Got any citation that athletes have moved to a high protein and fat diet to improve their performance?
How many Olympic caliber athletes are on an Atkins diet?
Where is the evidence they perform better as you proposed they would in expounding upon my rather simple point that ‘carbo loading’ was obviously not the same thing as ‘sugar loading’?
Ok, if the comment that you don’t seem the type to care for published research sounded “smarmy,” then I apologize. It was not intended to be such. But it doesn’t seem that you have done much research on this issue, but you are commenting on it. As such, I can only assume that you wouldn’t be interested. You just don’t seem the type. You’re repeating an old myth about a giant plate of carbs the night before an athletic event without understanding fully the concept of carb loading.
You have to keep in mind, (I’m assuming you haven’t even bothered to look at my “about” page or you would be aware of this already) I not only research this stuff out of interest but also because I AM A COMPETITIVE ATHLETE. Moreover, I compete in sports with weight classes. It is imperative that I understand not only performance nutrition but also how that impacts my weight.
Now, to clarify the issue a bit, since you are confusing the issue from your original post.
Originally, you wrote: “There is a reason serious athletes “carbo-load” before a strenuous event - so their muscles will have energy to burn down the stretch.”
A “carbo-load” is NOT the same as the advice that you posted from Livestrong. In that advice (which is not published research by the way, just what Livestrong is writing) they are referring to the training diet, NOT a “carbo-load”.
I am not referring to the day to day regimen that athletes undergo while training. That is a different issue entirely.
And no where did I suggest that athletic performance would be enhanced by the Atkins diet. Not once. So it’s a nice straw-man that you’re trying to pin on me, but I won’t fall for it.
The science:
The original groundbreaking study that demonstrated that glycogen supercompensation does indeed occur and the conditions under which it occurs:
Ahlborg G, Bergstrom J, Edelund G, Hultman E. Muscle glycogen and muscle electrolytes during prolonged physical exercise. Acta Physiol. Scand. 1967 70:129-142.
Persistence of the supercompensated state:
J Appl Physiol. 1997 Jan;82(1):342-7.
Persistence of supercompensated muscle glycogen in trained subjects after carbohydrate loading.
Goforth HW Jr, Arnall DA, Bennett BL, Law PG.
Sugars and supercompensation:
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1987 Oct;19(5):491-6.
Effect of different post-exercise sugar diets on the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis.
Blom PC, Høstmark AT, Vaage O, Kardel KR, Maehlum S.
Source
Department of Physiology, National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway.
Given that there has been more than 40 years of study on this topic, there’s a ton more.
Start there, though, and educate yourself.
Personally, I’m done with this conversation. You don’t know what you’re talking about.