Prof. Tim Noakes - 'LCHF for Elite Athletes'

Professor Timothy Noakes (born 1949) is a South African professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town. He has run more than 70 marathons and ultramarathons and is the author of several books on exercise and diet.

He is known for his support of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, as set out in his book The Real Meal Revolution.

[LanceWinslow]

I love winning and this lecture appears to have important information to help me continue to do that! Thanks for posting this great lecture.

[mikeycbd]

I hadn't even seen this video before today but I've been watching A/Prof Ken Sikaris because his name is on my blood results report as I ended up in Epworth with a heart attack and for the last month i have been really digesting what he has been saying. Yesterday i rewatched his video and thought why am i putting all this fruit into my diet when I want to burn fat. Yesterday, just over 1 month after my heart attack I did my first 18km run on cheese/protein and low carb. If your cholesterol is normal then there has to be something else causing clogged arteries. Has to be the sugar. I've ditched my well known brand of fluid to go running. The only thing i have found so far (early days) is there is no buzz when you're running on fat but you still feel good. I measured by glucose at 5k it was 4.6 into an 18km run and it was 4.2 mmol/L when I had finished and I didn't even crash from lack of energy.
oh.. i'm not diabetic, I wanted to know what my blood glucose is doing and prior to yesterday I had been going to bed with a blood glucose of 8. something because of all the carbs I eat through out the day.

[TheRobynHode]

Here is something else to argue: Nature already agrees. The fastest and fittest predators don't eat grains all day long like cattle. A high percentage of a cheetah's, tiger's or lion's diet comes from eating fats, and the predators have the edge when it comes to speed, or they would have already died out.

[carlosclass]

Can we get a link to the studies? I would like to validate the exercise design.

[globalko]

Our ancestors was high fat adapted when they chased animals to death in the savanna during 10 hour runs. The same as we see in Africa right now. The vikings didn't row over the oceans on bread but on a fat/protein diet. All evolutionary ways to look at this subject conjugate to a favor of LCHF for fitness health.

[kennethmorris]

Regarding the 100KM time trial at about the 15 minute mark.  I went Keto in January 2014 so I could train all year for the Taranaki Round the Mountain cycle fun/race.here in NZ in January 2015.  Unfortunately I got no sleep the night before and although I was able to keep up with my riding group for the first 75 Kms I felt like total crap.  I'd gone further in my training rides with more energy.  It was due to no sleep that my body was suffering.  However, when I finally reached the 100Km point it was as though my body started running on jet fuel as opposed to some other riders getting sick and cramp.  The last 50Km was a breeze and I could even out sprint someone at the end.  It tells me this diet is good for ultra distance 300Km plus rides.  I am not sure about the 1000KM rides though due to lack of sleep.  Obviously no good for short runs, sprints even marathons, however for ultra marathons it's feasible.  don't knock it 'til you try it.

[alphacause]

Much of this talk and Dr. Stephen Phinney's talk, about low carbohydrate diets within the framework of athletic performance, is done with regards to endurance athletes, like long distance runners or long distance cyclists. I think a good area of study would be to apply keto-adaptation on athletic activities that emphasize explosive power over endurance - sports like sprinting, gymnastics, and weight lifting. The common retort from many of the detractors of keto-adaptation, even if they concede that it can work for endurance athletes, is that it can't possible work for sports that favor quick bursts of force over long term stamina, because such power oriented moves can only be fueled by "quick burning fuels", of which only carbohydrates are said to be the only adequate fuel source. It would be interesting to see someone do an experiment with power lifters or sprinters, to see if the 4 to 6 week period of keto-adaptation would allow such athletes to maintain their baseline performance in the same manner that it did for endurance athletes. 

[Edfilm]

If you don't believe in LCHF, if you are a 'vegan etc. Why oh why even come to a video about something you detest? That is what is called TROLLING. If you don't like a business, or a group of people in general, do you show up there and go around blathering against them? No I bet you don't.

[heidicoughlin]

100 grams of carbs in an hour, is exactly what I was looking for! During a marathon there is often Gatorade or Powerade on course and I don't want to bonk. So I can continue to drink the glass of Powerade/Gatorade at each station like I would do when not fat adapted. Thanks!!!!

[kamalnajjar]

On a long distance, what should we eat or drink: once we shift to LCHF?

[winsomewife]

The same placebo effect would apply to the athletes that feel very confident about their high carb diet & they would try to win against the high fat diet athletes.

[Kfreeks]

What is "a 100 grams of carbohydrate" exactly? I'd like to hear a specific food item as an answer. ty

[alex]

4:52 'especially for the last few hours of the race' is such a beautiful humblebrag

[FrightF]

If the sports fitness orientated marketers grasp a hold onto this they will make products which are supposedly LCHF. Theyll use processed cheap fats like from Soy etc... wait theyve already started doing it.

[scoobtoober]

This is fairly old. I never saw this one and oh my it's a doozie. Thank you tim
I confirm the coordination and mental feelings being better on low carb. I was pre-diabetic, trying to exercise and was out of balance and focus. And no muscle development. My eyes wouldn't track as good, one legged stands were horrible. Low carb fixed all of that. Is is because of lower insulin lets you build muscle easier. Or is it inflammation going on that interrupts neurons of something else fancy. That true research needs to explore. I hope so. Pre-diabetic, closed eye stands on one leg would not work at all. I'd tip over. Now i can no problem. It is truly night and day.
Take one gymnast that is high carb. Test all aspects of balance and coordination. Then low carb for 4 months, then check again.

[Starchaser]

I agree with you and would advise someone gladly to eat a HFLC for several months if they had Insulin issues or Obesity / Fatty liver, Diabetes type 2 etc as it's effective at dealing with these isssues.  But I then believe once an individual reaches normal healthy state then this HFLC should be changed to a more normal balanced way of eating, meaning not being obsessed with food or counting calories etc, and realising that you can have High fibre complex carbs but within a balanced approach, for example having an apple or orange.

[Cinqmil]

Yet, vegetables are healthy?
A vegan diet would be equally good for you, or not? (providing you take B12)

[deepsquat]

You cannot sprint for 4k .... You actually can't sprint for 100 meters... You can run harder.. But not sitting... As you found out... They held back

[Keyboardbeatz]

lets pretend it was the keto diet and not the fact that the man was 16kgs lighter than made him run

[veroniquedihars]

je toutes mes réaliser le monde està MmeChristine