# Low-Carbohydrate High-Fat (LCHF) Diet

**URL:** <https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485>\
**Category:** Podcast\
**Created:** [April 4, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485 "2024-04-04T17:50:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Berk](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/berk/32/563_2.png) [@Berk](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Berk)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/1 "2024-04-04T17:50:06Z")

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Hello,

I know that endurance sports like marathon are based on oxidative energy metabolism. Endurance athletes break down fat to produce energy. So do we need to follow a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) diet to improve our performance? I recommend you talk about this topic in the podcast.

May I ask if Mr Martin can help with admission to the Faculty of Sports Science in Strasbourg?

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**Author:** ![Marjaana](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/marjaana/32/4122_2.png) [@Marjaana](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Marjaana)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/2 "2024-04-04T23:15:23Z")

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Funny you should ask as we are talking about it on the next episode coming out tomorrow 🤪

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**Author:** ![MarkB](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/markb/32/1_2.png) [@MarkB](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/MarkB)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/3 "2024-04-05T11:38:48Z")

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/j-cPandkm2k?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLu7L8NU083obF15PPCLesMb5fFYypVgRa

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**Author:** ![NicoleLB85](https://forum.athletica.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/e495f1/32.png) [@NicoleLB85](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/NicoleLB85)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2024, 10:19am UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/4 "2024-10-04T10:19:39Z")

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@Marjaana @Prof  
I decided to ask on this thread to keep things nice and tidy :):  
I have played around with various diets over the past 15 yrs, including keto, lchf etc. Now that I have been into ultrarunning for the past 4 years I was interested in LCHF for performance. However, one thing I still couldn’t figure out: when “you” (or D. Plews over at EndureIQ) talk about 100-150g carbs / day (or carb intakes in general) do you factor in the carbs you take during your training or are these numbers based solely on the diet throughout the day? (For example when I take in 50g CHO during my 2h run would I factor that into the total carb count for the day or not?)

Thanks 🙂  
Nicole

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**Author:** ![Marjaana](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/marjaana/32/4122_2.png) [@Marjaana](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Marjaana)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/5 "2024-10-04T14:26:22Z")

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Hey @NicoleLB85 thanks for the question.  
That would count as part of your total daily carb intake.

Here’s the cool thing though. When you become better fat adapted, you no longer need those 50g for your 2 hour aerobic run. You have everything you need in your tank already.

You have roughly about 350-400g of carbohydrates stored as liver and muscle glycogen , enough to fuel at least 2 hrs or more depending on your fat adaptation.

As you work on your fat adaptation, over time, gradually of course, you may want to bring something with you - I used to carry trail mix or larabar until I was confident enough that I could do 2+ runs without anything but my rocket fuel coffee on board. NEVER run hungry though…

Please LMK if you have more questions.  
MJ

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**Author:** ![Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/prof/32/28_2.png) [@Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Prof)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/6 "2024-10-04T16:33:56Z")

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Hi @NicoleLB85 ,  
@Marjaana 's advice is spot on. Keep playing with those amounts yourself to figure out what is working for you. Every day is an opportunity to experiment. There’s no right or wrong way here but really the one that works for your body. Take inspiration from the legend Killian Jornet on this topic. [Sometimes, When Training for Ultra Marathons, I Do Not Eat at All - With Kilian Jornet - HiitScience](https://hiitscience.com/sometimes-when-training-for-ultra-marathons-i-do-not-eat-at-all-with-kilian-jornet/)

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**Author:** ![NicoleLB85](https://forum.athletica.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/e495f1/32.png) [@NicoleLB85](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/NicoleLB85)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/7 "2024-10-06T14:44:08Z")

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Thanks a lot. I think my fat adaptation is pretty well developed, as I can go for 12h hikes without anything and sometimes run 30 K without anything (I always run first thing in the morning and it’s not fast, but I guess that won’t matter all that much when training aerobically?).

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**Author:** ![Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/prof/32/28_2.png) [@Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Prof)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/8 "2024-10-06T15:26:39Z")

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So therefore with that response we can say with a fair bit of confidence that you are well and truly fat adapted. So now its about finding the sweet spot from a fuelling standpoint. What brings you energy, great feel and performance but doesn’t cause gut bloating. And this is the experiment you should be running regularly when you do key long training preparation days (i.e., more race specific prep). Then therefore no surprises on race day.

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**Author:** ![Giuseppe85](https://forum.athletica.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@Giuseppe85](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Giuseppe85)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/9 "2025-05-31T16:45:36Z")

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> **[Carbohydrate ingestion eliminates hypoglycemia and improves endurance...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39786965/)**
>
> Very-low-carbohydrate diets (LCHF; \<50 g/day) have been debated for their potential to lower pre-exercise muscle and liver glycogen stores and metabolic efficiency, risking premature fatigue. It is also hypothesized that carbohydrate ingestion...

Carbohydrate ingestion eliminates hypoglycemia and improves endurance exercise performance in triathletes adapted to very low- and high-carbohydrate isocaloric diets

(P.J. Prins et al, 2025) American Journal of Physiology-Cell PhysiologyVol. 328, No.

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**Author:** ![Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/user_avatar/forum.athletica.ai/prof/32/28_2.png) [@Prof](https://forum.athletica.ai/u/Prof)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://forum.athletica.ai/t/low-carbohydrate-high-fat-lchf-diet/1485/10 "2025-06-01T15:12:28Z")

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One of the most important studies ever in this area. Last week did a podcast on this that I found fascinating. Should be released later this week.