Planning to go low carb
But not for weight-loss or performance. I'm trying to get my blood sugars under control.
Background:
I became a triathlete six years ago because I was developing metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, marginal blood sugars). I had been a runner earlier in my life but was plagued by chronic injuries as I aged. Triathlon gave me the ability to continue exercising, and potentially improve my finish times, even when I couldn't run. As I've ratcheted up the race distances and training time, most of the symptoms of metabolic issue have faded away. The one exception is blood sugars, which have continued to get gradually worse. At my physical last fall my A1c (six month average) was 5.7%, just above the normal range of 4%-5.6%. Likewise, my fasting blood sugars were 102 mg/dL where normal is <100 mg/dL. Since my daughter passed-away in January, I have been using her blood glucose meter to test my (12 hour) fasting blood sugars. I'd hoped they would drop as I ramped up the Half Ironman training for Victoria, but they haven't budged. There is considerable scatter, but the average remains above 100 mg/dL.
What I've Tried
Exercise, along with a reasonably healthy diet. Exercise is supposed to improve insulin sensitivity, and it probably has slowed the climb of my blood sugars.
My diet more-or-less follows the food pyramid - although I've tried to avoid simple carbohydrates except when fueling exercise. I usually have oatmeal with fruit in the morning. Lunch is usually a salad with some meat (chicken taco salad is common), and dinner is all over the place.
My weight is reasonable. I'm 5'7" and weight is around 150 lbs most of the year but drop into the low 140s during a half or full Ironman build.
My Plan
My current plan is to follow the program in the book "What the Fat Sports Performance" by Grant Schofield. It claims you can improve insulin sensitivity using a low carb high fat diet. It also contains a plan for how to get started. Basically you limit yourself to 50 gm of carbs a day for the first two weeks and can gradually increase the carbs thereafter. He doesn't recommend that you be in Ketosis except, perhaps, in the first two weeks. I'd like to get started next week.
Pluses:
- Hopefully it will improve my insulin sensitivity
- I will probably lose a little more weight
- The book claims you won't be as hungry
- The book recommends that you "race high". In other words, you fuel the races as you would if you weren't an LCHF athlete. It claims this won't have a noticeable impact on insulin sensitivity for a "fat adapted" athlete.
Minuses:
- This is really going to mess with my build to 70.3 Victoria. I will be training in a low-carb state in weeks 16 and 17. Fortunately, I will be able to fuel my workouts in my build to IM Canada.
- There are conflicting claims about the health benefits/risks of an LCHF diet.
- In spite of what the book says, I don't believe that I will perform better on an LCHF diet. My performance is less important that controlling my blood sugars (having type-2 diabetes would also negatively impact my performance).
I know there are some really smart people on this team. Let me know what you think. Is this a reasonable think to try? What am I missing?
Comments
102 is not significantly elevated. But I'm just a spine surgeon. Is your PCP worried about those numbers?
@Robert Sabo my PCP is less concerned than I am. He is "just watching it for now", but he knows my exercise and diet history and has indicated the next step would be medication if things get sufficiently worse. I'm probably hypersensitive to the issue since my daughter just died of complications of type 1 diabetes. The numbers are, by definition, at the low end of "prediabetes" (A1c of 5.7-6.4, fasting glucose of 100-125) and they have been gradually going up. I don't like the trend!
LCHF seems like a relatively simple thing to try. And, I should know fairly quickly if it is working. If you believe the book, insulin sensitivity should improve in the first couple weeks. If I see no improvement by then, I could just go back to a higher carb diet.
I would also be supporting my wife who is much farther into the prediabetes stage than I am.
Do you think it is a bad idea?
@Scott Imlay : based on my readings, this whole topic is controversial.
I'm not an MD or a Registered Dietian/Nutritionist but its been my experience that they tend to frown upon anything outside standard practice that hasn't been tested with double blind studies and or is not based on solid and repeatable science. I don't think there is even a generally accepted definition of what 'Low Carb' means.
