Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Is the issue with chronic cardio the reason for health problems blamed on super fitness endurance athletes or...

Could it be long term chronic carbohydrate intake?

Anyone know of any studies done on low carb chronic cardio?

flag	asked Jun 22 2010 at 16:13 Stephen-Aegis 24k●2●33●106

	I already believe in chronic cardio in a high carb environment, I really want to know about it in a high fat low carb environment – Stephen-Aegis Jun 23 2010 at 13:52
	What do you mean believe in? Dangers? Benefits? – Chris Jun 24 2010 at 3:37
	That it is linked to poor heart health long term – Stephen-Aegis Jun 24 2010 at 12:36
	Have you looked into the research on the tarahumara? It's spotty but it seems to suggest they eat very high carb, run insane distance and have few diseases of civilization. – Chris Jul 22 2010 at 3:25

Glenn · Answer 1 · 2010-06-22 17:43:14Z UTC

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I doubt a search would turn up much. There's a reason that endurance runners eat a lot of carbs: they need the starch to fuel the enormous oxidative-glycolytic energy demands in the muscle cells. (And my understanding is that both elements contribute to ill effects: the running spikes cortisol levels and the carbs do all the things we already know they do).

edited Jun 22 2010 at 17:43

answered Jun 22 2010 at 17:09

Glenn
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Whether they need the carbs is controversial, but I agree that that belief is why they do it. – Ambimorph Jun 22 2010 at 22:06

I don't see where there is any controversy. The carbohydrate demands of the elite marathon runner vs. the needs of your average weekend jogger vastly differ. There are too many variables in the individual and their goals to simply say x amount of carbs will suffice for every runner. The fact is, if you deplete your glycogen stores faster than your body can replenish them, you will feel and perform like crap. – Danny Jun 23 2010 at 0:52

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Our bodies once fat adapted can create what we need at an adequate speed, that's been proven, there have been ZC marathoners, the question is whether the ZC marathoners also suffer the CC diseases o if it's the carb byproducts? – Stephen-Aegis Jun 23 2010 at 2:27

Most of the energy used in endurance training comes from oxidative phosphorylation. 3 grams of palmitic acid produces roughly the same amount of ATP (via the citric acid cycle) as does the glycolysis of 180 grams of glucose. – Chris Jun 23 2010 at 3:31

Elevated cortisol levels during exercise are a mechanism to control blood glucose levels. The rise is short, subdued by ingestion of carbohydrate and probably does not contribute to chronic elevation of cortisol. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6532339 – Chris Jun 23 2010 at 3:37

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Danny · Answer 2 · 2010-06-24 00:43:41Z UTC

This is an extremely complex question, because there are simply too many variables that would require a massive controlled study to come to an acceptable conclusion. The study linked from panu only addresses elite marathon runners and completely ignores the impact of the diet. We all know that carbohydrate quality is of the utmost importance and makes every difference our health, and runners are notorious for consuming massive quantities of crap carbs, which I believe is the likely culprit for the health issues described in that study. Is it the carbohydrate consumption alone that causes problems, regardless of quality? I think Kitavan paradox can shed some light on that question.

But I have to ask, Stephen, are you a runner who is worried about the long term effects of running on a low carb paleo diet? Here are a couple links that you may or may have not seen that addresses the issue better than I ever could:

http://freetheanimal.com/2010/04/born-to-run.html

http://trainnowlivelater.blogspot.com/2010/04/theres-running-and-theres-running.html

Chris · Answer 3 · 2010-06-23 04:00:06Z UTC

Kurt outlines two studies on his blog, Cardio causes heart disease and Still not born to run

Excessive carbohydrate intake could be a factor, but so could the intensity of exercise. Relationships of Heart Disease Risk Factors to Exercise Quantity and Intensity

"Men and women who ran faster (ie, at greater intensity) had lower blood pressures; triglyceride levels; ratios of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; BMI ... "

Chronic Cardio cause? What about when Lo-Carb?

3 Answers