The Case Against Carbohydrate Loading

Many athletes have been led to believe that their physical endurance will suffer if they don’t take eat an abundance of simple carbohydrates. While breads, pastas, cereals, and other grain-based foods offer a more immediate energy boost because they can ignite and burn quickly, they need to be constantly and continuously replaced. As a result, they don’t offer very many ‘miles to the gallon.’ In addition, they end up generating a lot of messy metabolic waste after they are utilized—like ash from burning paper.

While many endurance athletes have been led to believe that eating more carbohydrates is necessary for creating more energy, relying on them as a primary fuel source is not only inefficient, but unhealthy.  

The body is incredibly resilient; it can adapt to running fairly well on carbohydrate-based calories. This is one of the reasons why some athletes feel the need to ‘carb load’ prior to a long training session or competitive event. Over time, they have conditioned their bodies to store more carbohydrates in the form of glycogen (stored sugar) to satisfy their increased energy needs. Even with this expanded storage capacity, however, the practice of carbohydrate loading is still ineffective. 

The concept of carbohydrate loading is flawed from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective.

Fueling the body with large amounts of carbohydrates is a lot like filling your car with a cheaper gas that gets fewer miles per gallon. During an endurance event, the athletes who are dependent on this type of inferior fuel won’t arrive at their intended destination (the finish) without carrying some additional ‘tanks’ of fuel (extra carbohydrates). The better solution is to use a higher-quality fuel to begin with.

The fat-adapted athlete has essentially trained her body to utilize its own fat stores for energy.

As a result, her physical and mental output will remain stable, even if she begins to feel a little hungry. Like the working embers left from a hot fire, her body’s internal engine will continue to run smoothly and efficiently by accessing to create steady, slow-burning energy. It will no longer have to be completely dependent on quick-burning carbohydrates for fuel.

Interested in finding out more about fat adaptation what it takes to become a fat-adapted athlete? Ask me anything! Send your questions at jackie@performanceprescription.com