[pct-l] Trail diets

[PCTResearch <pctresearch@pcthiker.com>]

> I have been on this
> a(t)kins protein diet for three days now

It would be very interesting to see how your hiking performance is effected
on such a diet. Though a substantial portion of you energy used in hiking is
supplied through fat metabolism (aerobic metabolism), it are the carbs that
refuel your glycogen stores. Glycogen is the fuel source that allows you to
push across that heavy stream current, or up and over that snowy pass. (By
the way, the weight you have lost is water weight - as you fail to replenish
your glycogen, which attracts water to itself, your water weight declines.)
My original ideas with PCTResearch were to trial two or three types of diets
- put a high carb diet up against a high protein diet - and see which
preduced the better hiking performance. The problem with this was that I
would have had to supply the food and doing so for twenty people for 14
weeks was a bit much. Good luck with the weight loss, which is ultimately
just a result of water loss and calorie restriction (you get full sooner and
stay that way longer when all you eat is protein and fat). Be sure to visit
your cardiologist and oncologists for your regulars.


Rusty "MyTie" Johnston
----------------------
pctresearch@pcthiker.com | Long-distance backpacking research
http://www.pcthiker.com | experience the Pacific Crest Trail



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