A Note on the LCHF Approach
As an aside—because it’s something we do get asked about a lot these days—the idea of fueling ultras on more fat-based foods (i.e. the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) approach) is definitely gaining more popularity at the moment. While it’s definitely way too early to write this off as a “fad,” it’s interesting to highlight the findings of a recent (2016) study into the competition-eating practices of a group of elite ultramarathon runners.
After analyzing the intakes of these guys before and during a race, they found that…
- They tended to choose to eat around 70g of carbs per hour during their long races (with minimal protein and fat intake) on average.
- Most (93 percent) of their calories came from pre-packaged sports nutrition products.
- In the words of the researchers, “All of the athletes practiced fueling strategies that maximize CHO [Carbohydrate] intake and are congruent with contemporary evidence-based recommendations.”
Anyway, once you’ve tried some of this stuff out in the real world, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you’ve still got any specific questions. We’ll always do our best to get back to you with more nuanced answers. While we certainly don’t know it all, we’ve had a few successes and failures in this space as a team, so we should be able to draw on some relevant past experience in most cases, and might be able to help you dial-in your own hydration and fueling needs.
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