Do you have a carbohydrate phobia?

Some people are afraid of heights. Some are afraid of snakes and spiders. 
Considering the prevalence of disordered eating in endurance athletes, it wouldn't be surprising to hear that many athletes are afraid of carbohydrates. 

Although the presence of a piece of bread may not produce the same physical symptoms as being confined in a tight or crowded space, it's not uncommon for athletes, fitness enthusiasts and chronic dieters to experience similar thoughts, feelings and physical sensations - like guilt, anxiety, panic, fear and worry - when it comes to carbohydrates. 

Primarily due to the diet industry and popular media, many athletes have irrationally demonized carbohydrates - despite plenty of good research and evidence that carbohydrates play an important role in optimal health. Not only are carbohydrates essential for athletes but regular consumption of wholesome complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans and lentils) can help with sustainable energy and blood sugar levels - thus minimizing the risk for excessive snacking or grazing and reducing cravings for sugary-rich foods. Denying yourself of carbohydrates only contributes to overeating the foods you are trying to avoid. 

And so begins the vicious cycle:

Great danger can come from labeling food "good" and "bad." Similar to any other phobia, intense distress when faced with the source of a phobia can affect physical, mental and emotional health. For example, fear of carbohydrates can affect your ability to function normally in social settings, at holiday events, around your family or when training for a sporting event. Even thinking about a situation when you may be tempted to eat carbohydrates like pizza, pasta, a cookie, a sport drink or a bagel, may cause intense fear, anxiety and panic. As a result, you may try to do everything possible to avoid the situation. 

Carbohydrates contain essential nutrients that our bodies need to function well on a daily basis. Most importantly, our brain needs glucose. Without it, fatigue, headaches, anxiety and irritability may result. Carbohydrates are essential for keeping blood sugar from dropping too low and if/when it happens, the brain will send out neurotransmitters that drive you to crave whatever high-carb, sweet, sugar and quick digesting carbs that are available. This is why many people on low-carb diets (whether intention or unintentional) often feel out-of-control around carbohydrates. Again, the vicious diet-binge cycle results. 

Carbs are not bad. Having a black or white, all or thing, good or bad mentality around food is unhealthy. Feeling guilt and shame about eating a handful of pretzels, or a piece of pizza is not mentally healthy. Eating a bagel is not physically unhealthy. 

Prioritize wholesome real food sources of carbohydrates (alongside healthy fats and quality protein) and when you choose to indulge, do so responsibly with intention, mindfulness and with a well-fueled and well-nourished body and brain. 

Is fat burning undermining your performance?

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The media loves to make nutrition simple. Workout fasted and you burn more fat. If only it was this simple. 

When it comes to the physiology of the body during exercise, nutrition is a complex topic. Researchers are still studying the different effects of nutrients, nutrient timing and supplements on exercise and exercise performance. This isn't to say that fat burning doesn't work (it does!) but it's not as simple as not eating carbohydrates before and during a workout. 

There's a lot of debate about fasted training, training low, LCHF diets, keto and low carb. Unfortunately, with no middle ground, athletes tend to direct their energy and attention to what's most trendy and popular and for the past few years, carbohydrates have received a bad reputation from the media. 

I am a proponent of carbohydrates in the diet. I feel strongly for nutrient timing (eating before/after workouts) and I believe that the use of sport nutrition is critical in optimizing health and performance for endurance athletes. But this doesn't mean that I prescribe eating all the carbohydrates, anytime and of any kind. But I am also a proponent of fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water. In other words, fueling for sport performance is not black or white. If you sit on either end of the spectrum you could be sabotaging your performance and compromising your health. 

I'd like to start off with some not so breaking news that often gets overlooked when it comes to fat burning. 

• Through endurance training, you will increase fat oxidation by upregulating the enzymes of the fat oxidation pathways, increasing mitochondrial mass, increasing oxygen update and improving economy of movement. 
• To become a better athlete (ex. faster, stronger, more powerful), your physiology needs to change. While some individuals may experience a performance boost because of an improvement in health, the diet or body composition, a race weight means nothing if you haven't done the work to significantly change your physiology and to arrive to the race in an optimal state of mental and physical health. 
• Don't underestimate the importance of the relationship between your lactate threshold, economy of movement and VO2max. Having a lean or muscular body or performing workouts in a fasted state does not ensure that you are economic and able to quickly oxidize carbohydrates (without GI distress) to optimize performance. 
• Carbohydrates are the primary fuel produce ATP (energy). But you also need to keep up with your hydration (water and sodium) needs in the face of sweat losses induced by intensity, duration and the environment. 
• Don't rush the process. To truly change your physiology for performance, you have to continue to stress your body in different ways. Otherwise it gets comfortable and you no longer receive an adaptation. High intensity efforts and strength/power training are just as important as easy sessions, endurance sessions and recovery. And don't neglect skill and technique work. All of that training is for nothing if you can't hold good form under fatigue. 
  
• You have to fuel and hydrate on race day. There's no beating the system here. If you want to perform (and have some fun doing so), you need to take in carbohydrates, sodium and fluids - in proper amounts, frequently and consistently during your long distance event. And to figure out the best fueling and hydration strategy, you have to develop confidence (and the ability to digest/absorb nutrition) through training. More so, consuming carbohydrates teaches your body how to store and utilize carbohydrates more efficiently which will reduce the risk for GI issues on race day (while promoting more efficient use of carbs to delay fatigue).
  

If the majority of well-designed research clearly shows that the strategies to become a better fat burner does not show a direct correlation with improving athletic performance. So it's worth asking the question.....are you undermining your health and performance by restricting carbohydrates, performing fasted workouts and trying to complete workouts in an underfueled state?

For many athletes, the strategies applied to become a better fat burner for metabolic efficiency or to burn more fat to change body composition are nothing more than a form of underfueling - which means you are not eating enough to get the results that you desire. Yet scenarios play out all the time as athletes try to apply the weight loss methods for the non-athlete population, assuming that eating less carbs = fat burning and weight loss.

Sadly, far too many athletes are using endurance training as compensation or punishment in order to look a certain way or to justify eating patterns. You don't need to ride your bike for 3 hours in a fasted state just to "earn" a bagel. And you don't need to punish your body with a high intensity workout just because you ate a cookie. 

The methods that you are using to become a better fat burner (or to lose weight) are likely not working. I know this because I see it time and time again. Not eating adequate carbohydrates in the diet, not timing nutrition with training, not utilizing sport nutrition properly and having an unhealthy relationship with food (alongside body dissatisfaction) turns training into a method for weight loss, but it doesn't work. You are simply undermining your training, sabotaging your health and these methods have the exact opposite effect on your body composition than you are trying to achieve.

As a result, health is compromised, fitness improvements are slow to achieve (if at all) and all that training, time, energy, money and effort is for nothing come race day because the body is undernourished and overtrained. 

Fat burning is catchy, trendy and enticing. And some methods may work for improving performance in the short-term. But the long-term repercussions of not feeding your active body enough food and nutrients are concerning - from a weakened immune system, bone loss and nutrient deficiencies to gut issues, damaged endocrine, hormonal and metabolic health and psychological issues. 

With so much great research and science demonstrating a positive relationship with carbohydrates and performance, are your methods for weight loss and metabolic efficiency negatively impacting your health, performance and body composition?

Let's look into some of the reasons why fat burning is not all that it's cracked up to be. 

If this blog was helpful for you, please share, especially with your fat-burning obsessed training partners.