By Lars Hundley
Recently, I ran into a blog about following a ketogenic diet as a cyclist, http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com, written by the attorney, certified Bulletproof nutritional coach, and road cyclist, Valerie Peterson.
As someone who tries to avoid white sugar and wheat, I learned from personal experience that it takes a while to adapt to riding well when you’re restricting carbohydrates. For me, it took almost six weeks of a much higher perceived effort during faster rides before I finally started to adapt and feel normal again. Once I did, I was able to ride for two or more hours just carrying water without worrying about bonking, which helped me avoid eating and drinking most of typical sugary cycling products I felt were not necessarily beneficial to my health in the first place.
A ketogenic diet takes the low carbohydrate approach even further than I did. I found Valerie’s blog so interesting that I asked her if she’d be willing to do an interview for Road Bike Rider to introduce our readers to her perspective on nutrition and whether a ketogenic diet can really work for an avid cyclist.

Can you give a quick explanation of what a ketogenic diet and ketosis actually means?
A ketogenic diet is one that restricts carbs, allows for moderate protein, and high fat. However, high fat means good fat, like coconut oil, grass-fed beef, fat from nuts, etc. Restricting carbs and protein allows your body to shift from burning carbs for energy, to burning fat instead. Being in ketosis (or nutritional ketosis) means your body is using ketones for energy rather than glucose so the result is you are using fat stores for energy.
How long have you been a cyclist?
I’ve been riding since around 2009, and started doing more “serious” long rides in 2011. I grew up playing as many sports as possible (in a small town you can do pretty much every sport), and I played volleyball and basketball in college. I always had a bike as a kid, but it was a means of transportation for me – I didn’t really think about using it as a way to stay in shape!
Is your husband also a cyclist?
My husband is also a cyclist. He introduced me to cycling and has been a great coach. He started out racing mountain bikes, then switched to road. We both ride road now. I’ve dabbled in mountain biking, but I really enjoy riding on the road. Of course it can be stressful at times when you’re riding on roads with a lot of cars around, but it is always enjoyable for me.
Do you both ride low carb?
Starting in 2015, we both started following a ketogenic diet. Our dedication to this started after I read the book, “Grain Brain.” The research in that book that connected carbohydrates with dementia made sense to me. I have dementia in my family (which is what led me to the area of elder law in 2003), and I am determined to do everything in my power to avoid getting dementia. That book and subsequent research I did convinced me that we can adopt a lifestyle that will help prevent dementia and other diseases that affect the brain, and what we eat is a huge part of that lifestyle.
What kind of cycling do you like to do?
I have ridden several big organized rides: Copper Triangle was my first big ride that I did back in 2011. The following year I rode Triple Bypass, and continued to do other centuries locally. I consider my biggest organized ride accomplishment to be completing Lotoja – a 207 mile ride from Logan, UT to Jackson, WY that must be completed before sundown. They control when you start the race and my age group was one of the later starts. I completed it in 12 hours and 10 minutes of riding time, and finished in the top third of my age group. But what I’m most proud of is the fact that I did this ride in 2015, which was my first year following a ketogenic diet. I was able to follow my diet and had a great result. I chronicle this in my blog for those who want more detail!
The other accomplishments I’m most proud of are the rides I’ve done in France. My husband leads tours over there as a hobby (his website is FranceCyclingTours.com), so we try to go over to ride each year. We usually spend between 7-10 days and we ride some pretty epic roads every day.
In three separate trips, I’ve ridden some of the most famous climbs of the Tour de France – Mt. Ventoux twice, Alpe d’Huez twice, Col du Tormalet, the Col du Telegraph and Galibier double, Hautacam, Luz Ardiden, Col du Solour and Col d’ Abisque (same day, and then Solour again this year), Lacets de Montvernier, and many other beautiful, lesser known climbs in France.
I’ve also climbed some amazing roads in Colorado both as part of Copper Triangle and Triple Bypass, and some we’ve done just for fun! I’ve climbed Loveland Pass, Independence Pass and Pikes Peak, to name a few.
I don’t typically ride with a group other than my husband and another friend who lives nearby. I’m not opposed to it, but my work schedule prevents me from participating in group rides during the week and I usually go on longer rides involving a lot of climbing on the weekend.
