Workout Nutrition: Facts & Myths | Nutrition & Dieting slideshows | Well Being center

Carbohydrates Don't Need to be Avoided Completely

Carbohydrates are the most misunderstood macronutrient, having been the subject of 80s fad diets for body builders that emphasized 'carb packing' and later 1990s fat loss diets that emphasized avoiding carbohydrates almost entirely. The fact is that carbohydrates have no value to the body, except as an energy source. Short chain carbohydrates, those with a high GI, cause blood sugar spikes, reducing insulin sensitivity and triggering fat laydown - unless the body is in need of the calories, whereupon they are simply apportioned for use straight out of the bloodstream. Use carbohydrates as they're meant to be used - as a fuel source, nothing more.

Sources & Links

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Photo courtesy of Keith and Kasia Moore by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/keith_and_kasia/3544232280/
www.bodybuilding.com/fun/a-beginners-guide-to-workout-nutrtion.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/what-eat-before-during-after-exercise
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/nutrition/best-workout-foods/
http://www.simplyshredded.com/top-10-post-workout-nutrition-myths-dave-barr-2.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/3-nutrition-myths-that-are-severely-impeding-your-post-workout-recovery
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/66363.php

Sports Drinks Are Advertised as Being 'Better Than Water' - But Are They Really?

Sports drinks are sold on the understanding that they hydrate you better than water. Wait, what? Sports drinks hydrate you better than water because they address the missing electrolytes lost in sweat and metabolism during exercise. Electrolytes are minerals salts that govern the exchange of fluids between cells. Without them cells can't exchange fluids and your water isn't absorbed properly. While some sports drinks are slightly more effective than water, water remains effective, and the most effective drink for post exercise hydration is milk, whose electrolyte balance is perfect and which also contains a range of fats, protein and carbohydrate that refuels the body admirably.

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Exercising On An Empty Stomach Is Usually A Bad Idea

Training on an empty stomach, or 'fasting training' has its advocates. Some paleo advocates say it helps to increase insulin sensitivity, and of course, if you're preparing for an event that you're going to need to perform when hungry it makes sense to prepare yourself. But for most people, a long training session on an empty stomach is a bad idea. The only real exception is for those who are trying to lose fat, who might find that fasting cardio is effective in reaching their body composition goals. Conversely, if you're trying to gain weight or to it's a good idea tom take care of pre-workout nutrition and train in caloric surplus for anabolysis.

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The Post Workout Meal is The Most Important Meal of the Day

The most important meal of the day is breakfast? Well... depends what you're doing, and when. If you're training, the most important meal of the day is the one you have after training and the second most important is the one you have just before training. There's a window of opportunity - the 'anabolic window' - of about six hours after you finish training that can be taken advantage of to give the body protein which will be preferentially used to produce new muscle tissue. During this time, you need to take on some fuel - and if you take on only protein, your body will use that as fuel - and on top of your caloric needs, a good-sized bump of protein.

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... But It's the Nurients That Matter, Not the Form They Come In

When people talk about 'meals' they can mean either a meal as we normally understand the term - a pile of assorted foods on a plate, served on a table and eaten with cutlery - or a massive shake containing nutrients as powders. The point is, it doesn't really matter: whatever you use, you'll get similar results. The nutrient content and the timing are what matter. If you leave the gym and down a shake, fine; if you leave the gym drive home and have a roast dinner, fine. It's about getting plenty of fuel and some protein to resupply your glycogen stores and repair and build muscle, respectively.

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Eating Large Amounts of Protein Immediately After Your Workout

The best time to eat a large amount of protein is immediately after training, or within the hour after training. Taking advantage of that anabolic window and the surge in testosterone and human growth hormone that accompanies intense training means getting a boost in protein into your body soon after training finishes. While it's often more convenient to do this by taking a protein powder based shake, it can also be effective to eat your protein in the form of a chicken sandwich - the important thing is to get plenty of carbs, some fat and plenty of protein into the body quickly.

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High-protein Diets Build Muscle And Ensure Health

The amount of protein that's needed to be healthy is a moot point, Over the last few decades, the WHO has revised the recommended dietary protein content down several times and American authorities currently recommend about 40 grams of protein a day for a woman. The received wisdom in the bodybuilding world is that a gram of protein per pound of target bodyweight per day is a bare minimum. While that would mean consuming a very high level of protein, many people aren't even hitting the 40-50g a day mark. If you want to lose fat, or if you want to gain muscle, you need to eat protein - there's no getting around it.

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Whey Protein is Absorbed Fast, Making it an Ideal Post Workout Choice

Whey protein is an ideal post training supplement. Unlike the other protein in milk, casein, whey is absorbed fast, and it's nutritionally complete, meaning you'll get the whole bunch of amino acids that you need from whey protein. Whey protein supplementation is a favorite for its affordability too: it's among the least expensive and most versatile forms of protein supplementation and apart from a slight milky aftertaste is not strongly flavored, meaning it can be mixed in with other ingredients to produce shakes and used in cooking too.

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Stay Away From Excessive Alcohol Consumption - It Breaks Down Muscle Tissue

Alcohol is catabolic - it breaks down muscle tissue. It also has negative effects on the hormonal balance, particularly tending to drive down testosterone levels. It also causes metabolic disturbances, and it places a high strain on the body's antioxidant capacity since several of its breakdown products make major contributions to oxidative stress. While it's a good idea to avoid excessive alcohol intake, a small amount may help management of stress, promoting a lower-cortisol environment, and red wine in particular contains a substance known as resveratrol, which is thought to promote a less inflammatory and more anabolic environment as well as being a proven antioxidant.

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Eggs Are a Good Source of Protein and a Wide Range of Fats

Eggs have been a favorite of bodybuilders for decades: they're high in protein, with each egg having between 6 and 9 grams depending on size, they're convenient, and they're cheap. What they're not is low in fat; eggs have at least as much fat as protein. For a couple of decades, therefore, experts have tried to persuade people to eat less eggs. However, the fats that eggs contain can be extremely beneficial; while they contain cholesterol, their cholesterol content can actually reduce blood cholesterol by 'wiping' so-called 'bad' cholesterol off the arterial walls. Eggs are a valuable part of a healthy diet and shouldn't be underestimated.