The Carb Advice You Didn’t Expect to See in 2026

I had a genuine pause reading a new carbohydrate review this week.

Not because carbs were criticised.
But because Tim Noakes was one of the authors.

If you’ve followed endurance nutrition for more than five minutes, that alone should make you uneasy.

So I slowed down and actually read it.

The paper doesn’t argue that carbs are bad. It also doesn’t argue for high-carb fuelling as a default. The core idea is narrower and more uncomfortable than that.

The authors argue that the main role of carbs during long exercise is to prevent blood glucose from dropping, not to constantly “top up” muscle glycogen. In other words, carbs are there to stop a failure state, not to act as a universal performance accelerator.

From that framing, they make a claim that will clash hard with modern fuelling culture:
the minimum effective carb dose may be much lower than most athletes currently assume.

In some cases, they argue that very small amounts of carbohydrate during exercise can be enough to maintain blood glucose and protect performance. That’s a long way from the idea that more grams per hour is always better.

This is where the discomfort should kick in.

Not because the paper is obviously wrong.
But because it’s not neutral either.

It’s a narrative review with a strong thesis. The authors have long-standing positions in the low-carb and ketone space, and they disclose commercial ties that align with that worldview. That doesn’t invalidate the work, but it does raise the bar for how confidently you accept sweeping conclusions.

There’s also history here. Noakes has been a polarising figure in nutrition for years, and that context matters. Any new paper with his name on it is going to trigger reactions before the science is even considered.

So here’s the position I’m taking, and the one I’d suggest you take too.

This paper is not a reason to ditch carbs.
It’s also not a reason to blindly push maximal carb intake.

What it is is a reminder to ask a better question.

What problem are you actually trying to solve with carbs?

If you fade mentally late, feel flat, lose decision-making, or suddenly hit a wall, that’s often a blood glucose problem. Strategic carbs help there.

If your issue is repeated surges, high-end power late, or racing aggression under fatigue, higher carb intakes may still make sense.

The mistake is treating fuelling as ideology instead of physiology.

Read this paper as an argument, not a verdict.
Notice where it makes you uncomfortable.
Then test what matters in the real world.

Your legs, your gut, and your late-ride decisions will give you a clearer answer than any camp ever will.

Reference
Noakes TD, Volek JS, Phinney SD, et al.
Carbohydrate Ingestion on Exercise Metabolism and Physical Performance.
Endocrine Reviews. Published online 21 January 2026.

On my mindLetting Things Go

This week wasn’t about big breakthroughs. It was about loosening my grip.

I had a long conversation with an athlete who’d lost momentum. Not fitness. Motivation. Joy. The usual culprits. Holiday downtime, disrupted routines, and in their case, literal snow outside the door. About 15 cm of it.

What stood out wasn’t the training detail. It was how long it took to feel like themselves again. Three or four weeks just to remember why they ride in the first place.

That stuck with me.

It’s easy to underestimate how much energy it takes to restart. Not physically. Mentally. Especially when conditions aren’t ideal and the calendar says you “should” be motivated by now.

On my side, I’ve been wrestling with something simpler but just as real. Mornings.

I like late nights. Always have. I do good thinking then. But I’m also feeling the cost of early alarms and broken sleep. And this week it clicked that if I want one part of my life to change, something else has to go.

There’s no hack there. No optimisation. Just a trade-off.

You don’t get to keep everything.

Sometimes progress is less about adding the next right thing, and more about being willing to retire the version of yourself that no longer fits.

That’s where I’m sitting this week.

Damian