Book Review: The Endurance Diet by Matt Fitzgerald

How many of us runners struggle with nutrition? I know I do. Over the years, I've made adjustments in my diet based on experiences--good and bad--while training for endurance events. I think I've found what works for me, but could I be doing things differently? Probably. There doesn't seem to be a lot of agreement on what is the perfect balance of carbs, proteins, and fats needed to sustain an endurance athlete.

In his new book: The Endurance Diet: Discover the 5 Core Habits of the World’s Greatest Athletes to Look, Feel, and Perform Better, running expert and sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald shares the research behind the diet that he says fuels the majority of the world's elite athletes.

Fitzgerald identifies 5 key principles to the endurance diet: 

1. Eat Everything,
2. Eat Quality,
3. Eat Carb-Centered,
4. Eat Enough,
5. Eat Individually.

If you've ever read any of Fitzgerald's books, you know there's a lot of science behind his information. Being a science gal myself, I feel comfortable with this approach. As most of us know, there is a lot of bad nutritional information out there. My Facebook feed is full of posts from folks following a variety of eating plans including Beachbody, Paleo, and Gluten-free. Pretty much everyone is a "nutritional expert", or so it seems. That's a big problem for us non-elites. It's tough to sort out the good nutritional information from the bad. Most people get their diet info from popular press or friends who may have had success following a fad diet. I mean, heck, when I was in college, my roommates and I wanted to drop the freshman 15 and so we were all on the "grapefruit diet". Yes, the "grapefruit diet" is exactly what it sounds like. All we ate was grapefruit. Did we lose weight? I don't think so--most of us gave up after a day or two because it was so restrictive. 

Most runners don't follow such extreme diets--at least I hope not--but judging by the food pictures in my Instagram feed, I think a lot of folks aren't eating the Endurance Diet. As I read about the 5 principles of the diet, I found myself nodding my head. Eat everything? Yes, please! But wait, eat quality? Fitzgerald is talking high-quality foods like veggies, nuts, seeds, legumes, lean meats, seafood, whole grains, and dairy. Even with the emphasis on healthy foods, so-called low-quality foods are not completely off limits. That means my Hershey's chocolate nuggets get to stay. Me likey.

Eat carb centered? Yes, carbs are good, if you choose high-quality carbs. Carbohydrates provide us with the fuel our muscles need to function. According to Fitzgerald, most elite athletes eat 60-80% of their calories as carbs. Talking about carbs reminds me of how most of us are so prone to extremes--when I talk about carbs to my overweight patients, I often hear the remark: "carbs are bad". Not all of them are bad. But if all you eat are processed white carbs, then Houston, we have a problem. Quality carbs include whole grains, fruits, and veggies. 

Fitzgerald encourages athletes to avoid restricting caloric intake, which is one sure way to bonk. By paying attention to their appetites and responding to their dietary needs in general, including individualizing what they eat, all athletes can perform better. Throughout the book, he gives plenty of examples of elite athletes and how they meet their nutritional requirements. There is information on building the habit of the healthy diet and lots of encouragement of how to stick with it. At the end of the book are recipes and nutritional information. 

If you are looking to find that missing piece to your running puzzle or just want to develop healthier eating habits, Fitzgerald's book is probably the best "how-to" manual I've read. With his trademark evidence-based information, this book is solid science on fueling properly for the long run. There's nothing fancy here, nothing extreme. The Endurance Diet is a sustainable, common-sense eating plan.

As an aside, a study was recently published debunking the controversial low carb-high fat diet that some athletes follow. Also known as the ketogenic diet, this most recent study showed how the low carb-high fat diet negatively impacted endurance. If you want to read more, Alex Hutchinson does a nice summary on RunnersWorld.com, with a link to the study. 

Disclaimer: I received a galley copy of The Endurance Diet from DaCapo Press in exchange for my honest review. All opinions here, as always, are my own.

Do you follow a carb-centered diet? What diet works for you? 

Here's the link-up badge! Remember that the link-up stays open for 2 weeks--so there's still plenty of time to read this month's book and share your review. The comments stay open forever. If you want to link-up another fitness related book, that's ok too. Try to comment on everyone's review. Thanks for participating and for supporting our authors and the book club!

Next month, we're reading about an American running icon! Frank Shorter, 1972 Olympic marathon gold medalist, shares his journey in his memoir, My Marathon: Reflections on a Gold Medal Life. Thanks to Ana, who writes over at Mother Run Hike Repeat, for the suggestion. This link-up will go live February 17.

I'm linking this post up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for the Friday Five 2.0. Because, thanks to Matt Fitzgerald, I have 5 new diet habits to share!

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