N=1 on Omega-6 and Sunburn: Can Sunburn be Reduced?

I got the following message recently, out of the blue:

Astounded by [your] advice, n3 up - n6 down= no sunburn during +3hr LSD [Long, Slow Distance run]!

This post has been moved to Substack. 

Science catches up, eventually

Literally decades after Noakes observed this must be the case, this study comes out:

"Maximal Fat Oxidation is Related to Performance in an Ironman Triathlon."

"These results suggests that maximal fat oxidation rate exert an independent influence on ultra-endurance performance (>9 h). Furthermore, we demonstrate that 50% of the variation in Ironman triathlon race time can be explained by peak oxygen uptake and maximal fat oxidation."

Phil Maffetone had been training Mark Allen to promote fat-burning for some time in order to produce the result Noakes noted in his book 14 years ago.

This is the problem with using published science as a guide: it's often so slow and so far behind practice that it's utterly useless.

It's also a nice reminder of what a genius Maffetone is, as the literature is still catching up to him.

Taking Electrolytes When Running In Death Valley

Kenneth Posner:

"Salt/electrolytes

"I didn’t take any supplemental salt or electrolytes during the run. Further, the foods I consumed were generally low in sodium. None of my teammates took salt or electrolyte supplements.

"While the sports-drink industry markets the importance of electrolytes, Tim Noakes has argued that the body contains enough salt and electrolytes to last for weeks. Further, he points out that in a hot environment, the salt content of sweat and urine drops by 90-plus percent. People see white, crusty sweat on their clothes after running because their bodies are ridding themselves of the excessive salt contained in the typical western diet (Noakes 2012). Ironically, people see the salt crusts and, worrying that they are running low on electrolytes, eat more salt—when they actually may have more than they need.

Talk about putting your money where you mouth is!

If you can run 292 miles through Death Valley without supplementary salt, I think we can put that myth to bed.

Full version (from the link above) here (PDF).

Low-Carb Athletes: Jenson Button, 2009 Formula One World Champion

Jenson Button is one of the best race-car drivers in the world. Contrary to most people's expectations, driving a race car, especially an F1 car, is an athletically-demanding task. (And for all you Americans who are not familiar with F1, it's the most popular sport in the world with the highest-paid athletes.)

"His hobbies include mountain biking, competing in triathlons and body boarding..."

No slouch, then. This article ("Nigel Mansell: F1 weight limits for 2014 'disgraceful'") quotes Button:

"I love fitness training but there are things I can't do because I have to be a set weight - not eat carbohydrates, not build muscle. And next year it will be worse. I don't think any team will have ballast next year."

Interesting. Unlike Lindsey Vonn, who rarely mentions her diet, Button's pretty open about it.

Telegraph: "While Button said he was in no danger of developing an eating disorder, he admitted that he fasts before each race and “never” eats carbohydrates."

AskMen: "Keeping Jenson trim is a low-carb diet which, as he went on to tell us, was pretty tough to begin with, “When you grow up eating cereal, toast and fruit for breakfast like I did, it is initially very difficult to adjust. These days I’ll have a steak for breakfast with mushrooms and tomatoes, or I’ll have fish like salmon or haddock. Then I have the same thing at lunch – fish or meat with vegetables or salad – then the same for dinner. I’m not intolerant to carbs but if I eat too many I’d put weight on very quickly.”

"When pressed on what he missed eating the most he was quick to answer, “Desserts. I’ve got a very sweet tooth. I miss banoffee pie, sticky toffee pudding, that sort of thing. The worst thing is when I’m out for dinner over a Grand Prix weekend with Jessica (Michibata – Jenson’s Japanese girlfriend) and she orders dessert. I’m just like ‘How dare you? That’s so unfair!’”

Dehydration is a major concern in an F1 car, as you're often baking, fully dressed (including gloves and a helmet), in an open car on a hot track in the summer sun for hours:

"The two formulas created by Lucozade are specially balanced to aid with water retention and absorption into the blood stream. The hydration formula is used across the entire race weekend and is aimed at maintaining hydration especially in the hotter climes. Helen Cowie, the technical director, at GlaxoSmithKline Research & Development behind the drinks explained, “It’s low in carbs and a has a tightly maintained level of sodium within the drink that leaves it surprisingly salty in taste. Sodium speeds up the absorption of the liquid by your body, meaning that the drivers don’t sit there with a belly fluid of drinking sloshing around them, which can lead to stomach cramps.”"

Interesting, as it corresponds with Wolverine's experience with hydration: he also found that adding salt to the water aided in absorbtion.

SportsKeeda: "Jenson’s impressive physical condition can be attributed to two things: his fitness programme and his diet. He works out for up to five hours per day when he’s not at a racetrack and he follows a low-carb diet that has been tailored to his sport’s needs.

