Keto diet for runners | Zach Bitter and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • Zach Bitter: Ultramara...
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GUEST BIO:
Zach Bitter is a ultramarathon runner and coach.
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[@bravorevolutionary9654]

Keto has saved my life ...

[@MrMolinari]

Same. 130lb down in 8 months.

[@meef1610]

Facts

[@WikiPeoples]

I eat tons of carbs, im not fat at all.

[@MrMolinari]

@@WikiPeoples That's great. If you are healthy you can eat whatever you want. Keto is about resetting your metabolism and getting healthy. Just remember, people get fat because they are sick, not the other way around and one of the sure ways to get sick is to eat excessive carbs. Especially if we are talking about refined sugars and processed food. Take care!

[@ralphmartinez8616]

Carnivore has changed my life. Try it. Let go of the sugar carb addiction

[@GregariousAntithesis]

It doesnt have multiple layers its simple. At rest and low level activity our bodies burn mostly meat but some carbs and if you are not eating those carbs your liver makes gluose from protein or fat. Muscle glycogen consists of roughly 2000 calories. Most endurance athletes learn by training to keep their heart rate low so they are primarily burning fat but the more you get out of zone 2 heart rate zone and into zone 3 the amount of carbs needed to sustain that activity is substantially more and so it comes down to who has the lowest heart rate for the activity in question. Its why the old thinking about marathon runners has changed to getting fat adapted for your sport. Never the less when you venture into zone three and above you have to eat exogenous carbs to support that activity or you crash and burn from lactic acid and lack of fuel to support that activity.

[@joe1071]

Thank you for being the only reasonable human in the comments section. How is this not the primary discussion? Ultra athletes are managing their HR for extreme endurance, and their biological pathways can use basically anything as fuel to sustain their efforts. Once you hit a certain threshold for a given amount of time, your biological pathways can’t keep up with trying to convert fat and protein into glucose to fuel your efforts. I’d pay this guy a million dollars to go zero carb and run an elite Olympic marathon time. He would bonk so hard I’d feel bad for him. And he wouldn’t do it because he understands this, yet doesn’t address it.

[@bomus86]

This guy runs a 2:30 marathon. Calm down keyboard warrior

[@Filipp81]

Im on carnivore 1 week my heart rate dropped significantly during cycling or running. When it used to be in 150s now same effort in 130s. Approximately!

[@matheusmacedo6214]

@@Filipp81 in just one week? Really? I'll give it a try asap then.

[@Filipp81]

@@matheusmacedo6214 you will feel like shit 1st week. This is carb withdrawal and adaptation. Gl. I love it so far

[@johntoolan1]

Lex- possible for you to detail your carnivore diet for a few days or week? By meal? Just to allow us to understand the diet that makes you feel so well? Would really appreciate it.

[@dannymontreal6316]

I doubt Lex would respond, but allow me to give a quick take here. I was told by a smug tub of a doctor that my immune issues would be solved by a vegan diet. I later looked online and found this was the common go to prescription from this doctor. Anyways, I went the exact opposite direction and tried the carnivore diet. Felt the best I ever had in my whole life. I would recommend making beef patties from a reputable ground beef source to keep costs low. Try and find a butcher where you can get beef fat, and render tallow to add to the patties and also to cook them in. Just Himalayan pink salt to season is best. Costco has grass fed frozen patties sometimes, and well as strip loin if you can butcher your own steaks it also keeps costs low. Reverse sear the steak. Pat dry, salt. Need a cast iron. Put a small sheet of parchment paper under a rack. Turn oven to lowest setting. Check in 20 mins, pat dry and flip, another 20 mins. This should make the surface appear almost crystalline. Avocado oil in a cast iron on highest heat, and you only need 20-30 secs per side to seat afterwards. It should be GOLDEN seared, not black. The crust is delicious, and the inside is still very pink. I just wipe the pan with the pat dry paper towels and put it back in the oven. The oil seasons the pan, and I keep it stored in the oven for next time (only “washing” without soap about once of twice a week). I do the air dry portion sometimes at night, and leave it on the rack in the oven for the morning before work. 40 secs of cooking in the morning and you have one of the best steaks ever. It really is like a different type of meat vs just searing it, and maybe finishing in the oven. Anyways, hope this was helpful, and not annoying unsolicited advise. Cheers dude.

[@mattcoffee1269]

I’m on day 76 carnivore. Down 30pounds, off blood pressure and cholesterol’s pills, doctor is happy, and I’m not prediabetic any longer. Triglycerides also down. LDL down, hdl up…. All in 2 months!

[@alanbarriquel5270]

​@@mattcoffee1269 same here!

[@mstandenberg1421]

Keto, 80% animal products. I was never fat, but I feel so much better in more ways than I feel like listing. 3 years in. Not going to lie though, consistently saying no to the carb habits of a lifetime was more difficult than quitting cigarettes.

[@ketosanta]

Keto Santa approves of this msg 🙏🏼❤️

[@residentlou4410]

I tried keto at 20 years old but was broke and couldn't afford the food I really wanted to eat with the diet so I quit it. I remember feeling like I could run forever. Might give it a try again.