Did you or your husband go through an adaptation period when you switched to keto, where you initially rode worse or felt worse when you made the switch?
Definitely! For a few weeks, neither of us felt great on a ride. It felt like we did not have much energy. However, we pushed on and once we made it past those few weeks, we started to feel much better. Our muscles weren’t as sore after a hard ride, our stomachs weren’t upset, and we immediately started feeling stronger on rides. I also went through a day that had to have been the “keto flu.” My stomach rejected everything I tried to put into it! This was about 2 weeks into our switch to a ketogenic diet. After that, however, I did not have any other issues.
What should someone expect if they are used to eating a lot of carbs and riding while consuming high carb foods? Is it a difficult transition, and will they bonk all the time?
It’s hard to say, but I think it’s reasonable for someone to expect a transition that is not a smooth one! The best advice I didn’t take was to get adapted during a time that you’re not exercising a lot. I can’t remember why we didn’t follow this advice – either we were stubborn, or I read it after we were already riding, or both! At any rate, if possible, I’d try a ketogenic diet for at least 2-3 weeks, check your blood to make sure you’re in nutritional ketosis on a consistent basis, then start training hard. I always ask people why they are choosing a ketogenic diet because their motivation can be key to how they react to the adaptation process. I was very clear in why I was doing it, which had nothing to do with athletic performance, so that may have made it easier for me to suffer through those tough rides early on. If someone is adopting a ketogenic diet for athletic performance, they could get discouraged easily when they see a dip in their performance for what could be 4-6 weeks. I would encourage anyone to wait to judge their performance until they know they are fully adapted, meaning they are in nutritional ketosis consistently, and if they still see a decline in performance then it may not be the right diet for that person.
How can you avoid bonking if you are riding keto?
It depends on whether you’re fat-adapted, and how long you’ve been adapted. Once I was in ketosis consistently (at least a month), I did not bonk and haven’t ever since. But if you have a sprint at the end of a race and you’re worried about having enough energy, it’s fine to take in some carbohydrates before the sprint. Your body will burn those first, then will switch back to burning fat when it’s used up all of the glucose.
What should you eat on rides while on a ketogenic diet?
If you’re keto-adapted (or fat-adapted), you shouldn’t need anything on a ride shorter than 2 hours. Hydration is more important. Make sure you have a sports drink that has zero sugar, but plenty of electrolytes and magnesium. We use ZipFizz, and I also like Nuun. You can take a small bag full of almonds or cashews with you, or a low carb bar, preferably one without sugar alcohols that can hurt your stomach. We use Stabilyze and Atkins Trail bars because both have zero sugar alcohols.
How do you personally eat and drink on a long ride of more than three hours?
I’ll answer this in 2 parts – year 1 of a ketogenic diet, and what I do now. In year 1, I would take Super Starch before a long ride. I would carry nuts with me, and a low carb bar or 2. I’d usually eat one bar during a long ride, and some of the nuts. In my water bottle I would have something that had zero sugar, no aspartame, but lots of electrolytes and vitamins and a second bottle with just water. I used to use a product from Vega in my water bottle, then switched to ZipFizz because it tasted better but had the same ingredients. I would also use Vespa before and during a long ride and found I could substitute it for the Super Starch as it was easier on my stomach.
Now, I don’t need the Super Starch before or during a long ride. I use ZipFizz or Nuun in one water bottle, water in the other, and I carry an Atkins trail bar and/or a Stabilyze bar with me, but rarely eat them on a ride. I am strict about the Atkins trail bar and Stabilyze bars because they do not contain any sugar alcohols. I use salt tabs if it’s hot (2 before a ride, and 1-2 each hour). I’ll also carry nuts if it’s hot – cashews, almonds or peanuts. I’m rarely hungry on a ride and haven’t “bonked” since the first several weeks in 2015 when I was becoming fat-adapted. I’m also religious about taking magnesium at night. I’ve done this for a few years now and rarely have cramping.
One of the big criticisms I see about going ketogenic is that you won’t get enough fruits and vegetables to stay healthy and you will end up eating too much meat and dairy. Are you concerned about not getting enough fruits or vegetables?
