Science is always evolving, and so should our thinking. We must be being willing to question the status quo, and be curious about evidence that brings new perspectives.
At the end of the day, no one knows us better than ourselves. That’s why being a careful observer of how we react and perform in different nutrition scenarios is so important. What works for one person does not necessarily work for another. What worked for you in the last decade might no longer work now.
In that regard, I’d like to share some interesting research from Dr. Paul Larsen, a performance physiology coach and adjunct professor at the High Performance Sports Centre in New Zealand. In a recent podcast, Dr. Larsen explained the limitations in the studies that say that high carb intake is fundamental for performance at high intensities (one of which being that such studies were too short in duration to capture the effects of high vs low carb diets).
Dr. Andy Galpin also mentioned in one of his podcast series with Dr Huberman that bonking/fatigue is more often due to neural fatigue and/or the body’s limitations in clearing up excess “toxic” waste that is a byproduct of high intensity work, and not necessarily low carb stores. Although a very high intense and/or long event can deplete stores.
All of this to bring awareness of what is out there so you can consider the options and find out for yourself what works best. The key thing to keep in mind- in my opinion- is that simple and highly processed carbs/sugars have a place and time, but should be limited in our diets as amateur, master athletes.
The above is in line with a previous post and also the article below.