"To keep his competitive instincts razor-sharp, he competes regularly in triathlons (swimming, cycling and running). After the season-opening Australian Grand Prix he contested a triathlon in Hawaii and he’s maintained a strict nutritional programme.

"“I work out a lot,” says Jenson. “I need to be fit to do my job and a fit body results in a fit mind. However, I’ve benefited almost as much through improving my diet. It’s a cliché, but we are what we eat and I’ve worked hard with a nutritionist to ensure that I’m eating the right things at the right time of day.

"“I’ve lost three percent body fat by not eating carbohydrates for breakfast. No cereal or toast for Jenson Button! The benefits of eating the right things are huge; it’s something that I underestimated until quite recently.” [My emphasis.]

"The only potential snag during Sunday’s 56-lap Malaysian Grand Prix is the water bottle that Jenson will have strapped into the cockpit of his McLaren MP4-26. Even with his newfound levels of fitness, he’ll struggle in the race without a water bottle because he’ll be performing in cockpit temperatures of more than 50 degrees. [Centigrade, that's 122 F, for a two-hour race.]

"“It doesn’t matter how fit you are,” says Jenson. “If you get dehydrated, your physical performance drops off and your concentration is affected. A couple of years ago my water bottle stopped working on lap two at Sepang and by the end of the race I was suffering a lot.

"“The first thing that happened was that I got cold. Despite the excruciating heat I was shivering in the cockpit, which is a crazy thought. My eyesight then started to go and by the end of the race some things became blurred. That’s a horrible thing to happen in a racing car! As long as my water bottle works on Sunday, I’ll be fine.”

And if you ask Button for weight-loss tips, this is what he'll tell you:

@AdarhamBalfuric Less carbs more Protein..
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) July 12, 2013

This is an interview with Button's physiotherapist, Mike Collier:

On his diet and whether it is mostly pasta:

"No, the opposite, really. We try and avoid carbohydrates from Thursday through to Saturday evening. Saturday evening he will have carbohydrates. It's about making sure there is adequate protein there for recovery and repair, and that he eats reasonably regularly so that he maintains more of a constant blood sugar. People think about pastas and rice and all these carbohydrates being very good for you; they are, provided that you are exercising to be able to burn them. Otherwise it is just like eating too much fat: It will increase your weight. As driver weights are important, we play around with it a little bit to ensure that his weight is very good, that he has enough energy, that he is also repairing himself and recovering through protein. So his meal before the race will be a salad-based chicken dish. There is carbohydrate, but in his drink."

So he's got a bit to learn. Not yet a paleo diet, but a typical low-carb diet. Button would probably get even trimmer adding more fat and reducing protein, as Jimmy Moore demonstrated to the world. Eating fat does not make you fat. Maybe Button can consult with Dr. Noakes...

Is Science Broken? Part 7: "Current Hydration Guidelines are Erroneous..."

"Current hydration guidelines are erroneous: dehydration does not impair exercise performance in the heat."

But they're profitable. And that's what matters, isn't it?

Waterlogged covers this topic incredibly well.

Via Prof. Noakes on Twitter, naturally:

New research suggests current guidelines about hydration during exercise are wrong http://t.co/h8Ml3mx99y #waterlogged /cc @ProfTimNoakes

— Tom H (@TrailDragon) September 21, 2013

The Ketogenic Diet In A Top Endurance Athlete

N=1. This is from Mike Morton's website. Read the whole thing, but I've excerpted the interesting (to me) bit below. (If you read this, Sgt. Morton, please add an RSS feed!):

"...Something that I have been getting questions on is the ketogenic diet. The questions are from one end of the spectrum to the other. Some general health to performance issues while in ketosis. I’m convinced that the diet is perfect for my athletic aspirations. Recovery is improved and I feel a level energy curve. I don’t ever “bonk” during races or training and my mental clarity is better. During Western States I consumed maybe 1200 calories through Coke, a couple gels, hard candy and food at aid stations. During races I don’t worry about consuming carbs; it is part of the “strategic carb use” of the diet. Peter Defty who helped me out with switching is the master mind behind what I’m doing. He has a lot of good info on his VESPA website. I use VESPA and I feel it is a big help, I take a concentrate every two hours during a race. Peter is very sincere about the diet from a health stand point but he sees great potential in endurance sports for a ketogenic diet.

"Another common question revolves around cholesterol and the effects of eating “all that fat”. I’m not a scientific guy so I trusted Peter and his accomplices when they told me if I was strict with eating low carb my cholesterol would go down. After years of eating a high carb, whole grain “healthy” diet I was scared to eat meat and cheese again! After nine months of eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, hard salami and cheese for lunch and a rib eye or porter house for dinner the blood tests are in!

