05/02/2021
Food for thought - looking after the micros when searching for marginal gains
Fuelling for exercise - sourcing marginal gains
Within the field of sport nutrition, no subject has been studied more than that of macronutrient consumption. The 2016 American College of Medicine joint position statement sums up our current thinking nicely, with a strong focus on carbohydrate, fat and protein consumption, and only a brief mention of a select few micronutrients that have reached a certain research threshold within sports performance.
To understand the context of modern scientific enquiry, it helps to look at the history of sports nutrition research, which evolved out of exercise physiologists’ laboratories. It was relatively easy for them in the 1960s and 70s to measure muscle glycogen levels (via biopsy) in exercising individuals, with adequate research to demonstrate the importance of carbohydrate availability for athletic performance. Research clearly demonstrated that endurance performance was better when muscle glycogen levels were replete versus depleted. Our current understanding of exercise biochemistry also backs up these early observations, knowing that the Krebs cycle utilisation of carbohydrate provides a higher ATP flux rate than that of fat or protein.
Even now, some 50+ years of sports nutrition research later, scientific enquiry still centres around carbohydrates however we really should be widening our net and thinking in a more diverse way. In this regard, recent research has been interesting due to a phenomenon some call the ‘keto re-revolution’. It is a diet born from the Atkins diet era, but in recent years, scientists have been publicly disowning the carbohydrate paradigm and trading in their bread for liver and bacon plus an extra portion of butter… At no other time has opinion been so divided on the carbs versus fats debate.
As a popular example, within a year of one another (2015-16), two highly eminent scientists published best seller books that had pretty much opposite messages: Prof Tim Noakes from the University of Cape Town published The Real Meal Revolution, popularising the concept that ‘fat is good’ and ‘carbs are bad’, while Colin Campbell re-published his China Study book, showing apparently unequivocal data that correlated animal-derived protein consumption with cancer rates. Although Campbell was talking about protein and not fat, if you have ever tried a keto approach, it is incredibly difficult to keep your animal-derived protein levels at a sensible level.
This is just one example of extremely divergent paradigms at a time when we should be seeing things in a deeper and more complex way, just as our human physiology and biochemistry dictate. It is clear that some individuals thrive more on a higher fat diet, while others need a consistent intake of high-quality carb sources to perform at their best. It is also clear that some people can go for hours without seemingly needing food, and they therefore fare much better with intermittent fasting regimes, compared to others who simply stress their adrenal reserve by fasting. The concept of n=1 (i.e. each subject is unique) is slowly coming into science, meaning that we need to look beyond macronutrient paradigms, and actually tailor a nutritional approach that provides long-term nourishment.
Besides debating about the individual merits of carbs, fats and proteins, we should delve a bit deeper and go truly ‘beyond macros’. If we return to the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain (which produces ATP), and look at the micros that are required as catalysts for the biochemical conversions, we reveal a strong need for B-vitamins, zinc, iron, magnesium, coenzyme Q10, manganese, and alpha lipoic acid. And this is only for direct ATP production – athletes also need every physiological process in the body to work well, including neurotransmitter production, liver biotransformation, collagen repair, and immune cell manufacturing, which brings every known micronutrient into importance and if we don’t protect the delicate mitochondria that produce our energy, despite sufficient macronutrient provision, we will end up with multiple physiological dysfunction.
Notably, mitochondrial pathology has been linked with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and a cacophony of other health imbalances, none of which would be suitable for performing at one’s peak! Antioxidants from food, and our innate antioxidant systems (glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase), are required in large quantities to buffer the systemic oxidative stress that results from heavy exercise training, most notably at the level of the mitochondria.
In conclusion, we can argue as much as we want about the type of macronutrients and quantity of fuel to put in our human high-performance engine, but if we haven’t nourished our spark plugs with micro-nutrition and looked after every other part of our body and chassis, we’ll literally be running on empty, no matter how many fats or carbs we consume.
05/01/2022
22/02/2021
05/02/2021
30/06/2020
30/09/2017
13/08/2017