A Look at Chiropractic Research: Sports Nutrition

In our A Look at Chiropractic Research series, we'll summarize a recent piece of chiropractic research to help you stay informed.

Source

The American Chiropractor Magazine, January 2015

"What Every Practitioner Needs To Know About Current Sports Nutrition Studies and the Implications With Weight Loss Options" by Christopher Fuzy, MS, RD, LD 

Key Points

Alternate-day calorie restriction and eating a higher-fat diet offers many health benefits. 

• Alternate-day fasting has been shown to help reduce fat and maintain lean body mass; this means eating 500-600 calories every other day and a "normal" diet the remainder of the time (meaning not dieting or binging)
• Also, study participants who consumed a diet composed calorically of 40% fat lost more weight compared to those who ate a 25% of their calories from fat
•  The higher fat group also exhibited a drop in "bad" LDL cholesterol 

Fueling yourself with fats instead of carbs (called "ketosis") can improve your health and is worth trying. 

• Consuming a diet that is 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs can lessen oxygen demand during sports activities and reduce your risk for some major diseases.
• Shifting to a ketogenic diet is tough at first and not the right choice for everyone. However, it can help triathletes, long-distance runners, and powerlifters experience optimal performance. 

Takeaway

If you feel that your diet is not properly fueling your workouts and/or sports activities, or if your weight loss has stalled, consider investigating alternate-day fasting, focusing on fat in your diet, or even shifting to an almost-entirely fat based diet to promote ketosis.