Originally Posted by
Oregonbulldog
Does a dog need simple carbs ( cytomax, gatoraid,) to replenish glucose in it's muscles like a person does before, after and during training?
The short answer is, it depends. For short bursts, yes, but for longer endurance feats, no.
First of all, dogs store glycogen in their muscles, not glucose. If you read the article, Running On Empty, Alaskan sled dogs are given a 60-70% fat diet, and travel incredible distances (100 miles/day), without ever seeming to get tired.
The initial belief regarding canine conditioning and supplementation was to apply what is true about humans to dogs. However, what was found that the dog is unique and (where we cannot process fat-into-energy very well) the dog has a 400% greater capacity to pull turn fat into useable energy, and has a metabolism that prefers to draw from fat, even when carbs are available. This is in stark contrast to the human metabolism. In fact, here is a key quote:
"Stranger still, by the later stages of a race like the Iditarod, glycogen stores actually increase, indicating that the dogs are relying almost exclusively on fats for fuel. It is as though a cellular switch is flipped following the first hard day of racing, after which the dogs’ muscles seem to prefer burning fats over carbohydrates."
Therefore, current thinking is that dogs have a very minimal need for carbohydrates in long-distance affairs.
Jack
So in competition a dog could use simple carbs because he is bursting short? And fat ,cuz he's processing it like no other, for the endurance?
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