Still starving for exercise? Nutritional supplements before, during and after exercise are more effective

The first point of sports nutrition is not to eat on an empty stomach before exercise! Because it is easy to faint if your blood sugar is too low, and your body will break down muscles to produce energy, so never exercise while hungry.

In addition, during and after exercise, you should also pay attention to replenishing water and nutrition to repair the nutrients needed by the body from the inside out, promote the increase of body muscle mass, and achieve the goal of muscle training.

Before exercise:

1 to 2 hours before exercise, you should supplement "carbohydrates", especially "low GI" (Glycemic Index) foods. The GI value is the index of how much food "causes blood sugar to rise". When we consume low GI foods, blood sugar will remain in a relatively stable state, supplying the body's cells normally for use, and will not accumulate too much fat, making it less likely to gain weight.

Before exercise, you can eat high-quality low-GI foods such as apples, whole-wheat toast, oatmeal or sweet potatoes. As for the amount of supplementation, it should be adjusted appropriately based on the time and intensity of the next exercise.

During exercise:

You can replenish water at any time during exercise, because heat energy is generated during exercise, which must be dissipated through sweating. Drink more water and sweat more, otherwise your body temperature will be too high and cause heat exhaustion.

If you sweat a lot, you can replenish your body with sports drinks. Commercially available sports drinks are divided into three types: "high osmotic pressure", "low osmotic pressure", and "isosmotic pressure", mainly because of the different ratios of electrolytes and sugars. When you sweat a lot, you should drink "isotonic" sports drinks to replenish water and electrolytes so as not to put too much burden on the cells.

After exercise:

Should you eat after exercising? Many people think that eating after exercise will make them fatter again, so it is better to endure hunger and work hard to lose weight!

In fact, after exercise, muscles' ability to absorb nutrients is much stronger than fat. Most of the nutrients we eat go to nourish muscles rather than accumulate fat. Therefore, after exercise, we should focus on replenishing "protein" and "carbohydrates."

But the key point is that you must eat within the golden time of 20 to 60 minutes after exercise. If you delay eating until 2 to 3 hours later, most of the nutrients will not be used to synthesize muscles, but will accumulate fat.

For some people, the purpose of weight training is to grow muscles, so the intake of protein and carbohydrates is even more important. It is recommended to match them in a ratio of 1:3 to 1:4, and the total calories should be controlled at around 300 to 400 calories.

Some people only drink high-protein drinks or eat a lot of protein after exercise, thinking that this will help them build muscle! In fact, eating it alone will not have much effect, because the synthesis of protein requires the help of carbohydrates. Choosing high-GI foods after exercise, such as white rice, toast, bagels, etc., can stimulate the secretion of insulin faster, and insulin will help amino acids enter muscle tissue to synthesize protein. The two complement each other and have a better muscle-building effect.

In addition, another benefit of consuming high-GI foods after exercise is that it replenishes glycogen in the muscles, which can accelerate physical recovery and shorten the time of fatigue after exercise, which is very important for adults who have regular exercise habits.

Food options for sports enthusiasts

According to a survey conducted by the Taiwan Nutrition Foundation on people who eat out, the proportion of people eating out for lunch was the highest among the three meals, reaching 71%, while 62% of people ate out for breakfast. The number of people eating out for dinner was slightly lower, but still at 49%.

For office workers who love sports, it is not easy to go home and cook before or after exercise, so most of them choose to find food nearby! Therefore, after heavy training, you can supplement 15 grams of protein and 45 grams of carbohydrates. If you go to a convenience store to buy, you should develop a good habit of looking at the nutritional label on the package and calculate whether it is close to the proportion.

It is recommended to pair it with sweet potatoes and tea eggs, milk and tuna rice balls, or soy milk and small buns. In addition, you can also go to a general snack bar and order a bowl of chicken rice with egg drop soup; or order a toast with egg and soy milk at a breakfast shop, which are all good dietary choices.

Exercise and nutrition are indispensable, especially eating well and eating right before, during and after exercise to make the body healthier, effectively help men gain muscle and lose fat, help women maintain their figure and not gain weight again, and help the elderly avoid sarcopenia, so that you can move towards a happy life in a healthy way.

This article is from the book "My Plate - Tailor-made by Peking University Health Science Center Nutrition Authority" by CommonWealth Publishing