"When I went in to finish my physical and go over my labs the first thing out of the doc’s mouth was “I’ve don’t see results like this often.” Part of her reaction was because of the heart rate being at 40 BPM but the cholesterol was not typical for a 41 year old soldier.

• My good cholesterol (HDL) went from 43 to 89 MG/DL. The “normal” range is 35-55.
• My bad cholesterol (triglyceride) went from 77 to 51 MG/DL. The “normal” range is 0-150.

"My cholesterol count was down from 184 to 174 MG/DL. Less than 200 is desirable.

"Another interesting experience I had was using getting a body scan to determine body fat and lean muscle mass of the body.

"I had a dexa scan a couple of weeks after winning the World 24 Hour Championship in Poland last year. This was after a nine month training block averaging about 140 miles per week on a high carb low fat diet. The results were:

• 14.2% of my tissue was fat
• Total mass was 126.9 pounds
• 103.49 pounds of lean mass
• 17.14 pounds of fat
• 6.26 pounds of bone mass

"(Keep in mind this is measuring ALL the fat in the body to include organs and the Brain) [Moved this from above to make the list more readable -Tuck] At the end of March after three months of eating a ketogenic diet I repeated the scan. This scan took place after five weeks of ZERO running due to a torn tendon. I didn’t do any cross training either. I took advantage of the time and built a dog kennel/future chicken coup/ future horse stall. The results of the scan were:

• 11.3% of my tissue was fat
• Total mass was 124.4 pounds
• 104.98 pounds of lean mass
• 13.61 pounds of fat
• 6.26 pounds of bone mass

"After five weeks of ZERO exercise I lost almost 3% of total fat mass and GAINED lean muscle mass. The human performance staff was amazed at this. 3% body fat loss in someone less than 130 pounds is a really big number.

"The Bottom line is the diet works for me in training, life and racing and so far the “side effects” are all positive…other than not being able to eat a jar of nutella. Again I feel compelled to state I know that no one diet works for everyone. I just want to share my experience with a ketogenic diet."

A few thoughts:

1. We can put the notion that a ketogenic diet causes the body to cannibalize muscle to bed. There's no evidence for it, but, like a zombie, it keeps coming back.
2. HDL going up and Triglycerides going down is what happens when you switch from a high-carb/low-fat diet to a low-carb/high-fat diet. This also happens to mean that one of the primary cardiovascular disease risk factors improves. That's a nice bonus, and one which I covered in this post. (As an aside, Morton says "My bad cholesterol (triglyceride)..." LDL, not triglycerides, are what is known as "bad cholesterol". He doesn't mention his LDL levels, but they must be low.)
3. "Less than 200 is desirable." This is only correct from the perspective of the companies selling statin drugs. In epidemiologic terms, total cholesterol lower then 200 is where the risk profile starts rising again. If I had Morton's cholesterol numbers (especially the low LDL), and had spent as much time as he has in primitive conditions, I'd be worried about parasites being the cause of my low cholesterol numbers.

As a reminder, Morton's the current Masters' record-holder at the Western States 100-mile foot race.

I think we can safely say the ketogenic diet is, at worst, a reasonable option for an endurance athlete looking for top performance.

(Morton's post via Prof. Noakes on Twitter.)

What Does Sugary Water Do To Your Body? Thoughts On Racing With A Water Balloon.

I listened to this podcast interview with David “Wolverine” Smith the other day:

David "Wolverine" Smith – Survivor

It’s a remarkable, if completely infuriating, story about medical malpractice and human resilience.  In short, through a series of gross medical mishaps after a minor procedure, he wound up having his large and small intestines removed, and then replaced with a transplanted large and small intestine.

I discovered Wolverine’s site about 18 months ago, posted a comment, and engaged in a email dialog with him which was most interesting.

Post moved to Substack.

"Food and Macronutrient Intake of Elite Kenyan Distance Runners"

Not what I'm going to eat, but interesting:

"...Athletes carried out most of their training collectively as 1 group 2 times a day, typically before breakfast and dinner. The morning run (06:00) comprised a 6 to 9 mile run carried out at either moderate or fast running pace (e.g., 11 to 15 mph) depending on athletic specialization and instructions received from the coach/manager...."

"...Total fluid intake was modest and mainly in the form of water (1113 ± 269 mL; 0.34 ± 0.16 mL/kcal) and tea (1243 ± 348 mL). No water was ingested before or during the early morning run, although only a modest amount of water was ingested after training and not by all athletes. Similarly, only a small amount of water was ingested after the afternoon run by a small number of the athletes. No water was ingested during the run...."