I am, and getting enough vegetables is sometimes a struggle for me. I also struggle to eat enough fish, mainly because it’s hard for me to cook it and then eat it! For me, it just takes a conscious effort to include a vegetable with lunch and dinner, even if it’s the same one day after day (we eat a lot of broccoli!). If it’s easy to prepare, I’m far more likely to eat it so I keep it simple. Sometimes I’ll just cut up half of an avocado with my meal if I don’t have time for anything else.
Following up on fruits and vegetables, do you feel that a ketogenic diet is a realistic long term way to eat for most people? Specifically, do you feel that there might be health risks with not consuming enough fruits and vegetables? It seems like you can dig up some compelling research for quite a few ways of eating that seem to track well with health with large groups of people over long periods of time like vegetarian or Mediterranean.
I think most people will find a balance that works for them depending on their ultimate health goals. My ultimate goal is avoiding dementia and other autoimmune diseases and I choose to believe the research that links processed foods that are high in carbs and sugar, to those diseases. As a result, it’s not a diet for me, it’s just a lifestyle that I choose to lead. As for consuming fruits and vegetables, I think it’s a matter of discipline, and being willing to think outside the box when it comes to meals.
For example, it may mean eating a small salad with your eggs at breakfast, or having an avocado with a handful of nuts for lunch. There are also supplements that can help. I’ve tried one called Keto Greens, which provides vegetables in a powder form. It doesn’t taste the best, but it works better than no vegetables at all. I save fruits for dessert – mainly berries because they are lower in sugar, but occasionally I’ll have grapes, or a peach. Fruits are very high in sugar, and many vegetables are high in starch so people following a ketogenic diet just have to be careful about which fruits and vegetables they consume. I also believe the timing of your meals makes a big difference. I’m definitely a fan of intermittent fasting, and longer fasting when I feel I need to.
Are you concerned about cholesterol or blood pressure or anything else that you might test, and do you measure these things? What kind of results have you seen, if so?
I’m laughing a little at this one because I am absolutely militant about checking my cholesterol! What I learned on this journey is that our overall cholesterol numbers mean absolutely nothing because they are only an estimate. What does matter is the size of your particles in your LDL cholesterol – small particles are bad (B particles), big fluffy particles are good (A particles). I also learned that your triglycerides to HDL ratio does matter. Ideally you will have a ratio of 1 or 2, for example, triglycerides of 100 and HDL of 50 would be a ratio of 2.
Here is a blog post I wrote about my research on the issue of cholesterol: http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com/fat-and-cholesterol/. I also wrote a blog post on how I lowered my “bad” cholesterol by 40 points and brought my triglyceride to HDL ration down to 1:1: http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com/how-i-lowered-my-cholesterol-40-points/. I also had a particle study done last year and learned I have the big “fluffy” particles so I feel very good about that!
My blood pressure has never been an issue, and since the ketogenic diet it’s been consistently hovering around 110/60, sometimes lower, sometimes slightly higher.
Are there other ways to approach using a ketogenic approach that aren’t as long term? For example, as a way to transition away from too much sugar in your diet, or as a way to go into a more wheat and sugar free diet? Or do you feel that this defeats the purpose?
I think it truly depends on what your motivation is for starting a ketogenic diet. If you aren’t adopting it as a lifestyle then it will be tough to stick to it long term. I can’t stress enough how dangerous sugar is to our bodies, and would highly recommend everyone cutting it out of their diet. Once you’ve detoxed from sugar, then start eliminating another problem food like white starchy processed food until you reach a diet that helps you maintain your health goal and that you can stick to.
How important is actual ketosis versus just significantly restricting simple carbohydrates, for example? This will be different for each person. I like the feeling of being in ketosis – steady energy, very rarely tired during the day after a meal. I don’t get the same feeling when I just restrict simple carbs because I’m still consuming a lot of other carbs that causes a spike in my insulin and then later a loss of energy. Other people may operate well on a low carb diet and feel really energized. I think it’s more important to find a food combination that you can stick to, and that helps you reach your health and fitness goals.
I’m sure you’ve seen criticism of the ketogenic diet by some well regarded coaches, like the article by Chris Carmichael, Should Endurance Athletes Go Keto. How do you respond to that kind of criticism?
I usually consider the source, their experience, whether they are selling something, and what type of research it’s based on. Here is a blog post I wrote in response to this article: http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com/does-a-ketogenic-diet-improve-endurance-performance/.
