Chris,
I understand and agree with most of what you're talking about here. Not a lot of what you posted in your latest reply was new to me, but there's one point that I would like to make, especially on a forum like this, where some less-experienced people may take things at face value or get ideas in their heads without reading in detail.
Although you tend to be very thorough with all kinds of information, you should be very careful of what you say regarding the 0 carb issue. True, a person can survive on 0 carbs a day, at least for a while, but that's putting the body into starvation mode, which essentially eats muscle. This also limits fuel for the brain, which can be quite detrimental, especially if one is in "survival mode." Even Lyle McDonald said in the article you just quoted, and I quote;
"However, not everyone functions well in ketosis [referring to production of energy from fats as a substitute for glucose, after quitting all carbs, for those here who don't care to research it]. They get brain fuzzed, lethargic and just generally feel awful. Even with weeks of being on a ketogenic diet, they never seem to adapt completely. That’s not a good recipe for long-term adherence to a diet or healthy functioning or training."
In normal functioning, carbohydrates are the most efficient way to fuel the brain, without causing detriment to other functions of the body. Looking at just the brain itself, one needs carbohydrates for fuel, amino acids from protein to help with neurotransmitters and brain communication, fatty acids from fats to help with cell specialization for thinking and feeling, and micronutrients from fruits/veggies for antioxidants. Why force the body to pull the fats away from their normal function to do double-duty for two of the four things mentioned above? It doesn't make sense in this day and age. There's no reason to put the body into that state. McDonald even seems to have the habit in his article of following each mention of 0 carbs with a mention of including a small amount to prevent various negative effects.
For the record, you did mention in a previous reply in the glucose post; "Really, you only need 0 carbs a day to survive...like, basic survival. Not good but possible." Let that be noted here too for the sake of being thorough, as I'm learning to do with you.
For traceurs, we are athletes, and this type of ketogenic diet would be detrimental IMO. They do have their uses, yes, but not for us here, unless someone is first trying to lose a lot of weight and start from scratch. From what I've learned (I'd need to do some digging to find my sources from this a long time ago), returning to carbs after ketosis can also be detrimental as well, similar to when Holocaust survivors stormed the allied troops for food, stuffed themselves with bread, and then died on the spot. That, of course, is extreme and there were other factors at play, but relevant in regard to switching back and forth. One must be careful returning to carbs after a ketogenic diet. As I mentioned already, extreme positions on diet just don't seem advantageous for most people in our sphere, which is the reason for my post now again.
As always, keep up the good work and the volumes of great info you've posted here. I enjoy the discussion and have learned a lot.