"...Endurance athletes are advised to strive to maintain fluid balance before, during, and after exercise to avoid a detriment in performance as a result of progressive dehydration (2). In the present study, given the greater need for fluids as the Kenyan runners lived and trained in a warm, high-altitude environment, their fluid intake was fairly modest and comprised of water (1113 ± 269 mL; 0.34 ± 0.16 mL/kcal) and tea (1243 ± 348 mL). No fluids were ingested before or during training, although only a modest amount of water was ingested after training and not by all athletes. The previous two dietary studies in Kenyan runners (14, 6) made no particular reference to fluid intake, especially in relation to exercise training, and therefore it can be assumed that no specific strategies were adopted as in the present study. Although the drinking habits of these Kenyan runners is somewhat contrary to current dietary recommendations (2), it has recently been argued that some degree of dehydration could benefit marathon runners by increasing the pressure gradient across their capillary beds, increasing capillary flow rates, and decreasing intercapillary distances (9). It is common practice among elite Kenyan distance runners to consume considerably less fluid than is recommended. The overall significance of this has yet to be experimentally determined...."

"...The food and macronutrient content of elite Kenyan runners fulfilled most of the recommendations for endurance athletes for CHO, fat, and protein intake, but not for energy (i.e., negative energy balance) and fluid intake (2).... If anything, there would appear to be room for considerable “improvements” in the nutritional practices of elite Kenyan runners, with particular reference to energy balance and fluid ingestion, assuming current recommendations would indeed be advantageous and not detrimental to the running performances of elite Kenyan runners...."

"...As the Kenyan runners in the present study appeared to be in negative energy balance, maintaining the recommended protein intake would be vital for the health of the athletes. Negative energy balance can result in loss of muscle mass and increased risk of fatigue, injury, and illness (2). It is tempting, therefore, to ascribe the relatively fast “turnover” of elite Kenyan distance runners to this particular feature of the Kenyan diet (i.e., negative/borderline energy balance). Individual Kenyan runners tend to do well for a short time but “drop out” of the world running circuit or are unable to reproduce earlier running performances (personal communication with Brother Colm O’Connell, head coach of St. Patrick’s High School, Iten, Kenya)...."

"...The fact that the athletes in the present study lost weight lends more credibility to the accuracy of food intake being lower than energy needs; it appears less likely that the athletes underreported food intake...."

This: "...assuming current recommendations would indeed be advantageous and not detrimental to the running performances of elite Kenyan runners..." is a big assumption. I'd go with detrimental...

I also find the fact that they train in a maximally-fasted state very interesting, as I'm sure it helps them overcome the high-carb diet they're eating. Their bodies must rely on both stored fat and carbs for fuel.

I wonder what their Respiratory Quotient is when resting and exercising?

You've Been Conned

What a fabulous piece of journalism by Joe Uhan at iRunFar.

"...But in the US, the sports drink industry drove a different agenda and wanted runners to drink as much of their product as was possible. As a result US runners were conned to believe that if they did not drink “as much as tolerable” they would at best have a poor race and at worst die from dehydration. Instead, this advice caused an epidemic of hyponatremia and poor performances since we now know that athletes who drink ahead of their thirst impair their exercise performance...."

This is becoming a common theme. Shoes, food, hydration...

And more kudos to Western States for leading the way to better runner's health. It's a horrible tragedy when runners are injured by following medical advice, as was happening at WS a few years ago:

"...So, for the 2010 event, we completely removed from the weight change guidelines any criteria for holding a runner based upon weight change. These guidelines provided to the medical and aid station staff basically specify that weight loss of up to 3-5% is appropriate, less than this should trigger a recommendation to consider reducing fluid and sodium intake, and more than this should trigger a recommendation to consider increasing fluid intake, and possibly sodium intake, as well....

And in conclusion:

"Be minimalist..."

Always.

"Waterlogged – A Dogma-Shattering Book?"

Indeed.

A good review, although the benefit of 60g/hr of glucose for runners is for carb-adapted runners, a point Noakes makes, but the reviewer omits.

How To Maximize Your Body's Ability To Use Fat For Fuel

Fascinating:

"When Torbjørn Sindballe was a professional triathlete, he used the most cutting edge science to make himself the best triathlete he could be. His efforts helped him break the bike course record at the Ironman World Championship, as well as place third there in 2007."

Unfortunately he discovered that some of the difficulties he had as an athlete were due to a congentical heart defect. That discovery ended his career.

But in the meanwhile, he made some interesting discoveries:

"...The easiest way to improve your ability to oxidize fat—turn fat into energy—is to train for long hours on the trails or in the saddle at a relatively slow pace. Generally, you don’t want to go much faster than your Ironman pace if you’re trying to stimulate your fat oxidation capabilities. While most athletes are well aware of this, there are several diet and training tricks out there that claim to increase the quality of the training stimulus these rides and runs provide. I have researched and tried most of these tricks myself while I was an Ironman pro and now have an understanding of what does and doesn’t work.... 

