Nutritional Therapy for Sports Training 6 Essential Habits: 4 – Time your Carbohydrate & Sugar Intake Carefully Although fruits and vegetables do contain some carbohydrates, I am referring to the major sources of starch and sugars in our daily diets (such as bread, pasta, rice, cereals, potatoes, sweets, sugar etc). These types of carbohydrates require some thought as to when and if they should be consumed. Firstly, sugar (as found in soft drinks, confectionary, cookies etc) is almost devoid of any useful nutrition, and is likely to increase your body fat levels along with a host of other problems. Except for treats, eliminate it from your diet. The healthy carbohydrates are the unprocessed types (such as oats, brown rice, quinoa, & sweet potatoes). The bulk of your quality carbs are best eaten up to 2-3 hours post workout to take advantage of their role in refuelling the muscles, and in some situations can also be eaten 1 to 2 hours before activity as a pre-fuelling strategy. With the exception of breakfast (where you have not eaten for at least 9-10+ hours), eating large amounts of carbs outside of the workout time-window may be used for storage as body fat. If your goal is fat loss you should look at reducing your carbohydrate intake to post exercise. Endurance athletes with lean physiques are also an exception to this rule and will require a larger and more frequent supply of this fuel for their activities. More tips to follow ...
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:17:22 +0000
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