Abby's

Volume 7 Issue 3

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Page 26 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysMag.com Paleo, Atkins, and South Beach diets could be a good choice for athletes High protein diets tend to be the norm for many athletes, as more research examining the role nutri on plays in performance is increasing. Not to men on, diet trends like Paleo and Pagan, as well as the philosophy of ea ng clean, gain popularity. The truth of the ma er is that just like training methods will give different athletes, different results; different ea ng plans will make different athletes perform differently. Everything is individual. However, there is research that supports the use of high protein diets for performance for both strength and endurance athletes. High Protein Diets and Weight Loss The popularity of high protein diets goes beyond athletes to those looking for fast weight loss. High protein diets that exclude carbohydrate in the form of breads, pasta, and potatoes and cut calories o en show a large ini al weight loss due to the water loss that occurs with some muscle glycogen deple on. If you perform high intensity or endurance training you probably know that glycogen deple on is one of the reasons athletes 'bonk' or 'hit the wall' in endurance compe on. Without enough easy to access energy, in the form of glycogen, we simply run out of fuel. High Protein Diets and the Endurance Athlete Glycogen is the stored energy in muscle, and it helps muscles retain water. This combina on is cri cal for high-intensity athle c performance. Deple ng these energy stores is hardly something that will improve athle c performance. However, research out of Ohio State University shows that our bodies can adapt to finding energy in other places, like from fat stores and that sports nutri on isn't as straight forward as it used to be. Specifically, researchers looked at elite marathoners who normally ate a low-carb diet that consisted of 10 percent carbs, 19 percent protein, and 70 percent fat, and compared them to other elite marathoners who choose to eat a diet with 59 percent carbs, 14 percent protein, and 25 percent fat. Besides their diets, the athletes were similar in their elite status, age, performance, training history, and maximum oxygen capacity. Now here's the crazy part: During a test determining the athletes' maximum oxygen intake to gauge carb- and fat- burning rates, the low-carb runners' peak fat-burning rate was 2.3-fold higher than the rate for high-carb athletes: 1.5 versus .67 grams per minute. What's more: The two groups did not differ significantly in oxygen consump on, ra ngs of perceived exer on, or calorie expenditure. If you're an endurance athlete, it may take a while to get used to performing on a high-protein diet, or even one of more fat as in this study. But it may be worth a try if you are looking for a way to improve your mes. High Protein Diets and Strength Athletes Beefy diets are synonymous with strength athletes and Cross- Fit enthusiasts. Protein is important to athletes because it helps muscles repair themselves from the stress that exercise, especially high-intensity exercise, puts on them. It's recommended that physically ac ve individuals eat between 0.64 to 0.91 grams per pound of bodyweight a day. But what would happen if you doubled it? Turns out there might be limits to protein's benefits above a certain threshold. According to research published in the Journal of the Interna onal Society of Sports Nutri on, doubling protein Does a High Protein Diet Improve Sports Performance?

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