"...I tested the Paleo diet over a six-month period. While the challenge of eating 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day from a diet composed of only fruits, vegetables, meats and nuts was outweighed by the feeling of being super healthy, I did not see any gains in my performance. I kept my endurance, but over time I felt the upper end of my power and recovery fade as I had difficulty replenishing the calories I burned. For athletes with more balanced workloads, the Paleo diet might work fine, but for an Ironman pro with 25 to 40 hours of weekly training, it became insufficient. In other words, I have doubts about its performance potential and have yet to see a study that proves it enhances the body’s ability to burn fat....

I haven't seen any evidence that the Paleo diet "enhances" your ability to burn fat. And if I were a pro triathlete, I'd be eating some dairy and some more animal fats (like pemmican) as sources of high-calorie fats... Which is what I do now.

...After trying out the Paleo concept, I became interested in how my diet affected which fuels—carbs, fat or protein—my body used. I discovered that it is possible to shift our metabolism to burn mostly fat, but we need to eat excessive amounts of fat to do this. That is, up to 60 percent or 70 percent of our daily calories would need to be from fat—a percentage far above what the Paleo diet recommends. Despite the shift in metabolism and fat-burning capabilities, a high-fat diet has no effect on endurance performance, a review of studies by B. Kiens and Burke in 2006 concluded. What’s more, the diet diminishes one’s ability to do intense workouts, surges and sprints as well as the ability to adapt to training if the diet is maintained over a long period of time. These results, along with high-fat diets putting one at risk for developing severe malfunctions in metabolism, suggest that this approach should be categorized as a “useless tool.”

It appears that he was following Cordain's initial conception of a Paleo diet, which I think was overly-limiting and misguided in several ways. I have never seen any evidence that a high-fat diet results in "severe malfunctions in metabolism", or "diminishes one’s... ability to adapt to training"; to the contrary, it's been shown to be completely safe. So I'm not writing it off as "useless" based on this.

"...Inspired by the research, throughout 2007 I did several tests in which I ate a high-fat diet for five to six days followed by two days of carbo loading—I felt one day of carbo loading was too short for the glycogen tank to completely refill. Subsequently, I did a solid Ironman where I felt great the entire way—something that hadn’t happened in years—when I won the Vikingman in Fredericia, Denmark, in early August. I used the same protocol leading up to the Ironman World Championship in October, where I once again felt strong on the later part of the race and made the podium for the first and only time in my career...."

This sounds very similar to the approach used by Jonas Colting, who still eats roughly "Paleo", and has had a very successful career. However:

"...Despite achieving the best results of my life, I was still unconvinced about periodized diets, given there were other possible causes for my breakthroughs. I wanted proof, so in the spring of 2008 I hooked up with Danish scientist Lars Nybo Nielsen and Team Danmark to test the diet. I already had a natural fat-burning rate of 0.8 grams per minute at Ironman pace while taking in carbs during the test—higher than anyone in Carey’s study, even after his test subjects ate a high-fat diet for five to six days. The highest rate of fat burning achieved by the cyclists in Carey’s study was 0.7 grams per minute. In fact, my natural fat burning rate was on par with the highest fat oxidation rate cited by Tim Noakes in Lore of Running. During the days of eating a high-fat diet, I reached a fat-burning rate of 1.2 grams per minute at Ironman pace, confirming the theory that a high-fat diet shifts your body’s reliance on fat for fuel, but my rate shifted back down to 0.8 grams per minute after two days of carbo loading. It seemed the protocol had no effect on me...."

That's a fascinating bit of information. Eating carbs prior to the race significantly reduced his rate of fat burning. It wasn't that the protocol had "no effect", it was that insulin reduces the rate at which the body will produce fat. The effect was the expected one. I think carb-loading is probably not a good idea for this reason, unless your metabolism is super-flexible, and able to switch from one fuel to another quickly.

"...One could speculate that my fat burning ability was already high and that this strategy has the greatest effect on individuals who aren’t as fit as I was or that the two days of carbo loading was too much. I should also note that such a sudden switch in diet puts you at risk for constipation and other digestive problems. Despite the results of my personal study, I decided to use the periodized diet again before Kona in 2008, because it had been successful the year before and it might have an effect on the size of my glycogen stores that we had not yet been able to detect. Unfortunately, the risks caught up with me as my digestion literally stopped the Friday before the race until I was back home five days later. This mistake cost me dearly in the lava fields....

