Short-term, high-protein diets may hinder muscle endurance and short-term, high-carbohydrate diets may increase endurance, a new study finds.
The study, published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal “mSystems,” found that what elite long-distance runners ate determined which types of bacteria lived in their colons. A diet high in fruits and vegetables (high-carbohydrates) was associated with improved time-trial runs in highly trained competitive runners by 6.5 percent, while a high-meat diet (high-protein) was associated with a performance reduction of 23.3 percent.
