I followed the link from the Steven Phinney video to the website where the interview was posted. I was very curious regarding the results he talked about there, especially since I've been reading his research ever since I found out about low-carb and training. I posted a series of questions in the comments.
Now, I am by no means a low-carber and the main reason why I was curious was because of some of his own previously published work that seem to conflict with his current views.
Dr Phinney was kind enough to reply with much consideration and in much detail
Phinney seems to have an open mind and is willing to adapt as more science becomes available. Here's an interesting blog post that summarizes what is known and what is unknown about ketogenic diets and athletics. Bottom line more science needs to be done. I suspect more athletes will give a ketogenic diet a try because of the success of athletes like Lindsey Vonn and Jonas Colting ( a Swedish triathlete). Ultimately the verdict may be supplied by the success or lack thereof of athletes following this diet.
No doubt that success or failure at the desired level of performance is going to be the ultimate decider for any athlete's approach to diet and training. Luckily, successful training and diet can usually find support through good scientific research.
I have a great deal of respect for Dr Phinney, through his scientific research and contributions to the primary literature. I sincererly hope he continues his research and that his findings make their way to his popular publications. There are many unaswered questions and only disciplined research will serve to answer them.
The blog post you linked to, however, is a bit out of date. Dr Phinney has provided some insight recently into some of those questions, while others can easily be answered through a more thorough review of the literature available on metabolic pathways.
3 day weekend coming up. Too much to much info to post in a reply, but maybe a blog entry.
Looking forward to a more detailed review of the current state of research. One invaluable tidbit I garnered from Dr. Phinney is that extra salt helps alleviate the "Atkins Flu" many experience when starting low carbing, this is because as your metabolism is shifting to burning fat your kidneys start to excrete more sodium.
I'd like to see that blog entry if you have time. Most of the links provided in your conversation with Dr. Phinney will make for my D reading this weekend.