Which coaches, experts, blogs, books, etc. do you follow that convinced you that a ketogenic diet is the way to go?
Jeff Volek and Stephen Finney have probably done the most research that pertains to cyclists and/or endurance athletes. In this blog I discuss a study they did on whether a ketogenic diet improves athletic performance: http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com/does-a-ketogenic-diet-improve-endurance-performance/.
I listen to Dr. Attia quite a bit, and read his blog religiously when I was first starting out. He took some time off from his blog, but now has a great podcast that I listen to when I have time! His blogs and podcasts are very technical, but always packed with interesting tests and research he’s done on himself.
I will listen to Ben Greenfield when he has a podcast specifically on ketogenic diets or ketosis. As for books, I have read: Grain Brain by Dr. Perlmutter, The Low Carb Athlete by Ben Greenfield, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff Volek and Stephen Finney, Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore, Cholesterol Clarity by Jimmy Moore, The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore, The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Nasha Winters and Jess Kelly, The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz, The Walhs Protocol by Terry Wahls, Eat Dirt by Josh Axe, Eat Fat, Get Thin by Mark Hyman and Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes.
As you can see, I read a lot about health. Most of the athletic performance research is from articles published online or podcasts from others experimenting with a subject of one (themselves) – there just aren’t a lot of books I’ve found on that topic.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that I’m a stronger athlete since starting the ketogenic diet. I can ride longer without fueling, I ride faster, but neither my husband nor I race. But we are data nerds and analyze our performance pretty religiously based on our Garmin output. He recently purchased a power meter and is training with that, and I intend to buy one later this year.
Can you give me some examples of some typical meals if you’re on a ketogenic diet?
Breakfast: Cage-free eggs and pastured bacon (I’m pretty strict about both of these – the bacon is harder to find, but stores like Whole Foods carry it). I will skip breakfast on days I’m not exercising a lot.
Lunch: A low carb wrap with lunch meat from a trusted source (Applegate is my go to brand for lunch meat – humanely raised animals, vegetarian fed), 2-3 mini sweet peppers. Another option would be a salad with lots of avocado and eggs.
Dinner: Grass-fed meat with a vegetable. We will eat steak maybe once a week with steamed or roasted broccoli or brussel sprouts.
I can’t stress enough how the quality of meat (grass-fed and grass-finished, pastured pigs, cage-free chickens, all raised humanely) matters when on a ketogenic diet. It costs more, but will provide so many more health benefits, especially when you are eating more meat on this type of diet. It’s also important to control portions in order to keep the amount of protein down. If you ingest too much protein your body will convert it to glucose.
Any last thoughts about giving a ketogenic diet a try as a cyclist or endurance athlete?
Be very clear about why you want to try this type of diet. Then dig into the research about how it may impact your performance. If you believe that your performance will improve because of this type of diet, it will. But you have to give it time – the adaptation process can take weeks, and during that time you may have some really tough rides and you’ll be tempted to think it’s not working. Test your blood to see if you’re in ketosis consistently, and track how you feel on rides once you’ve been in ketosis for at least a month. In my mind, that’s the best way to know whether this type of lifestyle will help you achieve the goals you want.
Valerie is the Chief Executive Officer of ElderCounsel, LLC. Before joining ElderCounsel, Valerie practiced law in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale where she was the owner of Peterson Law Office, P.A., and later Fisher & Peterson, P.C., a firm specializing in the areas of elder law and estate planning.
In addition to serving as CEO, Valerie also serves as instructor for several ElderCounsel educational courses, including the Elder Law Immersion and Practice Building Camp. Valerie has also taught for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Academy of Veterans Pension Planners (AVAPP), and for various state bar associations and estate planning councils.
Since 2012, Valerie has served as an adjunct professor for Stetson Law School where she teaches the Veteran’s Benefits Course to Elder Law LL.M. students.
Valerie is accredited by the Veterans Administration to assist veterans with claims, a member of NAELA, the Academy of VA Pension Planners, and she is a member of the Florida and Kansas Bar Associations (currently inactive).
