Elite race walkers who eat lots of carbs or time their carb intake during intense training get about 5-6% faster in a 10 km race, but those on a keto diet don’t get any faster.

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2017 May 1

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers

Score: 51

DOI: 10.1113/JP273230

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