I've heard of "What the Fat Sports Performance" by Grant Schofield and I know he works with Dan Plews -- the 2018 age group Kona champion who trains 'low carb' and races high.
I'd take a look at the "Diabetes Code" by Jason Fung MD:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=diabetes+code+jason+fung&i=stripbooks&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIituz0f7z4QIVwlqGCh22MQMgEAAYASAAEgK2zvD_BwE&hvadid=261934067892&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9021441&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17251589087358448863&hvtargid=aud-646675773986%3Akwd-434738999998&hydadcr=15524_9753276&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_24sk3vsqr3_e
where he advocates an intermittent fasting protocol and claims to prevent and have reversed Type 2 diabetes.
In any event, if you don't already own one, I'd suggest buying a glucose monitor in order to test if you are seeing any results with the new regimen:
Agree that your 70.3 performance will suffer; I notice that when I do a fasted workout, my performance sucks. So I stay away from intensity on those days.
Good luck on the blood sugar reduction.
Based on what it's worth, my n=1 experience with ketosis, low carb, fasting, etc. has morphed into a protocol where I now do a 24 hour fast 1 day every 2 weeks, 2 meals per day in a 6 hour feeding window before and after my workouts, eating clean whole foods (staying away from processed sugar and carbs as much as possible) with a CHO target of between 100 - 150 grams / day (tracking and recording my food in Myfitness pal), periodically testing my fasting blood sugar in the am, and regular IM training, is a blood sugar reduction from the high 90s to the mid 80s. When I'm not in training mode, generally the fall and winter around the holidays, and I slack off on the diet, the blood sugar heads back up to the upper 90s. When I buckle down again into training mode and watch the diet/fast, blood sugar falls.
Thank you @Tony Ledden. I'll check out the "Diabetes Code" book.
I do have a blood glucose meter.
It sounds like the your fasting/diet protocol does a good job of reducing blood glucose levels, but the effect is temporary. How long does it take for the fasting BG to rise when you slack off the diet? A week? A month? According to the "What the Fat" book, once your switch to a "fat burner" a day or two of "cheating" every couple weeks won't affect your insulin sensitivity. Is that your experience?
Thanks!
@Scott Imlay There are some good points already stated. I can understand your concern to avoiding the path to diabetes considering what you have been thru. But, don't feel you need to be taking the pendulum to low carb ... and as @Tony Ledden stated there is no definition of low carb unless you are staying in Ketosis. Like @Robert Sabo stated 102 is not extreme but is something to watch.
A1c is not always a true picture of blood sugar levels over 12 weeks. Depending on the health of the person red blood cells have different life spans. Fasting blood glucose is the least sensitive marker for predicting future diabetes. Glucometers have a 10% fluctuation. A good way to use your meter, knowing it's not as accurate as a venous draw, is test in the morning, test before lunch, then test 2 hours after lunch. This is the post meal marker that can give you a birds eye view of how hard is your body is working to clear sugar. What you really want to know is insulin levels, not just blood sugar. There are tests that can look at HOMA-IR. This is your risk factor for insulin resistance.
Considerations before going to 50 gm Carbs:
Suggestions:
.
@Scott Imlay : @Sheila Leard is by far the expert here.
This whole diet and nutrition topic is so individual that it is hard to make generalizations, plus our blood sugar tends to rise as we age, but again, very individual. That's why I pretty much punted it back to you to try different approaches, find out (track and measure) what works for you, and then go with it.
I've been experimenting with my diet and nutrition for the last 7 years trying to find the 'secret sauce' to weight reduction, lower blood sugar to mitigate the onset of Type 2 diabetes and athletic performance. I still don't have it completely dialed in, plus my family and work situation makes it difficult to keep it dialed in when I do find something that works for me. But I too was concerned about elevated blood sugar and becoming a better fat burner.