Valerie resides in Evergreen, CO with her husband, Jonathan Mintz, and two cats, Milo and O’Malley. Both she and her husband love the outdoors and are avid cyclists who enjoy all that the mountains have to offer. Valerie is also a certified Bulletproof® Coach and has a personal blog that is focused on nutrition and cycling: http://www.ketoadaptedcyclist.com.
You don’t know what your future holds or how and when you die. As a stroke surivior I live for the enjoyment and peace cycling gives me. I realized thatdiet, training and competing isn’t as important as enjoying the moment. I do not worry so much about diet, fat, carbs etc anymore. After you wake up half blind from a cryptogenic Ischemic stroke at 35 years old, you tend see life a whole lot differnetly and your priorities change. Please enjoy the ride, family and friends, there is more to life than constant training and beating others on strava.
Any proofs on the EBM level? Nothing? Perfect!
This is nothing more than a rehash of dangerous diets under a new name. Ketosis produces rapid weight loss but it is not sustainable for most people and can be dangerous. Just do a search on the web and many respected sources from Mayo Clinic to Harvard Health will explain its dangers.
Thanks Valerie for this valuable information and links to additional resources! I too have been a keto cyclist for some time and have experienced the amazing benefits of using fat and ketones for fuel. I’m interested in your analysis of the impact on your performance of intermittent and extended fasting – I’ll check your blog.
My breakfast before rides is “bulletproof cocoa” with MCT oil and grass-fed butter, and this seems to keep me well fueled for up to 3 hours. During rides I use ZipFizz or Powerade Zero (in a pinch) and water. Pickle juice has also been fantastic for sodium intake and hydration. I carry “FBomb” nut butter packets for on-bike fueling – my favorite is Macadamia with Coconut. I’ve been carrying Quest bars on rides as well, but will look into the bars you mention.
Regarding the advice to eat meat, fish, people might want to watch the documentaries, What the Health and Forks Over Knives, both on Netflix and probably other places. They make a very convincing case that it’s not sugar that’s at the root of most of our health problems but meat (including chicken, turkey, fish) and dairy.
The ketogenic lifestyle is slowly gaining acceptance in the medical community because of the drug-free way that it improves A1C and insulin/insulin resistance levels and vascular health over time. I think the statin era is waining and good riddance to that little experiment. I am a 59 years old recreational cyclist with an A1C of 4.8. This number has been dropping after about two years at a minimal level of ketogenic eating. I am marginally ketogenic in the morning but only really am mid-range ketogenic after a 60-75 mile ride on water only. As an aside, water only riding means I just rinse my bottles after a ride and they never grow black mold.
Those who say the diet is dangerous have either not read the literature or tried it for themselves. It is dangerous if you are T1 diabetic and think you can go off insulin. That would lead to ketoacidosis. The rest of us have a healthy pancreas. As stated in the article there is a six-week adaptation time. If you currently eat too many simple sugars you will notice that after six weeks your energy is back and you have lost weight. So that will net you an immediate power-to-weight improvement. My wife has switched to a ketosis lifestyle after years of my mild nagging and now on the advice of her cardiologist. Her fasting glucose is dropping and she has a glow about her that I have not seen in decades. My rule is about 50:50 vegetables: meat plus lots of healthy fats. The primary axiom is that: reducing your insulin by restricting simple carbohydrates will allow adipose fat burning, improve vascular health, improve mental clarity, and reduce tissue damage during exercise. I have seen each of these improvements in myself but your mileage may vary.
Regards,
Bill Wightman
Houston, TX
We should all eat for long term health rather than short term goals. The ketogenic diet was developed for a very specific type of seizure disorder in children. It is not in any way healthy for most people, though certainly, some blood tests look better for a while. Since retiring (M.D.) 23 years ago, I read a lot of exercise and nutritional research and, at least 80 – 85% of the 10-12,000 nutritional studies each year are junk science. There’s no shortage of “studies” to back any diet you choose. The book Grain Brain is full of misinformation. If you look up the studies he cites, he so frequently says they say just the opposite of what the study actually showed that I came to the conclusion he had to be purposely misleading and presumed most readers wouldn’t actually read the articles referenced.