I wish he specified which type of carb he'd loaded with. I could see a pasta dinner having this effect, due to the toxic properties of wheat, but I've gone from days of low-carb eating to a meal with a lot of white rice with no ill effects whatsoever. At any rate, I don't think carb-loading's a great idea, but it shouldn't be this problematic to your gut. But then he discovers:

"...While Paleo, high-fat and periodized diets have little or no effect on enhancing one’s endurance, there is a less risky tweak you can implement in your training to improve your ability to burn fat for fuel—regular rides on water. I began to implement them back in 2007, and at first I could scarcely go for one-and-a-half hours before I bonked. But as my body adapted, I was able to ride three, four or five hours on water alone. This approach has a big effect in activating the genes that stimulate the production of enzymes involved in fat oxidation, as shown in a 2005 study by L.J Cluberton et al. In other words, the water-only rides might be the reason my ability to burn fat was already so high when I did the periodized diet experiment.

"If you decide to implement these water-only rides in your training, remember that these rides are depletion sessions, which leave you drained, and should always be followed by recovery days. During my Ironman building period, I had to work hard on consecutive days, so I did a modified version of these water-only rides that allowed me to maximize the stimulation of fat oxidation without requiring so much recovery. In short, I would do the first two hours of every training session on water alone and then add slowly absorbable, solid carbs, such as whole grain sandwiches or oatmeal-based energy bars. This process kept my blood sugar levels in check so I avoided bonking and could keep the intensity up late in the sessions. But at the same time this allowed my body to predominantly use fat for fuel, and it stimulated enzyme production. Early in the year, when intensity was more important, I would fuel rides from the start and only do a water-only ride once a week.

"My scientific team and I tested the water-only approach and found that during these rides, I would burn fat at a rate of 1.2 grams per minute—similar to the fat burning rate I achieved after high-fat eating on my periodization diet. This indicated that the training stimuli of the water-only rides were the same as those in a high-fat diet...."

Based on Jimmy Moore's interview with Tim Noakes, I think it's a little too soon to write off a low-carb, paleo diet as a fueling strategy. (And I'll definitely be skipping the "whole grain sandwiches".) Unless his "scientific team" was pretty cutting-edge, they were probably steeped in the idea of the supposed necessity of carbs. But the water-only (fasted, essentially) training runs are a great idea, I think. Fasted training sessions also cause the body to increase glycogen stores.

They don't have to leave you depleted, either. If you do them at your Maximum Aerobic Fitness pace, you'll feel just fine afterwards, in my experience. And not just my experience. As Mark Allen, one of the greatest triathletes put it:

"On top of the speed benefit at lower heart rates, I was no longer feeling like I was ready for an injury the next run I went on, and I was feeling fresh after my workouts instead of being totally wasted from them."

The only drawback of a high-fat, fat fueled training program is that if you're starting out of shape, it takes time to retrain your body. There is no short cut that I'm aware of.

Renowned Exercise Physiologist Tim Noakes Goes Paleo?

Sure sounds like it:

"...It’s taken a lifetime to realise it but Professor Tim Noakes now believes the overconsumption of refined carbohydrates may be toxic for the body.

"Finally, I submitted myself to an experiment of rigorously avoiding all bread, cereals, rice, pasta and refined carbohydrates and replacing that nutritional deficit with healthy meats, fish, fruit, vegetables and fats, including nuts. Five months later, I am at my lightest weight in 20 years and I am running faster than I have in 20 years.

"For the first time since I ran heroic weekly mileages in training have I learned exactly how to maintain an ideal body weight without any sense of privation. And with only as much exercise as I want to do. Even my friends are impressed. They agree that not even the most expensive cosmetic surgery could have produced such a remarkable change...."

And:

"...Sports science expert Professor Tim Noakes has caused a stir in health circles by refuting his own nutritional advice, widely espoused as athletics gospel… 

"The sports physician, affiliated to the University of Cape Town and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, won worldwide acclaim for his book Lore of Running, described as the “Runner’s Bible” and first published in 2003.

"Parts of the book, which advocates the benefits of “carbo-loading” and a high-carbohydrate diet, will now be rewritten.

"“I used to say ‘carbo-load every day, as much as you can’. Yes, this is a turnaround. Absolutely,” he said, smiling...."

Links to the full articles at the post above.

Dr. Phil Maffetone's "Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing" Review

Thanks to some of the participants on Barefoot Ted's Google group, I recently became aware of the work of Dr. Phil Maffetone.  We spend a good bit of discussing a various topics on that group, but a most of it concerns barefoot and barefoot-style running, and peripheral topics to running.  Diet comes up very often, because runners are either concerned with increasing performance or losing weight. A good diet is obviously important on either front.

Given my personal history, diet is of particular concern, and over the last 2+ years, researching diet and barefoot-style running have become my intellectual hobby.  So I've spent quite a bit of time learning about the science behind barefoot-style running and the paleo diet, since, respectively, reading Born to Run and discovering that I'm acutely wheat-intolerant.
So with that background, and my skeptical nature, I'm pretty impressed with Dr. Phil's book.  (As he's known in his online posts.)

