Sports Nutrition: Handling Carb Cravings and More

September 29, 2011
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Ben Greenfield answers your questions on “artificial” vs. natural electrolyte sources, the best source of potassium for expedition/endurance, dietary concepts found in the book ‘Hardwired for Fitness,’ issues with heating chia seeds, eating style based on blood type, drinking apple cider vinegar to help digestion and more, nutrition while recovering from over-reaching, the “Orac” scale and antioxidants, dealing with carb cravings, and more! Ask your sports nutrition questions on our Facebook page.

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Comments (3)

  • John says:

    I have to disagree with the Ben's electrolyte theory. I am a 45 year old ultra marathoner. No electrolyte or minimum electrolyte intake for me will produce severe leg cramping after about 20 miles into a run. I have tried to reduce the amount of salt I take and it always produces cramping. Once cramping starts It is hard to reverse completely and this hurts performance.

    • This can certainly happen if A) you have thyroid issues; B) you have a very low sodium diet; or C) you have not practiced gradually reducing electrolytes in training (vs. quitting cold turkey).

  • John says:

    Thanks Ben for the response. The only limit that I have had in distance running is the cramping issue. The only way that I have been able to manage it is through elecrolyte intake. I generally don't take any salt on runs 16 miles or less. I think that I could probably run a marathon without salt if I worked my way up to it. Anything over that, I don't think my body would allow me to go without salt and plenty of hydration.

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