I know that diet works great for some people, but I’m a runner, and so I eat some carbs, or else that WILL suffer. Prior to my bloodwork on 12/19, my a1c in previous bloodwork and my fasting sugar were fine. My fasting sugar in this bloodwork was fine (87), but my a1c is 0.1 percent above normal, indicating possible high sugar episodes in the recent past.
Believe me, given my family history of diabetes on my mother’s side, I am taking it seriously, even though it is only 0.1 percent above normal a1c. I’m foregoing desserts, most wheat products and most caloric drinks, and I’m minding the added sugar in various things, which I believe is one of the true culprits. But I do need carbs for my sport. YMMV.
You do not need carbs for running, even at high level sport. That “need carbs” nonsense has to stop. There are essential amino acids (proteins) and essential lipids, but ZERO essential carb. Carb is precisely the only group of macro nutrient we do NOT need to eat, our bodies make it (glycogen) in the right quantity when needed. Carb is just a backup and dirty nutrient that we can tolerate but it ends up biting us in the arse (insuline spikes, the Randle cycle, liver problems caused by fructose, etc). That’s basic physiology that applies to everybody, not just to “some people”.
Don’t take my words for granted, just look at what sport medecine doctors like Dr Paul Mason or Prof Tim Noakes say about the subject.
Prof Tim Noakes was a marathon runner and a creator of energy packs based on... carbs, until his health becomes crap. Then he did his own research and learned that all he was taught about nutrition is rubbish. Then he stopped all carbs, and cured his pre-diabete.
BTW, his father died of diabete, killed by the “cure” prescribed by experts. Prof Noakes said that if he had known about the carnivore diet at the time, in the 80s, his father would still be alive now. If you can’t relate to his case, there is probably not much that can help your health.