Carbo Feeds When Training?

A buddy of mine who is a monster endurance athlete used to tell me he
"intuitively" knew that feeding with carbohydrates when training prevented
best use of fat for metabolism and trained the body to need carbohydrate.
This was about 15 years ago.

I just read a summary of a study by Bengt Saltin, said to be a leading
sports physician. My buddy's contention is apparently supported. Here's the
blurb from http://www.jenex.com/news/index.html.:

One of the world's foremost Sports Medicine doctors, Bengt Saltin, who won
the IOC Sports Medicine prize in 2002 suspected that training for endurance
while using "sports drinks" and power bars might not the best way to develop
the body for optimal results in long distance races. ( Of course the sports
drinks power bar companies will try to prove him wrong. A well recognized US
Researcher told me that the difference between studies in Scandinavia and
the US is that in the States many studies are biased because major food and
soft drink firms sponsor the studies. The purse strings for sports research
in the US are mainly the marketing giants and without the money, no
research. In Scandinavia, Universities generally fund the studies. About ten
years ago I was indirectly involved with a University study on an exercise
product. The manufacturer of the product was convinced the device was an
exercise marvel and wanted a University study to back their marketing
claims. When the study showed that power walking was more beneficial than
their exercise device, the study was not allowed to be presented. The Doctor
who performed the study was obviously upset, but the study was funded by the
company and he was not allowed to publish it. )

It is well documented that you need maximum carbohydrate loading for long
distance races, but what if the body was better able to use both sugar and
fat for fuel? Most endurance athletes train using the same sports drinks as
when racing. However, Professor Saltin said that a few years ago he began to
question this method for training. Since we have more fat deposits for
energy than sugar it is important to be able to utilize both energy sources
optimally in long distance races. Bengt Saltin suspected that if we train
while consuming sugar drinks, the body would have fewer fat burning enzymes.
With sugar available, the enzymes are not needed so they don't get
developed.

Bengt first tested his theory at the University in Copenhagen, then a study
was made in Sweden on 18 skiers divided into two groups of nine. In the ski
study, which lasted for eight weeks, the two groups trained three times a
week for 1.5 hours and on the fourth day for approximately three hours. One
group used a well known sports drink while the others drank only water while
training and did not take any carbohydrates for at least one hour after
training. Prior to the experiment, biopsies were taken on all athletes.
After the eight weeks, new biopsies showed that the group that used only
water had substantially more important enzymes for the burning of fat. So in
race conditions, the water consuming group could better utilize the two
available fuel sources, sugar and fat. This month Bengt Saltin is starting a
third study of the potential benefits of reduced carbohydrate intake while
training for endurance races.

Gary (Got Hammer Gel?) Jacobson
Rosendale, NY