Very interesting, a person who runs half marathons on a zero carb diet


http://www.livinlowcarbdiscussion.com/showthread.php?tid=367

I think I just threw up reading what he eats.

Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet Drops Weight
Atkins-Like Plan Won't Hurt Cholesterol Levels, but Critics Aren't Impressed

[...]

Importantly, the high-fat diet did not have harmful effects on cholesterol levels. In fact, the participants saw a lowering of the blood fat called triglycerides. "Bad" LDL and "good" HDL cholesterol levels didn't change, but the size of the HDL and LDL molecules increased.


Larger LDL molecules are less likely to form artery-clogging plaques. Larger HDL molecules stay around in the body longer to clean up more plaque.


"We also saw a significant drop in glucose and insulin levels," Hays tells WebMD. Higher blood sugar (glucose) and insulin levels indicate the early signs of diabetes

[...]

0 carb...bad. You still need the nutrients from plants, if not the fiber. Calf cramps are most likely from lack of potassium. You could eat things like spinach, cantaloupe, honeydew, avacado and tomatoes (all things that are low glycemic), as well as take some extra potassium supplements.

Data from other studies of athletes fed high-fat diets — some as high as 70

percent fat — with adequate carbs have shown increased endurance in both men and women when compared to diets composed of low-fat intake (10–15 percent).

How, then, does one explain the African runners who thrive on low-fat diets and dominate the world-class rankings? Kalenjin runners, for example, consume a simple diet based on vegetable sources (maize and kidney beans) that is 70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat.

Part of the answer lies in our genetic ancestry. Current thinking is that if your lineage traces back to the northern climes of Europe and Asia during the last Ice Age, your metabolism is geared to the same nutrients that provided nutritional health to those long ago: bison, mammoth, and yak, with very little in the way of carbohydrates. If your ancestors rooted themselves where plant foods were plentiful, that is, south of the glaciers, a "Mediterranean diet" will afford you the right combination of nutrients. (You can purchase a DNA kit to trace your deep ancestry at www.NationalGeographic.com/Genographic).

Increasing fat healthfully requires judicious food choices: trail mix with bits of anitoxidant-rich dark chocolate instead of a low-fat energy bar, salmon sautéed in olive oil in place of broiled skinless chicken breast, and snacks of cheeses, nuts, and olives.

Eat sparingly of fat-laden desserts. The combination of high fat and high sugar can affect more than your cardiovascular system. Experimental rats at UCLA’s traumatic brain injury center were fed diets that mimic the American fare of high fat, high sugar. After two months, they took longer to learn a water maze. After 12 months, they had less than half the brain proteins associated with learning and memory of the control group.

Some runners should check with their doctors before adding fat to their diet. Normally heart muscle will alternate between using fats and carbohydrates as fuel depending on availability. But when blood glucose is low, due to aging or high blood pressure, hypertrophic hearts can't switch to burning fatty acids.