The fat-fueled runner
This article argues that runners should transition from a carbohydrate-dependent diet to a fat-adapted, carnivore-style diet to improve performance. It claims that fat-adaptation provides a more stable fuel source than glycogen.
Why it matters
The debate over optimal athletic nutrition challenges long-standing sports science conventions regarding carbo-loading.
Partner feature A friend from our running group messaged last week, excited. He had finally tried carnivore — meat, eggs, a little salt, nothing else — after months of hearing me talk about it.
A few days in, his pants were already looser. He could hardly believe the lack of bloating, the mental clarity, how strange it felt to not be hungry every two hours. I recognized the excitement immediately. It was the same thing I felt eight years ago, when I first stopped treating carbohydrate as the default fuel for a runner’s body.
That conversation is the reason for this column. Because the running world still operates on an assumption that deserves a second look: that carbs are king, and that the more of them you eat — before, during, and after a run — the better you’ll perform.
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