The Low-Carb Athlete: The Official Low-Carbohydrate Nutrition Guide for Endurance and Performance

Definitely written for the serious athlete. Ben is very thorough in his research and presentation. As a consumer of information, not an athlete, I will use this book as a resource for educating myself by returning to all the links that give further information that I need. While reading along, I wanted to know more about the amino acids he continued to refer to, patience paid off and in the supplement section there was a good discussion. This book assumes you are well informed as an experienced athlete and can follow his discussion. I will need to use the links to fill in my gaps on absorption and fatty acids. I have read a lot on nutrition for aging and appreciated the infoon liquid vs. solid forms of food for energy and gut health. I can use this document to cherry pick some gems to use in my search forbalancing my brain health as I try to lose weight. I have a rare disease the medical community knows little about and doesn't care to find out more as it hits post menopausal women the most. Left to doctor myself, I have been led to believe that a low oxalate diet will help to improve my plight. So far, oxalates seem to be out of Ben's radar, as he never mentioned them. Athletes with good gut health need not worry about oxalates so much but be warned that kale, spinach, and sweet potatoes, as well as nuts and their by products are veryhigh in oxalates, which are a toxin that plants use to protect their reproduction rights. Ben discusses this trait of plants in relation to otherfactors but not oxalates. More and more people are discovering the danger of using high oxalate foods for health in smoothies and juicing. I'm looking forward to Ben's future take on this subject in his blog presentations. Good job in covering low carb issues for the athlete!

Due to recent health issues, I've had to begin eating low carb. I've been a body builder for a number of years and an extreme dietary change has been challenging to navigate.I purchased this book with the hope it could help me with low-carb bodybuilding, macro ratios, and how to eat properly for maximum benefit. I was disappointed.The book would be good for those looking to know how/when to eat higher carb meals and it gives plenty of recipe ideas.For those of us who need a true low-carb diet consistently, this book is a waste of time.

First off, the book is about being a low carb athlete, not full blown keto. Many of the negative reviews assume he’s promoting the book as a keto guide which is not the case. As a doctor, with a degree in exercise science, former college football player, 7 time Ironman, and avid cross fitter, this approach is exactly what I have adopted and have been able to maintain 7%body fat while staying extremely competitive, and most importantly have better energy and overall health than ever before. Ben gives great experiential advice which in my opinion is sometimes more powerful than just clinical science, although there is plenty of that as well. For a deeper dive into this subject matter check out his book Beyond Training.

I appreciate you writing this very informative guideline to help me achieve my goals. I’m 58 and play a lot of tennis both singles and doubles. This has definitely helped me understand my carbs and will implement many of your insights and suggestions. Thanks

The first half of the book is all high carb recipes with white rice, potatoes, agave syrup, and all these other high-glycemic recipes and high fructose foods, with no nutritional information provided. It is not worth reading, and would screw up any athlete who is pre-diabetic or diabetic and looking to clean up their act and eat healthier.Halfway through this slim book, on page 58, one finally gets to what Ben truly recommends for a race or long workout day. The section ends on pg 82, then goes to closing thoughts, so it has only 24 pages of worthwhile information. That should have been first in the book.The book never answers the question of what kind of insulin spikes one gets while riding or running IF one eats X-many calories of high glycemic energy gels or drinks in Y-time frame. Insulin spikes can result in unwanted fatigue. Or if one is trying to use fats as an energy source on a long Century or Double Century (200 mile) bike ride, when (how many of feet of climbing? Timing?) is it a good idea to add a high sugar snack, and what is the overall effect? Will you then be out of ketosis for the next hour or two on the flats?There are a lot of links to outside information instead of including that info in the book. Although it was published in 2015, some of the links already do not work.Volek's book is much better.

I went total ketogenic as a 60-year old Ironman triathlete who has bonked in at least 6 of my 15 Ironman's. I went keto as a result of gaining weight through being insulin resistant (I think because I relied on high-carb to fuel). I'm racing IMAZ Nov 19th. I've never felt better and losing 26 lbs didn't hurt! I think I can win my division! I've wondered how to fuel for longer exercise sessions and of course had no experience with how to fuel during the race. Ben's book gives me a basis to begin to experiment. After I come to some results, I think they will all be positive, I'll write another review.

I have been curious about adopting a low-carb diet, but I am also an endurance athlete (ultra-runner). I didn't think it was possible to do both. This book is a great intro into the low-carb diet for athletes! Thank you for a great, concise break-down of the low-carb diet for athletes, and thank you for writing it for everyman, and not speaking over my head.

I try not to take others reviews into account before reading a book. The review saying he just lists links and other resources to get information is spot on.

This “book” is awful.I found his style impossible to read or understand because it’s more like a collection of notes and references than a constructed text. He might be a good athlete but he is a dreadful author. This text lacks structure in terms of the whole thing and in terms of individual sections. There’s minimal writing skill here.I suspect his blog might have more content since several times I noticed interesting headings with no more substance than a LINK to his blog. Or other people’s blogs. It’s as though he was too lazy to even cut and paste (or restructure the actual content / ideas) to give us the material. He expects his readers to be constantly flicking to internet based resources to illuminate his sketchy remarks. Which might be very modern and might work for you but I didn’t like it at all.He includes pages and pages of recipes which seem to be intended as a particular plan for those entering events. These bits were not particularly interesting to me because I’m not planning an ironman programme.I wanted to learn more about the theory and practical sides of generally operating as a low carb athlete who cycles regularly. I am not a competitive person but an above averagely healthy person who’s been learning from the likes of Michael Mosley and Tim Spector about food. I want to sustain a good diet AND cycle in Snowdonia several times a week. I feel absolutely non the wiser after trying to read this book.

This is more of a long printed blog post than an actual book... there's even sections where he's included a link and just left the anchor text in, or put a massive URL in there.. really sloppy. It's super short as well so don't expect it to be your low carb bible, I read the whole thing in one train journey! Wouldn't mind so much if it was a bit cheaper.That being said the content is decent as with all of Ben Greenfield's work. It's a good primer on low carb for those just starting out with it, but if you're already a seasoned KETO dieter you won't really learn much here.

This book and Ben Greenfield's approach to training in general has been a real eye opener - having always been a low fat, high carb road cyclist with a full time job who struggled with fluctuations in weight and joint pain, I certainly felt like I needed a new plan and this does not fail to deliver; in three months I've dropped 12kg (87kg to 75kg), 8% body fat and I've never been more motivated to keep going!Thanks for the great tips Ben, keep up the good work and keep the podcasts coming, love 'em :o)

I cannot eat much carbs for health reasons. This book is perfect to reduce carbs and still be a good athlete. Good mix of explanations, advice and recipes.

Helpful book for beginners