Anyway, what seems to work for me is a combination of CHO restriction (100 - 150 grams per day), intermittent fasting, clean eating along the lines of Whole 30 / Paleo / more fat than protein / very little refined sugar and refined CHO and very little vegetable oils. I try to eat foods without labels from the outside ring of the market. These are my goals, but life often gets in the way.
As @Sheila Leard noted, I try to eat real food during races as well. I had my best race when I ate Almond Butter packets and clean bars, washing it down with NBS or EFS or just water with salt stick on the bike.
I'm experimenting with SFuels and some First Endurance Liquid Shot. I'm still trying to find that balance between having enough glucose/glycogen replacement so as to not fade at the end, and not having gut issues during IM on the run.
Nevertheless, I've been able to maintain my weight and blood sugar fairly well. When the season is done and I go into Run Durability and the holidays and slack off and I'm not 'that guy' with respect to food, I balloon up to 185 pounds (I'm 6'0 and 58 years old) and the blood sugar tops out at the high 90s. This is based on 1 blood test and 1 weight measurement at the start of the January out season and for my annual physical in January. I pretty much ignore the scale and glucose monitor from October through January.
So by the start of the out season I've assessed the damage and start dialing in the nutrition protocol. I'll check my weight, blood sugar and ketones every week on Saturday morning before eating anything and before that day's workout. By the end of January, about 3 weeks into the out season, my blood sugar falls to under 90. By the time of my first race in June, I'll be down to about 170 - 175 pounds.
I wish I could maintain the same nutritional approach all year, but it isn't easy, especially when living with people who don't share the same view or concerns. But for the most part, it's been my experience that when I'm in training mode, even a day or two every 10 - 14 days of refined sugars (like chocolate Easter bunnies) and refined CHO (popcorn...) won't elevate my blood sugar to off season levels.
Hope this helps...
@Scott Imlay I'll preface my remarks by saying that I do not know what is right for *you*, especially given the probable genetic component you are dealing with. I will note that my own FBS is 100, and my A1c is 5.1%. I do not do anything special with my diet, other than avoid the things we all know are not good food, like Pringles.
My real concern is a general one, and may not apply specifically to you. When we are in the more intensive parts of our training - during the heavier paces of the OS, and the last 10 weeks of an IM or 70.3 build - I know that it is very easy to get behind on the fuel needed simply to get through each day's workout. Specifically, we are probably burning through 100-150 grams of glycogen each day, and that really should be replaced as it's being lost or soon thereafter. 50 gms of carbs a day won't do that without taking the roundabout process of ketosis. When I was training as an MD, back in the early 70's, we were taught to use all our senses, such as smelling ketones of someone's breath, which we took as a sign of poor, not good nutrition. Specifically, starvation.
So I worry about the effectiveness of trying to limit carbs when our bodies are screaming for them. Unless you want to cut out all training which is greater than, say, 0.6-0.65 IF, you need them to fuel at least part of your muscle activity. So my caution would be: if you choose to fat adapt, go VERY HEAVY on Long Slow Distance (LSD), and minimize sprints, intervals, speed work, etc. etc.
My bias is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You do not have Type II diabetes. My belief is, eat what feels right, as long as it is Real Food, and don't worry about Carb/Protein/Fat ratios. By "Feels right", I mean a diet which allows you to successfully fulfill your physical activity plans day in and day out. Our bodies are smarter than we are (they've got millions of years of evolution invested in the internal biochemistry), and they will tell us when we are f*%king up.
@Scott Imlay I've tried all variations of nutrition while training and racing over the lase ~9+ years. I've come down on the side of Lower Carb, higher fat, Eat Real Food. The only concern I would have with your original question is the timing (that @Al Truscott already touched on). It took me many many months to become "fat adapted" the first time. The first several weeks are definitely the hardest. I found getting enough calories in was the hardest, most people simply cannot find enough good fats to get in if they are used to being carb/sugar burners. Timing this to coincide with a big training block will require extreme care and will likely come at the expense of absolute performance.