The gold standard for a diet is that significant numbers of people who eat it, live long and in good health. The Blue Zones project looked at that specifically, and diets around the world with large numbers of healthy centenarians were remarkably similar. They all ate little fat, little or no meat, including fish, but did eat lots of vegetables, beans and whole grains. There is no group of people in the world who eat a high fat, high protein diet and enjoy longevity and long term good health that I’m aware of. The whole food, plant based diet is based on the Blue Zones studies and The China Study. Real long term data that you can trust. The problem with fad diets focused on short term effects is the real possibility of long term effects, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
A nutritional biochemist/molecular biologist here who did metabolic research for a couple of decades. To follow on Dr. Maley’s comments, there is evidence of the benefits of ketogenic diet (High Fat, Low Carbohydrate, HFLC) for certain seizure disorders, However, the evidence shows the harm of long-term use for normal, healthy people. I want to share some studies so you can see the data with your own eyes and not go on trust alone that Dr. Maley and I, a lab nerd, are correct.
Here is a review, a summary of multiple studies, providing evidence that ketogenic diets are detrimental in the long term.. It is an open access 2013 revew: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3555979/
Here is a prospective Harvard study that shows higher mortality from long-term ketogenic diet use: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(18)30135-X/fulltext
It also shows high mortality from very high carbohydrate diets. Grandma was right; moderation in all things.
There was an additional study presented at the European College of Cardiology this September which confirms the Harvard study but it is not yet published in a reviewed scientific journal. When looking at the amount and quality of this data, I would tell a healthy family to read this information and not go on a ketogenic diet.
I noticed that both studies (notably not experiments) do not give clear definitions of carbohydrate types. Simple sugars, starches, and cellulose are all carbohydrates but have significantly different long-term effects on the body. The primary benefit of a clean unprocessed-food ketogenic bias in the diet is the reduction of free glucose and insulin in the bloodstream. If ~50% of our energy is from carbohydrates and are from low glycemic leafy plants then there is a significant benefit to our digestive health and from micronutrients, and almost no elevation of blood sugars. On the other hand, simple sugars achieve the opposite effect, even draining trace minerals for their proper processing. Plant starches and over-cooked tubers and potatoes are somewhere in the middle.
Ketosis is as ubiquitous as sleep. In fact, if you have stopped eating early enough in the day and get a good night sleep you will most likely be generating ketones until you eat breakfast.
Note above that 50% plant fiber, while an energy source for some animals (…cows), is not digestible by humans and so reduces the energy that otherwise would be converted to adipose tissue if in the form of simple sugars or easily digested starches.
You make a good point about the difference between carbs. That’s why what I consider the best diet, plant based, whole food, emphasizes the whole food concept. Refined carbs are very bad, while carbs in whole foods are very good. In fact, I know of type I diabetics who are fruititarians and do extremely well because they only consume the fruit, never fruit juice.
One of the quickest ways to identify many junk nutritional studies is the failure to differentiate between good and bad carbs. Any study that doesn’t differentiate them is junk. The recent huge PURE study published in the usually top rated Lancet medical journal failed on many levels to be valid but one of the most glaring, was grouping all carbs as the same in the face of radically different peoples, who would certainly vary widely in quality of dietary carbs ingested.
I agree with Dr. Miley on the importance of unprocessed plants. Whole fresh fruits, with skins when appropriate and whole grains of various species are important to provide complex carbs and polyphenols to nurture our gut microflora.. This area is too new to give specific suggestions in my opinion but what is clear that having a diverse diet with a amount large plant and whole grain components is important for overall health. Eliminating this nutrient source is problematic.
Nothing says fad diet like “detox.”
The question is whether the improved sense of well being is from the ketosis or the elimination of sugar. I find it interesting that in this study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5506682/) participants all migrated back to a diet with some carbohydrates even after noting an increased sense of well being on the ketogenic diet.
“Being a translational study, we followed up participants informally 12 months after the study concluded. They were all still competing in endurance events, and while not eating a ketogenic diet, none of them had returned to their previous high carbohydrate, low fat style of eating. Collectively, they reported that once the study concluded they gradually increased their carbohydrate intake until the point at which they felt their performance at high intensities return. They were still restricting carbohydrate and eating more fat than mainstream guidelines recommend, and reported having discovered the optimal macronutrient ratio that satisfied a performance, body composition and a health goal.”
I’d contend that both extremes are bad – full ketogenic and unrestricted carbohydrates. The answer is once again “moderation in all things”.