The cons of this book are: Dr. Phil's credentials.  He's not a medical doctor, and he comes from an "alternative" medicine background [update: see the P.P.S. below].  That said, based on the reading I've done, he's pretty spot on for almost all of his suggestions.  And for whatever strange reason, most of the "alternative" doctors seem to be more open to diet as a cause for common medical maladies.  Examining the reasons behind that fact are fodder for another long post, but I will say that if the suggestions seem scientifically sound, you shouldn't discard them just because they come from a chiropractor.  That said, I'd recommend this book to anyone, with the following caveat (and the second con):

It's not well-sourced.  One of the compelling aspects of the Jaminet's Perfect Health Diet is that there book is well-footnoted with online resources that you can look up to learn more about why they make a specific recommendation.  Dr. Phil's book is not well footnoted.  You've got to take him on faith if you're not familiar with the research behind it.  The fact that the foreword is written by Mark Allen, the famed triathlete, and the afterword is written by Dr. Timothy Noakes, the famed exercise physiologist, should give you skeptical types some comfort.  For myself, I've already done enough reading to realize that Dr. Phil's work is well-founded, and don't have to rely solely on the testimonials.  But it would be good if he presented better evidence, as some of his ideas are pretty out there; while being correct, in my view.

The pros of the book are pretty simple.  You can save yourself my two years of diligent reading to achieve a much healthier approach to fitness and health just by following the recommendations of this book. 

I've been following most of the recommendations on diet and barefoot-style running for long enough (and before reading the book) that I'm a big fan.  The one part the book added for me was a detailed explanation of Dr. Phil's 180-formula for training intensity.  I'm now using this as my guide, and have definitely noticed benefits so far.  It's not magic, but it's definitely improved my training in the few months I've been using it.  I hope to continue through the winter, and start seeing the benefits of this approach come spring.

In a nutshell, Dr. Phil argues that you should train for most of your miles by keeping your heart rate low enough that you're primarily burning fat, and not carbohydrates, as fuel.  Dr. Noakes observes that following this approach helped Mark Allen to become one of the most fit and successful athletes in the world.  It's a pretty well-tested, if counter-intuitive, approach.  The formula is simply 180 - your age = the heart rate at which you should do most of your training.  (There are some complications based on fitness and injury status, but that's the basics.)  In my opinion, this is a training program for broken humans, who've been following the bad diet advice of the modern era, and not getting the sort of vigorous exercise that our bodies evolved to expect.

So I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get a better and comprehensive view of how to be fitter and healthier.  Or if you don't feel like poking around on this or any other blog that covers healthy diets and barefoot-style running, you can just buy Dr. Phil's book and be done with it.  I've already loaned my copy out to a good friend, along with Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint and the afore-mentioned The Perfect Health Diet.  (Happily I also got the Kindle version.)

Here are a bunch of segments that I highlighted in my Kindle and manually typed in here, since the Kindle doesn't allow copying [update: see the P.S.].  Sigh.

"Aspirin, ibuprofen (such as Advil), naproxen (such as Aleve), and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDSs) are commonly used for pain relief. If taking NSAIDs lessens your pain, it probably indicates your fats are not balanced."

Makes a lot of sense to me.  Excess omega-6 intake and insufficient omega-3 are pretty obivously indicated in a lot of maladies, most especially joint pain and weak cartilage.

"The most popular shoe in this category is the basketball sneaker.  Plain high-top sneakers were popular for many years, but today they have become fancy over-supported, overpriced high-top shoes. Supposedly, the added ankle support, the key feature of this shoe, protects against ankle sprain and other injuries. But studies don't verify this. Actually, these shoes can do just the opposite, as basketball players may have the highest rates of ankle sprains of any sport. When the ankle, or any area of the body, is supported, we run the risk of weakening that area. This is the result of muscles that sense the support and no longer have to work as much; the result is loss of some of their strength."

Again, makes perfect sense to me.  I think basketball players, and most other athletes, have been sold a bill of goods by the sneaker companies.  There's no evidence for any of the sneaker-company claims, except lots of injuries.

"Perhaps the first published scientific evidence describing the harm from shoes came in 1954 when researchers Basmajian and Bentzon measured the electrical activity in foot muscles using an electromyographic (EMG) device. This study showed that when shoes were placed on the feet, certain muscles lost significant function."

Well, Dr. Munson predates this by quite a stretch, as The Soldier's Foot and the Military Shoe was published in 1912, and tested on millions of feet by 1954.

"This is because shock absorption in the feet occurs at the same level of intensity whether we wear shoes or not."