I will disagree with @Sheila Leard and @Al Truscott on one thing, and that is on "Training Intensity" while being lower carb. I personally found in my nutritional journey that full on ketosis did not work for me while training for Ironman and when I'm in big blocks I absolutely needed to increase my carb intake (but nowhere near as high as traditional high carb athletes). But I would still consider myself "Lower" carb, higher fat, gluten light, no recreational sugar, eat real food! So with all that said, I can do 2-3 hour workouts fasted with nothing but water and do a TON of High Intensity. I can absolutely do back-to-back Zwift races, of up to 2.5 hours of intense FTP and VO2 sets with no problems. If I try to do 3-4+ hours of high intensity, I have learned that I do need to get some calories in. But I would argue that even High Sugar athletes would have trouble with ~4 hours of super high intensity work!
You should google the Phinney and Volek FASTER study. There are lots of good summaries and videos on their work.
But "my" summary is that they showed that "fat adapted" athletes can perform at much higher intensity levels than non-fat adapted athletes when the exercises are done fasted. In other words, we can train ourselves to be able to do harder work without sugar/carbs. But, if you are a classic sugar/carb only athlete, and try to jump straight into doing higher intensity with low/no carbs, it could be very very difficult and it will absolutely effect your training.
So I'm all for trying to get your long-term health into a place that "you" want it through diet and exercise. Just be aware that it's not a simple switch that will immediately work. That's the "adapted" part of fat adapted... Also know that each person is different and some people can do it in full on Keto, and others (like myself) cannot. You'll have to find the right balance for your own health/lifestyle/athletic goals (and depending on how your physiology responds).
P.S. I'm also a big fan of intermittent fasting as many above have already stated. I do ~12 hours almost every day. And up to ~18 hours fast at least once every several weeks. I found multiple day fasts simply don't work for me as a guy who trains ~7 days per week.
Thank you all for your input. I'm sorry it has taken so long to respond, I was very busy with my daughter's celebration of life.
@Sheila Leard you always provide very sound advice, and I've adopted most of it. I'm hydrating with Nunn (very low carb) and have adopted fasting (more on that below). I have a physical later this month and will talk to my doctor about the panels. What "real food" would you use during training?
@Al Truscott I've (mostly) taken your advice and I'm not going "low carb" at this time. I am cutting out most refined sugars and are moving toward more lowish-carb foods, but I won't be getting near 50gm/day of carbohydrates. Recovery from a back issue has forced me to limit my intensity over the last 3 weeks, so a lowish-carb diet hasn't been an issue. I see how I feel as I up my intensity.
@John Withrow the Phinney and Volek study, and your personal experience, is very interesting. It's good to know you can still do some intensity on a low carb diet if you are fat adapted.
@Tony Ledden I've read the book you recommended (The Diabetes Code) and find it very interesting. One thing that caught my eye is that fasting is actually much more effective than a low carb diet for lowering blood glucose.
Based on everyone's recommendations, the "Diabetes Code" book, and the "What the Fast" book, I've modified my original plan. On Mondays (the rest day in the EN Full plan) I'm now fasting the whole day - from Sunday dinner to Tuesday morning breakfast (30-36 hours). On Tuesday through Sunday I eat a lowish-carb diet (avoid refined sugars, grains, and most starchy foods but eat some fruit and most vegetables). I may increase the carbs on higher-intensity days. I've just started my second week.
Results so far:
First week: My average weight dropped from 150 lbs to 147 lbs but my average fasting blood sugars changed little (104 to 105 mg/DL). Even after my first fast of 34 hours my BG was 94. I was disappointed, but the books say it takes a couple weeks for BG to start dropping.
Second Week so far: Its just the start of the week - I fasted yesterday. My weight this morning was 144.6 lbs and my fasting BG this morning was 84 mg/DL. That's encouraging, certainly the lowest I've seen in a month of testing, but I don't put much stock in one measurement.
I have lost a lot of weight (5.6 lbs) very quickly (8 days). I'm still above my IM race weight so I'm not yet concerned. The books say a lot of the quick drop is water weight, implying that it should level off. If I continue to drop weight this quickly I will increase my daily calories on non-fasting days.
