Replenish Glycogen stores on a low carb/zero carb diet?

[ChookityPop]

Im eating a nose to tail carnivore diet with the some veggies and berries here and there. But I tried to add raw honey as a carb source this summer and honestly felt the best Ive felt since I got sick "again" last year. My muscles felt the most robust since getting sick.

I crashed and my stomach got super weird so I stopped the raw honey. But now for example my muscles burn out super quickly. Im thinking of trying to add in raw honey again.

What do you guys think of replenishing glycogen stores on a low carb/zero carb diet? And how to do so? once or twice per week? or eat some carbs in the last meal for the day.

 

[GreenEdge]

Keto adapted athletes are saying it takes 3-4 months to adapt to a low carb/zero carb diet. Once keto adapted muscle glycogen is replenished through gluconeogenesis (the synthesis of glucose from noncarbohydrate sources, such as glycerol, lactate, pyruvate, and glucogenic amino acids) just as quickly as the typical 'carbohydrate addicted' athlete. In other words 'Your body will make as much glucose as it needs, but it takes time to adapt. After 3-4 months high intensity athletic performance is restored 100%'

Honey is 82.4% (by weight) carbohydrate.
Honey is composed primarily of the sugars glucose and fructose; its third greatest component is water.

I'm doing low carb/zero carb myself carnivore (now 3 months) after 5 years of keto diet and I'm finding I can now exercise more! However, recovery still takes twice as long as it should - that I suspect is probably due to insomnia. The improvement in my health is quite noticeable.

 

[GreenEdge]

Metabolic Flexibility

Edit: According to the above Dr. Caryn Zinn video it takes most athletes at least 3-4 months and possibly up to 9 months to regain high intensity performance. The dot points at 12:00 summarizes results of earlier trials and from 15:00 the results after 9 months or more of keto adaption before starting the trial - that appear to show restoring muscle glycogen at same rate as the high carbohydrate athletes.

 

[Replenished]

I always feel better generally on lower carb, Paleo type diets. But Keto I felt so depleted in my muscles. In general my energy levels didn't feel to bad but any sort of attempt to use strength or vigorous movement literally felt like my muscles had nothing in them. It felt dangerous at time so I had to stop the diet. I appreciate what you say though @GreenEdge it probably takes quite some time to adapt.

 

[GreenEdge]

Sorry @Replenished for delay in replying. From what you describe it does sound like 'hitting the wall' or the bonk - a condition of sudden fatigue and loss of energy which is caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles. When the body switches fuels from carbohydrate to fat burning, there's an intermediate step of protein recycling within cells (not muscle breakdown) that fuels the body for about an hour before your body ramps up lipolysis (fat breakdown) and production of ketones. You were probably attempting intense exercise during this transition period - essentially the same as 'hitting the wall'. Not long before this transition begins there's usually hunger or cravings. I found a high fat zero carb meal like Salmon helped quell such hunger and get me into Ketosis. Another option is MCT oil which the body supposedly can quickly convert into ketones.

I wonder, is the muscle fatigue in 'hitting the wall' a direct result of energy starvation within the muscle cells? Or is it created within the brain (to make you stop exercise) in order to protect itself? - since the brains requirement for energy takes precedence.

Sounds like stopping the diet was absolutely the right thing to do - since you know that's safe. And because some other action based on a wrong assumption could possibly result in loss of consciousness. If you were wearing a Continuous Glucose Monitor to ensure blood glucose remained at a safe level then you could experiment (without stopping the diet) with small amounts of clean (non-toxic) carbohydrate fuels like berries or a teaspoon of raw dark honey.

I wonder, could you have provided fuel for the body without raising insulin?
My thoughts about exogenous ketone supplements: Research has shown the overall effect of the ingested BHB is to decrease lipolysis (fat breakdown) - not what you want. And it would do nothing to restore depleted glycogen stores. Not good.
What about Fructose? Fructose does not raise insulin. It is converted into glucose and glycogen mainly within the liver and also within muscle cells. Hence the suggestion of fruit or honey (in above preceding paragraph).

What about honey - different opinions - generally not recommended until you're metabolically healthy!
Is Honey Okay on the Carnivore Diet?
Is Honey Carnivore/Animal-Based? -

My apologies to original poster. I was too quick to dogmatically preach the 100% pure carnivore diet - that is recommended for people with autoimmune conditions like ME/CFS. If you find honey works for you, good for you!