Episode 436 - Q&A with Robb and Nicki #29

Robb Wolf - The Paleo Solution Podcast - Paleo diet, nutrition, fitness, and health

We're here with Episode 436, Q&A #29!

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Show Notes:

1. Endurance Fueling For A Keto Athlete [2:00]

Cassandra says:

Dear Robb + Nicki,

First off...thanks for the great job you two do in making complicated nutrition and fitness information easy to access and understand (even for uneducated gym rats like myself). I've been listening to the podcast for years, reading the blog and the books (just got Wired to Eat) and I still find myself learning something new almost weekly.

Bottom line up front - how do you guys recommend tackling post-workout nutrition for endurance / high-intensity sports while on the keto train?

I'm 35, 5'8'', 155 lbs with a fairly muscular build. I've been doing the Crossfit + weightlifting thing for 5-6 years now (4-6 times a week). I've got 10 strict pull ups, a 250 lb 1 RM back squat, a 285 1RM DL and can hold an L-sit for a minute....so I think I'm pretty strong(?) - in some aspects anyway ... Strict bedtimes at 8:30 every night with 8 hours of sleep, no injuries, no severe reactions to any type of food (except tequila) - BUT I perform and look a lot better when I'm strict about paleo. I've been eating that way and it has been keeping me fueled really well in the aforementioned training situations.

Due to the nature of my job - active duty Marine, I am required to run a 5k every year for time...so I do incorporate running into my weekly routine - usually no more than 15-20 miles a week...long-ish runs mixed with hill sprints or pushing sleds so I don't die of cardio boredom.

Within the past year - - due to losing a bet or being shamed into them (I can't quite remember), I've also been running a few half marathons and one marathon. I plan do to one more full later this year, the Rock n Roll in Las Vegas - mostly because its an excuse to travel to Vegas with some girlfriends of mine. The low-carb/paleo diet has been awesome for my health on the weightlifting/crossfit/sprinting side of things... but I'm struggling with the endurace side of my fitness.

For my runs more than 90 minutes, I've been fueling with some organic stinger chewies/gels near the end of my run and then other, whole-food-type carbs at the end....bananas, berries, coconut water...sometimes gatorade, (an occasional beer :)), etc. My recovery has been OK...not awesome though (and when I take out the mid-run or end carbs, my energy tanks and my joints hurt for days)..... it takes me about me 1-2 days to get through my soreness for half marathons and almost 5 days for a run more than 22 miles WITH the intra and post-carbs.

I've recently jumped on the keto train in January...did your masterclass, read Mark Sisson's book, started listening to a lot of low-carb / keto based podcasts (Shawn Baker, Fat Burning Man, etc) and just started Wired to Eat. I've been trying to do my own homework and listen to my body...so far this keto thing has been great! I've dropped about 10 lbs since the beginning of the year, have been sleeping a lot better and have seen gains in my strength. But the race season starts up in May (the LV Marathon is in November but I have smaller races and training runs scheduled throughout the summer) and I want to be prepared.

I *think* I'm generally fat-adapted...but I panic after 8 or 9 miles sometimes (the old advice of "carb loading" always creeps back in) and will suck down a terrible gel or gatorade because I've made the mistake of running these distances underfueled before and it was a painful, painful lesson. I have heeded your electrolyte advice. I constantly track my sodium, magnesium and potassium levels and take the recommended supplements almost every day (normally on days with a taxing WOD or a workout lasting more than 90 mins).

So what can I eat/drink to keep on the keto train that will help me recover and keep me going on some of these endurance events? Nut butters? Whey protein and water? I want to be armed when I take on Vegas this year and not completely derail my eating habits. And I'd like to start experimenting with these foods now, while I still have time to adjust.

Sorry for writing the novel! If I can find this info in a podcast or in one of the chapters of your books, please feel free to point me in that direction! I appreciate any insight you guys have. Thanks in advance,

Cassandra

2. Should I Add Fat To My Whey Protein Shake? [10:40]

Ben says:

Hi!

Love the podcast (I am one of the six listeners)! Here is my question:

I am wondering if the insulin-spike from a post-workout whey shake can stall my weight loss. Should I add fat like heavy cream or coconut milk to the shake to blunt the insulin response (if yes how much) or am I unable to burn that fat because of the spiked insulin storing it as body fat instead.

Thank you so much and best wishes from Munich, Germany

Ben

3. Portal Circulation and Leaky Gut [14:36]

James says:

Hi Robb,

Thanks for your detailed answer to my question about sun exposure in Q&A #7. You provided a clear and concise answer which is hard to come by these days!

Following your book recommendations in Q&A #6 I hungrily delved into the Lecture notes on Human Metabolism (Thanks Nikki!) and within the first chapter encountered some information that gave me reason to pause.

The portal circulation, I'm certain that you can provide a more accurate and concise explanation of this system to your listeners than I can in this question, so I'll leave that to you if that's okay!

My question is: given that all blood (and therefore solutes) from the intestines are drained through the portal vein and through the liver - filtering out excess substrates and removing toxins such as ammonia from the blood before it enters 'general circulation', how can leaky gut have such a damaging effect on the body? It seems to me that the liver is a vital backstop in this process which is never mentioned when functional medicine practitioners talk about leaky gut - they give the impression that blood drains from the intestines straight into cardiovascular circulation and these fuel substrates are clanking around in our arteries causing inflammation which seems not to be the case!

Also how does this impact the gut hypothesis of heart disease (highly simplified here) where endotoxin is said to pass through the mucosal membrane into circulation, binding with LDL cholesterol, being attacked and immobilized by immune cells and ultimately ending up being sequestered into an arterial plaque because the immune system cannot destroy cholesterol or unbind the endotoxin from it.

Would the portal circulation not remove this endotoxin from the blood before it enters cardiovascular circulation and meets LDL particles? Is this disease process driven not only by a compromised intestinal lining but also by inefficient liver function?

Thank you for your time again guys, really appreciate your input

Kind Regards

James

4. Do I Have To Sprout My Nuts & Seeds? [20:10]

Joseph says:

Is phytic acid harmful or of benefit? Is it really necessary to jump thru the hoops of soaking & sprouting before consuming nuts & seeds? thank you

5. Caloric Estimate for Young Children? [25:10]

Rory says:

Is there an estimate for calories/pound when it comes to feeding my almost 3 year old (or any child for that matter, say 2-12? The teen years of course marking the onset of self-consciousness and peer pressure, thus thwarting any biological hard-wiring toward survival.)

Or is she still young enough to be biologically incapable of starving herself, at which point I should just trust that she has normally functioning satiety signals?

I ask specifically about my daughter because, as is par for the course in 'Murica, she received antibiotics immediately after being born, so it's not a stretch for me to imagine that she could have some kind of gut imbalance that could cause hormone dysregulation with her leptin/ghrelin.

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Transcript:

Download a copy of the transcript here (PDF)