Quick Update:
I've just completed my third rest-day fasting-day yesterday (32 hours fasting). My blood sugar this morning was 77 mg/DL - the lowest I've seen in years. My weight loss has slowed - I lost one pound over the last week - so I feel I'm getting enough calories on average.
My average blood sugar last week (Mon 5/13 - Sun 5/19) was 95 mg/DL, down from 108 mg/DL the previous week. My average over the last few years has been 102 mg/DL, so I'm moving in the right direction.
@Scott Imlay : really an incredible journey you are on. Your entire story, everything you've been through and how you've handled it all is incredibly inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Just a quick update. It's still early (just 3 weeks) but my strategy of fasting on the Monday rest days seems to be working to lower my fasting blood glucose levels. Here are the numbers to date:
Week, Ave Fasting BG, Ave Weight
Beginning, 102 mg/DL, 150 lbs
5/6-5/12, 107.5 mg/DL, 146.8 lbs
5/13-5/19, 94.8 mg/DL, 145.7 lbs
5/20-5/26, 93.8 mg/DL, 144.2 lbs
I have lost some top-end power/pace, but that is a compromise I'm willing to take at this point. Next weekend is the Victoria 70.3, so I will be less strict about fasting and carbs.
@Scott Imlay I think the entire team can second @Tony Ledden post.
@Scott Imlay Thanks for the updates. This is great and I certainly like seeing the quantifiable changes.
Could I ask you to spend a few paragraphs giving us some of the less "quantifiable" aspects of your journey?
i.e. How do you actually "feel" in general? Are you sleeping better/worse? Any cravings? Are the fast days still challenging (i.e. hunger or mental or both or neither)? Any "logistical" challenges (i.e. have you traveled for work or anything like that or going to out to dinner, etc)? Do your family or friends think you're crazy or are they supportive? Anything you'd change (i.e. the first few weeks)? Anything you expect to change in the next several months?
Sure @John Withrow.
Overall, I'm feeling a bit lower in energy than I was before I started fasting. I can't be sure this is due to the fasting since I am also in the middle of an IRONMAN build. My bike power is down about 10%, I think, but I've also been struggling with some back problems. In all, there are too many confounding variables to be sure how the fasting is affecting my performance. One side effect is that I've dropped about six pounds and that seems to be helping my run.
During a fast I sometimes feel a bit light-headed and/or hungry, but it isn't nearly as bad as I expected. I think anyone with the mental strength to get past mile 18 of an IRONMAN can easily handle fasting. It might even be a good way to train "mental strength"/grit. The hunger is worse when I can smell food (lunch time at work, dinner as home), so I tend to go for a long walk during lunch at work and go to bed early at home. Some people report more mental clarity while fasting and I feel that way too (placebo effect?). My sleep isn't as good during the second night of the 36hr fast - I keep dreaming about breakfast. 😉
I haven't yet traveled during a fast, so I can't speak to those logistics at this time. We rarely go out to dinner on Monday, my normal fast day, so that hasn't been a problem. I did skip my fast yesterday (Memorial Day) and am doing a 24 hr (dinner Monday to dinner Tuesday) fast today. I have a business trip in the middle of June so I'll know more about the logistical issues soon.
My wife and most of my friends think I'm crazy but so far they've still been supportive. The truth is, they already knew I was crazy when I started doing IRONMANs! My wife also has marginal blood sugars but she isn't interested in fasting. She has, however, reduced her consumption of refined carbohydrates. I have one friend at work who has been fasting for quite a while. He was diagnosed with Type II diabetes and has managed to avoid medications using fasting and a lower carbohydrate diet. It's nice having someone I can talk with about the experience.
In the next few months I hope my fasting blood glucose levels with continue to drop. An average fasting BG in the 80's would be nice. It's possible that I can then become less aggressive in my fasting - perhaps doing 24 hrs instead of 36 hrs. Hopefully my body will adapt so there are no negative effects on my performance. I'll continue to do weekly updates.
