This is what the scientists say: (the full article is available)
The position of the Society regarding nutrient timing and the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in reference to healthy, exercising individuals is summarized by the following eight points:
Of course you may or may not agree with this approach (I'd struggle with that many carbs.....)but it is interesting to read the current position on these matters.
Incidentally Lyle on carbs is a good read here.
The position of the Society regarding nutrient timing and the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in reference to healthy, exercising individuals is summarized by the following eight points:
- Maximal endogenous glycogen stores are best promoted by following a high-glycemic, high-carbohydrate (CHO) diet (600 - 1000 grams CHO or ~ 8 - 10 g CHO/kg/d), and ingestion of free amino acids and protein (PRO) alone or in combination with CHO before resistance exercise can maximally stimulate protein synthesis.
- During exercise, CHO should be consumed at a rate of 30 - 60 grams of CHO/hour in a 6 - 8 % CHO solution (8 - 16 fluid ounces) every 10 - 15 minutes. Adding PRO to create a CHO:PRO ratio of 3 - 4:1 may increase endurance performance and maximally promotes glycogen re-synthesis during acute and subsequent bouts of endurance exercise.
- Ingesting CHO alone or in combination with PRO during resistance exercise increases muscle glycogen, offsets muscle damage, and facilitates greater training adaptations after either acute or prolonged periods of supplementation with resistance training.
- Post-exercise (within 30 minutes) consumption of CHO at high dosages (8 - 10 g CHO/kg/day) have been shown to stimulate muscle glycogen re-synthesis, while adding PRO (0.2 g - 0.5 g PRO/kg/day) to CHO at a ratio of 3 - 4:1 (CHO: PRO) may further enhance glycogen re-synthesis.
- Post-exercise ingestion (immediately to 3 h post) of amino acids, primarily essential amino acids, has been shown to stimulate robust increases in muscle protein synthesis, while the addition of CHO may stimulate even greater levels of protein synthesis. Additionally, pre-exercise consumption of a CHO + PRO supplement may result in peak levels of protein synthesis.
- During consistent, prolonged resistance training, post-exercise consumption of varying doses of CHO + PRO supplements in varying dosages have been shown to stimulate improvements in strength and body composition when compared to control or placebo conditions.
- The addition of creatine (Cr) (0.1 g Cr/kg/day) to a CHO + PRO supplement may facilitate even greater adaptations to resistance training.
- Nutrient timing incorporates the use of methodical planning and eating of whole foods, nutrients extracted from food, and other sources. The timing of the energy intake and the ratio of certain ingested macronutrients are likely the attributes which allow for enhanced recovery and tissue repair following high-volume exercise, augmented muscle protein synthesis, and improved mood states when compared with unplanned or traditional strategies of nutrient intake.
Of course you may or may not agree with this approach (I'd struggle with that many carbs.....)but it is interesting to read the current position on these matters.
Incidentally Lyle on carbs is a good read here.
Comments
Methuselah
Pay Now Live Later
I think it is more complicated than it is often portrayed. Yes I like low carb diets - I think they are healthy and effective and the evolutionary fitness / primal blueprint makes a lot of sense to me in terms of an overall paradigm within which to develop your diet.
However there are many ways in which I'd agree with Lyle - and i'd urge you to read some of his books if you can. Calories are important - eat too many and you will not lose weight. Some people can handle lots of carbs, some people can't .. There are different degrees of insulin sensitivity. And you can manipulate that a bit with exercise and fasting etc too. Also, for most people to cut calories while maintaining a decent protein intake you must cut carbs.
The whole Taubes / insulin thing is right inso far as it goes, but you can get fat eating too much even with no carbs.
The type of carb is also important. Wheat is a massive problem for many people. Yams/sweet potatoes are less troublesome. Stephan at Whole Health Source has had some great posts on this.
However saying all that.....I like low carb diets. I think they are healthy and easy to eat. Naturally I think we do fine on meat leaves and berries.
I've recently added in some more carbs to my diet - porridge and baked potatoes. I've got more energy, haven't got any fatter and feel fine.
Oh and I think the Optimal Diet is interesting too!
Sorry if that is a bit rambling!
I do keep up to date with Stephan's blog and was interested in his 'last thought' on paleolithic diet trials where he talks about the permissibility of grains prepared in a certain way. I've recently persuaded my folks to trial paleo and am keen to be able to offer them some compromise options so that they don't feel too restricted. Porridge and sweet potatoes instinctively seem to be good options.
I had a look at the optimal diet - seems like it's essentially a high fat, low carb diet (20:70:10-ish). I am assuming this means that relative to the typical paleo diet this would mean eating slightly fewer carbs and slightly less protein to tweak up the fat component?
Is there a particular book of Lyle MacDonald's that would represent his definitive view on diet? I am currently reading Eade's 'The Protein Power Life Plan' which is proving excellent (and to be honest mis-titled because it makes it sound like some evangelical diet tome rather than the wide-ranging and rigorous accademic analysis that it has been so far.)
There, now I have also rambled.
I tried to do a response to this with some links but Blogger is playing up. Can you drop me an email at chris AT conditioningresearch dot com to discuss?