Poliquin's Simple Carb Tolerance Test

I saw this recommendation god knows how long ago.

I believe it is a poor indicator of whether a person should eat carbs or not, like very poor.

No it’s not a poor indicator and plus, u can do it anytime, it do not need to be done in breakfast… after a while without eating, empty stomach, U can do it. If you eat a lot of carbs and feel letargic, U cannot eat a lot of carbs… if you eat and feel GOOD, do not feel like you want to sleep, then U can go with the carbs… it is not poor, it is a indicator, but, of course, it is not the final word, but, always work.

Yeah…seems like a pretty poor indicator to me.

Its Bro Science.

I personally get lethargic if I have carbs with breakfast. Feel much more alert and energetic on high protein and small amount of fat. Whether it’s an indicator of carb tolerance or not I have no idea. I just do what gives me results and makes me feel good.

I switched up my conventional wisdom Big Carb Breakfast to Meat, Eggs, Nuts and Seeds about 3 years ago and have had not a single a.m. blood glucose crash since.

I have become very carb sensitive, so much so that I only ingest them peri-training. I earn them.
Has done wonders for my brain, body, bodyfat and energy levels.

Has gotten to the point if I eat but two donuts in the a.m. I will crash beautifully within an hour.
As mentioned, is it the be all - end all ? No. But it truly is a good way to see how carb sensitive you are.

I challenge ye. Eat Meat, eggs, nuts and cheese for three days running for breakfast and see how different you feel.

[quote]Thiago Monteiro wrote:
No it’s not a poor indicator and plus, u can do it anytime, it do not need to be done in breakfast… after a while without eating, empty stomach, U can do it. If you eat a lot of carbs and feel letargic, U cannot eat a lot of carbs… if you eat and feel GOOD, do not feel like you want to sleep, then U can go with the carbs… it is not poor, it is a indicator, but, of course, it is not the final word, but, always work.[/quote]

He doesn’t say what amount of carbs or how many calories should be in this meal. Any large meal can make someone feel tired, even if has zero carbs. He is also speaking as if carbs are for some unknown reason a drowsiness-inducing food and he doesn’t say why this is so.

But then there is the idea in nutrigenomics that some of us are naturally better fat metabolizers and others are better carb metabolizers. Lyle McDonald wrote an interesting article on this.

After a pancake breakfast: I want to sleep, my wife is ready to go.

I just find that people don’t seem to get his straight forward approach. I know common sense is not that common, but a little goes a long way. No one talked about a full protein and fat meal and getting tired. We are talking “normal” (whatever normal is for you) and see where it goes. It is not a double blind, control and uncontrolled, random blah blah study.

Who cares the amount of carbs. It’s a rule of thumb. Like heartbeat first thing in the morning.

Will some people take it as the bible? Of course.

[quote]BrickHead wrote:

[quote]Thiago Monteiro wrote:
No it’s not a poor indicator and plus, u can do it anytime, it do not need to be done in breakfast… after a while without eating, empty stomach, U can do it. If you eat a lot of carbs and feel letargic, U cannot eat a lot of carbs… if you eat and feel GOOD, do not feel like you want to sleep, then U can go with the carbs… it is not poor, it is a indicator, but, of course, it is not the final word, but, always work.[/quote]

He doesn’t say what amount of carbs or how many calories should be in this meal. Any large meal can make someone feel tired, even if has zero carbs. He is also speaking as if carbs are for some unknown reason a drowsiness-inducing food and he doesn’t say why this is so.

But then there is the idea in nutrigenomics that some of us are naturally better fat metabolizers and others are better carb metabolizers. Lyle McDonald wrote an interesting article on this. [/quote]

Right, if i eat a large enough meal, it can be nothing but bacon and eggs, i will feel lethargic as hell for a couple hours after.

Sometimes i eat carbs in the AM and feel great, other times not so much.

Sometimes i eat a massive carb meal in the morning and feel tired for a while but when i hit my workout i smash the weights like a mad man.

Nothing about this would indicate that carbs are “not for me”

[quote]audiogarden1 wrote:

[quote]BrickHead wrote:

[quote]Thiago Monteiro wrote:
No it’s not a poor indicator and plus, u can do it anytime, it do not need to be done in breakfast… after a while without eating, empty stomach, U can do it. If you eat a lot of carbs and feel letargic, U cannot eat a lot of carbs… if you eat and feel GOOD, do not feel like you want to sleep, then U can go with the carbs… it is not poor, it is a indicator, but, of course, it is not the final word, but, always work.[/quote]

He doesn’t say what amount of carbs or how many calories should be in this meal. Any large meal can make someone feel tired, even if has zero carbs. He is also speaking as if carbs are for some unknown reason a drowsiness-inducing food and he doesn’t say why this is so.

But then there is the idea in nutrigenomics that some of us are naturally better fat metabolizers and others are better carb metabolizers. Lyle McDonald wrote an interesting article on this. [/quote]

Right, if i eat a large enough meal, it can be nothing but bacon and eggs, i will feel lethargic as hell for a couple hours after.

Sometimes i eat carbs in the AM and feel great, other times not so much.

Sometimes i eat a massive carb meal in the morning and feel tired for a while but when i hit my workout i smash the weights like a mad man.

Nothing about this would indicate that carbs are “not for me”
[/quote]

Exactly. Good post.