I just got back from the Victoria 70.3. I relaxed my diet and fasting during race week last week, and it showed in my blood glucose numbers.
Week, Ave Fasting BG, Ave Weight
Beginning, 102 mg/DL, 150 lbs
5/6-5/12, 107.5 mg/DL, 146.8 lbs
5/13-5/19, 94.8 mg/DL, 145.7 lbs
5/20-5/26, 93.8 mg/DL, 144.2 lbs
5/27-6/2, 112.3 mg/DL, 144.3 lbs
I'm a bit disappointed that my BGs were so bad last week. I wasn't going crazy with the carbs (except on race day). I'll get back to my fasting and diet routine this week.
@Scott Imlay Keep in mind that elevated Cortisol from racing can cause blood sugar to go up. In fact, fasting can also raise cortisol which raises blood sugar. If you find yourself waking up at night you should re-think the fasting protocol.
@Sheila Leard thank you! It makes sense that Cortisol would affect blood sugars. There are a lot of factors at play. That's why I try to focus on averages and not let a single BG value bother me.
My sleep is a little off during the second night of a fast. In spite of that, my lowest BG numbers have occurred following a full day (30-36hr) fast.
@Scott Imlay : Agree with @Sheila Leard and your insight as well that an elevation in the stress hormone cortisol will lead to a rise in BG, assuming there is enough of it stored in the liver and muscles. In my experience during a taper, I usually over consume the CHO and hate to admit that I stress out over the coming race, especially with travel. So the cortisol spikes and there is abundant CHO to enter the blood to get and keep me revved up. I would expect that as the stress returns to more of a baseline and there is less stored sugar to release due to the fasting, the BG will come back down.
Question: how did you feel during the race? I would think you were pretty well fat adapted, but did you have that 'pop' when you needed it? How much did you increase the CHO during the taper (I'm assuming you ate clean whole food carbs like sweet potatoes). Wondering if increasing CHO during a one week taper (and by how much) is enough time for the body to 'learn' to use the sugar especially when needed for that burst over a hill or overtaking someone at the end of the run.
@Tony Ledden I did feel I had the "pop' when I needed it, although I didn't need it that much. Unfortunately, I just used my old CHO's (like gels) and I think that might have contributed to some gastrointestinal issues I had on the bike. How do you prepare/use the sweet potatoes? Just cook them and cut them up into little pieces?
@Scott Imlay : during a taper, or dinner before a race, and even for breakfast race morning, I microwave the sweet potato for 5 minutes then drench it in grass fed butter or almond butter. Race mornings I’ll drizzle honey instead. On the bike I’ve used Justin’s Almond Butter Packets and Primal Kitchens Macademia Nut Bars. I found that I didn’t get gut issues, but also felt flat. I’m trying infinit this year and eating more CHO during training.
Latest updates. I didn't fast last week (vacationing with Kelli in Victoria after the 70.3).
Week, Ave Fasting BG, Ave Weight
Beginning, 102 mg/DL, 150 lbs
5/6-5/12, 107.5 mg/DL, 146.8 lbs
5/13-5/19, 94.8 mg/DL, 145.7 lbs
5/20-5/26, 93.8 mg/DL, 144.2 lbs
5/27-6/2, 112.3 mg/DL, 144.3 lbs
6/3-6/9, 98.5 mg/DL, 143.8 lbs
I did fast yesterday and my BG came down nicely (87 mg/DL).
@Tony Ledden thank you for the sweet potato recipe. I'll give it a try!
@Scott Imlay , I am a physician are Al and Robert. My recommendation is simple... don't do it.
you don't want to do a "diet" anyway, period! You want to change your lifestyle. I eat an enormous amount of carbs! I like to keep my race weight down and my glucose runs higher than yours. however, you do not want to deplete your liver's glycogen stores or you will most certainly bonk.
