist will tell you all about the correlation between heartrate and carb/fat usage; and the glycemic index of the different kinds of carbs. Monosaccharides, polysaccharides etc etc.

There are many Websites dedicated to this subject, but one that impressed me was

http://www.healthvitaminsguide.com/natural-nutrients/carbohydrates-and-fibre.htm

Particularly emphatic is the tenth paragraph.

 

[jimboalee]

In the future, you will be able to 'pop' a tab to inhibit the signals transmitted to the brain from a nerve in the duodenum.
If you find you are putting on fat, you pop a tab. Losing too much, lay off the tabs.

Today, there is research into cutting the nerve entirely which results in no appetite at all, leading to phenomenal fat loss.

Being cyclists with the need for energy, we would need to be 'force fed' en-route.