94 Years Old and Still Running... on Carbohydrates

If you're a runner or endurance athlete or have ever read up on sports nutrition, you are likely aware of how important carbohydrates are. They give you energy to "go the distance" and are the main source of fuel for an active lifestyle. People have even made a science of carbohydrate "loading," finding ways to pack as much carbohydrate into their body's stores before a big endurance event. I've been reading a lot about sports nutrition lately, in part because I've started a small private practice counseling athletes and also because it's a fascinating topic.

In reading the newly published 5th edition of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, she really drives home the focus on carbohydrates for athletes and how your body (and possibly performance) will suffer if you focus too much on protein or go gluten-free for no medical reason without replacing it with enough non-gluten carbohydrates.

It's no secret that carbohydrates get a bad rap in general, but if you're an athlete the cold hard truth is that you need them and they will help you if you use them right. As Nancy emphasizes, carbs don't cause you to gain weight; extra calories, especially from fat, and not enough physical activity cause you to gain weight.

I was reading an inspirational story in Parade magazine recently about Olga Kotelko, a 94 year-old track star. She's broken all sorts of records and is still going strong. Obviously they asked her about her diet, and this is part of how they reported on it:

"She is no stranger to carbs, often having toast in the morning (perhaps topped with cheese and honey) and bread again in her lunchtime sandwich."

I could be adding emphasize in the wrong places here, but when I read that I could just picture some readers across the country thinking to themselves "BREAD?! TWICE a day?!" The way that it is phrased, that she is not a stranger to carbs, seems to imply that eating bread twice a day is excessive. In reality, active people need a whole bunch of carbohydrates in order to fuel themselves properly (the amount depends on the athlete's weight and the intensity of the activity) and no one should ever be a stranger to carbs. Has your relationship with carbohydrates taken a turn for the worse? Consider making 2014 the year you mend that bond - you'll be amazed by what carbohydrates can do for you!