It's really simple to keep it all under control by decreasing salt in your diet and not eating processed foods... that includes most meat! anything in a package will have salt due to needing to stay fresh on a shelf.
My father died of heart attack, my mom had diabetes, and everyone else prior to this generation had high cholesterol and high sugars. and they weren't necessarily over weight.
The solution is to do something you can live with the rest of your life. I'm on the science board for First Endurance if you want to check out their stuff but basically the only book that I have used to guide me is called the China Study...
I'm not pure vegetarian but I don't eat any red meat and have small amount of animal protein like eggs, fish or chicken with only one meal a day.
Avoid hidden worthless calories. (cookies, cake, pasta, bread, milk, white sugar, steak, hamburger and any fast food)
If God intended us to eat mass produced food he would have put it in his own package (think oranges)
@Patricia Rosen thank you for the information. I should probably change the title because I'm not eating especially low carb. I changed my original plan based on feedback from Sheila, Al, John, and Tony. Mostly I'm doing what you suggest - avoid hidden worthless calories from processed carbs (similar to the list you provided). The big difference, based on your brief description, is that I'm not avoiding red meat and salt.
What I am experimenting with is fasting on my rest days (Monday's). What are your thoughts on fasting?
I am curious. You say your blood glucose runs higher than mine and you aren't worried. At what BG (fasting BG or A1C) would you worry?
I'm also curious has to how you eliminate salt (electrolytes) in your diet when you are training for an IRONMAN?
Thanks for the reference to the China Study. I've purchased the book and will start reading it right away. I'd like to know more about First Endurance.
I don’t eliminate salt except in most food I cook or buy.
Red meat just turns to fat...(look at it on your plate when it gets cold.... that white chunky stuff should tell you something).
Food that is processed has way too much salt and bumps your blood pressure up).
Red meat causes colon cancer.
Check out chicken on your plate... wait a little while and you’ll see yellow stuff... this also goes straight into your vessels...
go to First Endurance website to check out sports nutrition and fueling your race.... I use a lot of salt when racing to maintain a normal sodium. EFS is my sport drink. There are several of us on the science panel that can help you. I’m on there because I’m a toxicologist.
Fasting is BAD. It makes your body go into starvation mode and hang onto fat while you burn up your glycogen...
low glycemic foods keep your sugar from jumping up and down. That helps you maintain a normal glucose level. My glucose runs between 60 and 120.... right after my latte with raw sugar! My Hba1c is 5.1. I only get this checked once a year at routine visits... cause I have to! Glucose will go up and down a lot and unless it’s over 150 on a single test I wouldn’t worry about it.
check out glycemic index to know what will keep your sugar steady.
Everyone is different... my point of view comes from seeing lots of chronic illnesses related to over eating, over drinking, and use of tobacco and other substances I won’t mention here. The worst toxins we are exposed to are in the usual western diet.
Anyway, feel free to PM me if any questions and I can direct you to other folks who are much smarter than me😊
Sorry about the visuals on meat, but as Americans we eat way too much protein ...which we don’t use and causes inflammation... honest! It all turns to fat if we don’t use it.. and it’s so much that we can’t use it.
by the way, cholesterol comes from animal fat. There’s plenty of protein in peas!
OMG @Patricia Rosen I love you!
Thank you @Patricia Rosen! I will start by reading the China Study book and checking out the First Endurance web site.
check out glycemic index. that is how you keep your glucose stable.
This may be a topic for another thread, but I thought I would float it here as I have followed this discussion. My doctor who is an IM athlete is suggesting that the sugar we are consuming while training and racing is a major contributor to rising blood glucose levels. It was my understanding that the insulin response to carbs was not the same when the body was in high demand during endurance activity as it would be in normal demand periods. She is an athlete who will go as far as 1/2 IM with zero fuel. Please understand In think that is nuts, but are we possibly consuming too much during our everyday training and racing? @Scott Imlay it is not my intent to take over your discussion. I will take this up in another thread if that is appropriate.