Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
It's sort of a philosophical question, but it's not considered placebo. This is presumably a specific physiological trait selected for in evolution because it allowed someone to go a little deeper into metabolic debt when fuel was shortly to follow. There is also an insulin response in humans and animals to the same thing, presumably to prepare the body to absorb carbs in the resting state.
I knew that you weren't describing a placebo effect, I was just saying even if it turned out it was only a placebo effect.
I don't ride hard in the colder part of fall or winter. Nor do I ride far or very often. So I switch to water for my rides. Initially, my body seems to want more water and the bottles get emptied faster than they should. I've wondered if it's my body expecting the carbs and asking for more when it doesn't find any in the first gulps. Eventually after several rides, it learns there isn't any carbohydrate to be had and the bottles last much longer.