It's even worse than that: shock absorption is worse when wearing shoes, not better, or even equal.

"For acute foot problems - recent injuries such as a fall, twisted ankle, or stubbed toe - the traditional RICE remedy of rest, ice (or cold), compression, and elevation can be very effective."

I'm not a big fan of RICE.  It's been tested, and found to be ineffective.  But if it makes you happy, or keeps your mind off your pain, go for it.  I never take pain killers or use RICE for my frequent falls and stubbed toes.  And I don't miss it.  (Twisted ankles are a thing of the past since going barefoot-style.)

"Other important factors included balancing fats, eating ten servings of vegetables and fruits each day, and controlling stress."

OK, sorry.  Ten servings of fruit and vegetables a day?  I think this is ridiculous.  I generally eat three meals a day, and may have a snack.  I think that if you eat more frequently you're probably doing something wrong.  This is one area where Dr. Phil is conveying ill-considered conventional wisdom.
He also has a chapter on oral pH, which is interesting, but about which I know very little...  But given the solid character of the rest of the book, something I will take into consideration.

So I have a couple of quibbles with Dr. Phil.  Big deal. I highly recommend this book.

P.S. Sean points out that one can access highlights via the Kindle web site.  I was using the Kindle for PC software to try to copy the text.  Live and learn.  This will make my next review a lot easier, as I love using the Kindle highlight functionality.

P.P.S. Luis notes this page where Dr. Phil describes himself thusly:

"While Tim’s essay seemed to focus on so-called alternative medicine, my practice style was not alternative. Instead, it was a physiologically based approach of evaluating and treating an athlete in an individual way rather than a cookbook style that is still common today. Properly stated, I practiced complementary sports medicine. Alternative medicine is an alternative to this approach, and especially one departing from more traditional or conventional medicine. (Many in the alternative medicine community say that I’m too scientific.)"

I like this description, and think it's 100% accurate.  Lots of reasonable practices are decribed as "alternative", complementary is a much better term for what Dr. Phil does.

P.P.P.S.  Sean has some additional thoughts.

P.P.P.P.S. Here's an update. Pretty remarkable improvements, IMHO. In addition, I did a regular warmup at the gym. I found a speed on the treadmill that would reliably keep my HR under the MAF rate (137 at the time), and then did my warmup run at that speed. I initially had trouble keeping it below 137. Now, I don't even get close to 137, and have finished my warmup run with HRs as low as 121. Pretty incredible. The treadmill warmup is a part of my gym routine that I've been doing for about 4 years prior, but I would also try to run fast. So this recent improvement in HR is not simply because I've started doing a warmup run, my routine was pretty consistent for years prior to starting Maffetone.

ESPN: "Slow And Steady Wins The Planet"

ESPN reviews the Running Man hypothesis:

"The idea gained little traction in the scientific community. For starters, it went against every anthropology textbook ever printed. Years later, when the theory was first mentioned to C. Richard Taylor of Harvard, one of the world's leading experts on animal locomotion, he thought the whole thing sounded, in a word, "stupid." Evolution suggests that animals who have adapted best to their environment develop an advantage as a species. What advantage could running hold for humans who, over short distances, are among the slowest mammals? Bolt, the fastest man on the planet, would get caught by a lion in less than 20 seconds. Looking at raw speed instead of relative speed or endurance, it was hard to see a competitive upside for primitive man to run....

"...Opponents suggest that millions of years ago, the African plains were too lush to run through, that the theory overemphasizes the importance of meat in primitive man's diet and development, that most of the physiological markers could have been for walking, not running, and that the energy cost for chasing an antelope would have far exceeded the calories gained by consuming the meat. "Utter rubbish," says Noakes. "Scientists learn one way, and the cost and energy of changing that thinking becomes so high it is not feasible for them. When you take all this data in with an open mind, there's just no other explanation: We evolved as runners." It's a conclusion that gets even harder to argue while watching the predatory runners of the !Xo San tribe in action. For hours, the running men float effortlessly, like ghosts, across one of the harshest climates on earth. And when they see erratic tracks in the sand indicating that the kudu is tiring, they lock on to their prey like a guided missile. They call themselves "sons of the first people," and their focus seems almost primordial."

A good overview if you're not familiar with it.  Can someone please forward it to Art De Vany?

And what a great image...

Here is the documentary The Great Dance, A Hunter's Story mentioned in the article:

P.S. OK, I deleted the darn embed text for the trailer of the movie, because it auto-played when the page loaded. I despise pages that automatically make sounds when you load them: it's just obnoxious.

So if you want to see the trailer, and it's cool, check out the link above. You can download the movie for $3.99, which I'm going to do when I get home.

P.P.S. Here's the whole movie, for free, embedded, without autoplay. Thanks, Josh.