Insulin requirements for low stress endurance athletes

#1

Good Day Ladies & Gentleman,

I hope this post finds you well.

I am reading the book by the excellent low-carb advocate Dr. Richard Maurer titled “The Blood Code”. Towards the end of the book he discusses in less than 2 pages the needs for athletes.
He says that
quote
“If your insulin is less than 2 it is too low. This means which each workout, you go catabolic-you break down muscle rather than build up strength. Athletes need adequate insulin release with meals in order to replenish glycogen and build muscle after vigorous exertion; protein stimulates a substantial insulin release, albeit, to a lesser degree than carbohydrates. Those with low insulin will likely need a protein recovery meal within an hour of a vigorous workout, and will also benefit from a starchy carbohydrate at the meal.”
unquote
This book was written in 2016. Does this information still apply? I am training for a marathon which will be slow and steady using mostly my body fat for fuel. If I need fuel I would much rather eat some sort of red meat product during the race. How much energy does gluconeogenesis require? How does Shawn Baker pull off his feats with only gluconeogenesis?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Best regards,

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

Something doesn’t sound right in that to me. My understanding of the role of insulin in the body is that it instructs the body’s muscle tissue to burn glycogen and the fat tissue to store fatty acids. The whole point of going ketotic is to promote the reverse; that is, to get the fat tissue to release fatty acids and the muscle tissue to metabolize them, and this can happen only in the absence of insulin.

Gluconeogenesis, the manufacture of glucose from substances other than carbohydrate, ought to take care of replenishing our body’s glycogen store, without any effort on our part. My suspicion is that people are hung up about keeping glycogen at a certain level for ideological, not scientific reasons. Of more concern to me would be lean muscle loss from an inadequate amount of protein in the diet. The standard recommendation is to eat 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein a day for every kilogram of lean body mass, and a bit more if one is an athlete. So I would concentrate on getting enough protein, keeping carbohydrate low enough to avoid stimulating insulin production, and getting enough fat in the diet to avoid hunger. In other words, keep calm, and keto on! :bacon:

#3

Hey Paul, Always nice to chat with you. I have had another keto coach recommend a small amount of carbs during a long endurance effort. You are probably aware of Christopher Kelly with ‘Nourish Balance Thrive’. He was known as the go to keto coach for endurance athletes however I believe he is backing away from the keto but still low carb.
About Dr. Maurer’s quote. I would imagine that he may be talking about very lean athletes who may not have any fat to lose. If they were to do an intensive workout gluconeogenesis may use lean mass instead of fat.
Speaking of lean mass I thought I heard Richard and Carl suggest that ‘“who is to say that lean mass cannot be rebuilt back up just as soon as it can be broken down. It does just that every time one works out.”’

Best regards,

Thank you…