The conventional ketogenic diet approach is highly contentious, particularly with regard to athletes who compete. Can athletes consume ketogenic food?
I would have said that the keto diet would never become popular if you had asked me that five years ago.
I've been following the ketogenic diet in one form or another for more than six years, and it's been really beneficial.
I've been able to maintain a lean body, overcome ulcerative colitis, and break free from the bodybuilding paradigm of six meals a day thanks to it.
To be honest, though, I find the "Cult of Keto" that has emerged around the diet trend to be a little annoying. Nowadays, advice on social media is often given by overnight social media gurus who have little formal training in nutrition.
This results in numerous generic suggestions. For instance, I frequently come across blogs informing readers that they will never enter ketosis if they consume more than 30 grams of carbohydrates or 0.6 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day.
That might be sufficient for a fifty-year-old man who is overweight and pre-diabetic, but what about athletes?
The fact is that in order to perform, athletes—especially strength and combat athletes—need adequate protein and carbohydrates. There is more to this than just entering ketosis. The goal is to use fat adaptation to improve strength, stamina, and recuperation. This explains why so many athletes who adhere to popular low-carb recommendations crash and burn.
However, what is the maximum amount of carbohydrates and protein that athletes can consume and still benefit from fat adaptation?
We'll examine one of the most significant studies on the advantages of keto-adaptation for athletes conducted in recent years in order to respond to this query.
The Research
The publication "Metabolic Characteristics of Keto-Adapted Ultra-Endurance Runners1" was released in 2016 by Dr. Jeff Volek and his colleagues. There are several reasons why this study is significant:
It's one of the few randomized control trials that compares high-carb athletes with low-carb athletes in real-world sports settings.
This is the only study that examines how low-carb and high-carb athletes oxidize carbohydrates and fat during competition. We are aware of the real fuel sources that these athletes were utilizing during the trial.
This is the only study that contrasts the levels of glycogen in high-carb and low-carb athletes before and after exercise.
Twenty ultra endurance athletes who competed regularly in triathlons or ultra marathons made up the study population.
Ten of the athletes followed a high-carb low-fat (HCLF) diet for twenty months leading up to the trial, which included roughly 60% carbohydrates, 25% fats, and 15% protein. Ten other athletes followed a low-carb high-fat (LCHF) diet, which included roughly 10% carbohydrates, 70% fat, and 20% protein.
They were brought into the lab for a series of trials, including a VO2 Max test and a submaximal 3-hour run conducted at 64% of their VO2 Max, after adhering to their regular diets. In both trials, indirect calorimetry was used to measure the rates of fat and carbohydrate oxidation.
Measurements of muscle glycogen retention were made from muscle biopsies obtained from the outer thigh prior to, during, and following the run. Prior to, during, and following the three-hour run, blood tests were also performed.
It is what they discovered:
The LCHF athletes oxidized fat at a rate twice that of the HCLF athletes during the VO2 Max test and the submaximal run.
The LCHF athletes' peak fat oxidation rate during the VO2 Max test was approximately 70% of their VO2 Max, whereas the HCLF athletes' peak fat oxidation rate was approximately 55% of their VO2 Max. It was once believed that athletes on low-carb diets would not be able to engage in high-intensity exercise without converting to glucose. This study showed that even during vigorous exercise, athletes who were fat adapted could burn fat.
The most unexpected discovery was that, despite the LCHF athletes having restricted their dietary carbohydrates for an average of 20 months, the HCLF athletes and the LCHF athletes had comparable levels of glycogen in their muscles both before and after the three-hour run. This indicates that compared to the HCLF athletes who were fuelled by carbohydrates, the LCHF athletes were actually more adept at utilizing and storing glycogen.
So why should a study involving a group of endurance athletes interest you as a strength or physique athlete?
You should be concerned because fat adaptation offers you the chance to burn fat more effectively while gaining muscle, strength, and improved athletic performance due to its enhanced capacity to oxidize fat while retaining glycogen.
However, How Can a Low-Carb and Low-Protein Diet Help Me Gain Muscle?
Yes, yes, I hear you now: "My friend/cousin tried a low-carb diet for his show, but he felt weak, exhausted, ill, and flat."
This usually occurs as a result of athletes adhering to extremely stringent guidelines that aren't intended for athletes.
It is likely necessary for you to adhere to the very high fat, very low protein, and very low carb recommendations if you are using the ketogenic diet as a treatment for cancer or epilepsy.
A more stringent version of the keto diet might also be required if you're obese, inactive, and unable to engage in any kind of intense exercise.
However, most athletes might not require this level of strictness.
For instance, the LCHF athletes in Volek's study weighed 69 kilograms (152 pounds) on average and consumed 139 grams of protein, 82 grams of carbohydrates, and 226 grams of fat per day.
That is significantly more than the 30–50 gram recommendations for carbohydrates that the majority of keto "gurus" advise against.
Remember that Dr. Jeff Volek, who coauthored the book on low-carbohydrate dieting for athletes with Stephen Phinney, was the one who assembled this study.
The phrase "...some people may need to stay under 30 grams while others can consume as much as 100 grams per day of total carbs and still remain in nutritional ketosis2" sums up their approach to carb flexibility. I would also add that this number will likely be closer to 100 grams if you're a healthy person lifting weights and engaging in vigorous exercise.
In terms of protein, these athletes were consuming nearly one gram per pound of bodyweight, or an average of 2.1 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. That is significantly more than the protein thresholds for muscle growth that scientists have recommended3.
The important thing to remember is that a well-planned low-carb diet for athletes is definitely not a low-protein diet in real life. Naturally, you won't be able to adjust if your protein intake is absurdly high—two to three grams per pound of bodyweight. However, if it is too low, you will perform poorly and be unable to gain muscle.
The Final Word
Athletes who aspire to gain strength and muscle may find it challenging to stick to the extremely strict version of the keto diet, but that does not mean that they cannot benefit from being fat adapted.
To get your body used to using fat stores for fuel instead of glucose, you may still need to go through a two-week fat adaptation period. This period will likely need to be a little strict. Make careful use of this time by scheduling it during a period when you're taking a break from training or even while on vacation. 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbohydrates is the target.
Try to push the envelope a little and aim for 65% fat, 25% protein, and 15% carbohydrates on training days once that two-week adaptation phase is over. The majority of your carbohydrates should be consumed either after your workout or in the evening. When you're not training, stick to a 10% carbohydrate intake.
You'll probably still reap the majority of the advantages of fat adaptation, such as improved glycogen retention, increased leanness, and enhanced fat oxidation, even if you're not producing enough ketones to enter ketosis.
Whatever you do, avoid falling for the cultish hype surrounding keto. Recall that entering ketosis is not the only objective. Utilizing fat adaptation will help you achieve your physical and athletic objectives. This implies that you will need some metabolic adaptability that might not fit into prefabricated macros that a social media trainer saw on Facebook.
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