After years of punting carbohydrates to sports people, the sports science expert has now done a complete about turn on this line of thinking

It must be a hard pill for Tim Noakes to swallow!  Thankfully, I have retired from long-distance running as I would be totally confused if I was still running and heard this new information.

Back in the eighties and nineties, I was a fanatical long-distance runner and completed the Comrades Marathon six times. I used to read every running book that I could lay my hands on and this included Noakes’ Lore of Running.

Every book that I read, touted carbo loading before a long-distance event

I followed this advice and could run decent times and manage my weight by burning off more calories than I consumed. Admittedly, this meant that I would have to run at least 70-80 km per week to keep the weight off while eating like a pig.

Noakes is now blaming carbohydrates for the increase in heart disease and obesity in many people

He is so adamant about this that he is going to rewrite certain sections of his book that promote carbo loading before an event. Noakes says that cereals are the worst thing to give to children and that there are problems with drinking fruit juice.

[Read more about nutrition for kids here]

Noakes has discovered a theory that shows certain people to be resistant to carbohydrates

Since Noakes changed his diet to fats and protein, he has lost 15kg. He has become so excited about this that he wants to change the way people eat, one person at a time.

While much has been documented about weight loss and high-protein diets, the fact is that we still need carbohydrates for our bodies to function

On my seventh attempt at the Comrades Marathon, I turned away from carbohydrates and increased my protein intake.

I was on Herbalife at the time and found that my recovery time after running a marathon was much faster than before I started taking Herbalife.

The three days before the grueling 90km journey, I started protein loading with the Herbalife shake and cut back dramatically on carbs.

The results of this were devastating! I ran out of fuel and failed to complete the race. I pulled out after I had run 72km. The upside to this experiment was that the next day I had absolutely no pain my legs whatsoever. I attributed that to the protein in the Herbalife shake.

Today, Herbalife has launched its sports product range and just like the weight loss products, these products are superior in every way. The company has produced a balanced formula that gives the body everything that it needs to perform optimally. It also allows you to eat carbohydrates and still not get fat.

 

Surely that is the best way to lose weight and achieve your sports objectives.