t of controversy surrounds the traditional ketogenic dieting practice – especially when it comes to performance athletes. Can athletes eat a keto diet?
If you asked me five years ago whether the keto diet would ever catch the mainstream, I would have said never in a million years.
I’ve been doing one form of the keto diet or another for over 6 years now and with great benefit.. We’re seeing a lot of overnight social media gurus without any real nutrition training doling out advice.
This leads to a lot of cookie cutter recommendations. For example, I read a lot of blogs telling people that if they go over 30 gram of carbs a day or over 0.6 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, they’ll never get into ketosis.
That may cut it for a 50 year old overweight man whose pre-diabetic, but what about athletes?
The truth is that athletes, especially strength and combat athletes, require enough protein and some carbs if they are going to be able to perform. The goal here isn’t just to get into ketosis. It’s to leverage fat adaptation for increased strength, endurance, and recovery. This is why we see so many athletes crashing and burning when they follow popular low carb recommendations.
Related: 3 Things You Can Learn From Keto Dieters
But how many grams of protein and carbs can athletes sustain while still being able to benefit from fat adaptation?
To answer this question, we’ll explore one of the most important studies of the benefits of keto-adaptation for athletes over the past few years.
In 2016, Dr. Jeff Volek and his team published “Metabolic Characteristics of Keto-Adapted Ultra-Endurance Runners1.” This study is important for a few reasons:
- It’s one of the few randomized control trials using live human subjects that compares low carb athletes with high carb athletes in athletic trials.
- It’s the only study that compares carbohydrate and fat oxidation between low carb and high carb athletes during performance. We know what fuel sources these athletes were actually using while they were doing the trial.
- It’s the only study that compares glycogen concentrations pre and post exercise between high carb and low carb athletes.
The population studied was 20 ultra endurance athletes who were active competitors in ultra marathons or triathlons.
For 20 months prior to the trial, 10 of these athletes ate a high carb low fat (HCLF) diet consisting of approximately 60% carbs, 25% fats, and 15% protein, and 10 of these athletes ate a low carb high fat (LCHF) diet consisting of approximately 10% carbs, 70% fat, and 20% protein.
Here’s what they found:
- During the VO2 Max test and the submaximal run, the LCHF athletes oxidized fat at twice the rate of the HCLF athletes.
- During the VO2 Max test, the LCHF athletes had a peak fat oxidation rate at about 70% of their VO2 Max, while the HCLF athletes had a peak fat oxidation rate at about 55% of their VO2 Max. This study demonstrated that fat adapted athletes could burn fat even during intense exercise.
So why should you, a strength or physique athlete, care about a study involving a bunch of endurance athletes?
But this kind of strictness may not be necessary for most athletes.
For example Keto Diet for Athletes, in Volek’s study, the LCHF athletes weighed an average of 69 kilograms (152 pounds) and were eating an average of 226 grams of fat, 82 grams of carbs, and 139 grams of protein.
Carbohydrate wise, that’s way above the 30-50 gram recommendations that most keto “gurus” are telling people to eat.
Related: Should You Eat a “Low Carb” or “High Carb” Diet?.
. But if it is too low, your performance and ability to build muscle will plummet.
The Bottom Line
Plan this time wisely during a time where you’re deloading on your training, or maybe even during a vacation. Aim for 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs.
Consume the bulk of your carbs either after your workout or toward the end of the day. On days when you aren’t training, keep your carbs closer to 10%.
Regardless of what you do, don’t feed into the cultish hype when it comes to keto. Remember, the goal isn’t just to get into ketosis. You want to leverage fat adaptation for your athletic and physique goals.