[@Kwildcat13]

Honestly meat is cheaper over all , so the math most people spend a ton on food , drinks , caffeine , ect .. just meat and salt is cheaper .. budget and try it for a few weeks and see if I’m correct

[@mlgchicken3222]

@@Kwildcat13 depends on where you live though.. in turkey the only animal-sourced protein than you can afford under the restriction of a budget is offal of a fucking chicken..

[@toddboucher3302]

I just been trying to cut over into a lower carb diet only for a week so I’m not really a good case study but normally like today I had a 18 mile long run about 3000 feet again and normally I’m taking Telvin the whole time while I’m running and I take it like a gel every 40 minutes 30 to 40 minutes today I went through the whole run five hours on only three gels and no tail And I didn’t feel like I was missing anything now if if I went without those three gels what would’ve been like I don’t know I’m pretty sure I could’ve done it like I said it was five hours might not have been as enjoyable and I guess I’ll learn more as I do more like I said, I’ve only had one week into it but very interestingI’ve always been worried about what all this sugar from tailwind, and these gels actually do to my body

[@taoisttiger4702]

I think in ancient days there wouldnt be a whole lot of need to adapt to being a good runner for a carb heavy diet. Fruit and grain doesnt run away. It would make sense that evolutionary adaptation for those that could run fast would be meat/fat fed considering we used to need to run down trap and spear stuff.

[@SpeedSlowVideos]

That is most definitely not how evolution works

[@CudKidi]

Persistence hunting....

[@joe1071]

Seriously. Worst comment ever

[@808BJJ_Black_Belt]

Steak 🥩 💪

[@t_h_e_v5000]

I’m just curious… based on what they’re saying they’re superhuman and super healthy… but is it the lighting or what thar their skin looks dead?

[@Adam-ob1hl]

This is what dudes in their 30s look like. Also, I personally feel like runners just look older perhaps due to low body fat

[@akbarshoed]

I don't trust ANY of these "carnivore effect on sports" conversations that don't take sodium into account. Sodium and Insulin effect performance so dramatically. And there is so much overlap.

[@josephpa05]

Very true

[@joe1071]

I’m not against keto, especially a clean whole food keto. I’ve basically studied and cycled through nearly all the different diets out there, and have concluded they all have one thing in common: switching from processed junk food to eating real whole food. That’s the keystone between them all. Follow whatever protocol works best for you, so long as it’s based around whole food. P.S. that Verta study he cited “reversing” type 2 diabetes is bullshit. If he actually read the study he would know that. All the candidates were put on metformin, and all the A1C decreases were within the margin of what we would expect metformin alone to decrease A1C, and the candidates were still not quite below the A1C level of no longer having a yep 2 diabetes. Probably the most misleading study ever conducted. By the way, the study was done by Verta itself, so not surprising they completely manipulated the outcomes to make people believe it was their keto diet protocol that contributed to all the results. Anyway, eat real Whole Foods and your life will be better

[@GregariousAntithesis]

Very hard to contrast people going on these diets to people eating the typical garbage diet. Becsuse those of us eating whole food type diets who get to optimum weight are also doing exercise and largely werent before. I think the exercise aspect overall has far more impact than the diet does if you are eating to maintenance.

[@justdoit2377]

What about vegetarians?

[@PeralesManny]

Can we remove you from this interview?

[@SyntaxWyntax]

Cheese burgers makes me feel good; dont mean its making me good

[@Kevindavegan]

Glucose is preferred by the brain

[@jamoblair7245]

The brain can use ketones for a majority of its energy needs and gluconeogenesis creates the glucose it needs on top from excess protein.

[@Alan-rw3ez]

body creates its own. glucose.

[@marcusmatthews8255]

But you don’t have to get it through a carb diet. Ketones helps the brain too. But each person needs to see what works for them. We all have different genetics. One nutrition diet does not fit everyone

[@AmberSoleil1]

Lex, you sound like you might need to up your carbs 😂

[@cyclingseth4580]

Zach isn’t in ketosis when he races tho…

[@elvay6847]

He has said many times that he races in a ketogenic state, and only takes in enough carbohydrate to "offset eventual glycogen depletion".

[@cyclingseth4580]

@@elvay6847 the whole point of ketosis is relying off of fat stores 40 grams of carbs per hour is not going to be nearly in ketosis.

[@anthonyhewitt9397]

Man this guy seams like hes on deaths door. Knock knock.

[@TheChessNeck]

it has always been weird to think that some of the most fit runners on Earth all look like they are starving

[@anthonyhewitt9397]

@@TheChessNeck wierd u would think running 400miles non stop without sleep would be healthy. Uhh doiii 😂

[@TheChessNeck]

@@anthonyhewitt9397 Look into the science, long distance runners are some of the healthiest people out.

[@tylerphelps9275]

Timothy O'Donnell just had a heart attack. He’s a “lover of red meat.”

[@TheCrazyCatHouse]

@@TheChessNeck actually the fat people around you are starving.

[@donwinston]

It doesn't get any dumber.

[@PeralesManny]

The worst interviewer in the world. What is he doing his home work? Grading papers???

[@Adam-ob1hl]

Leave Lex alone! 👿