Low Glycemic Index Meal Best Before Exercise

Muscles use mainly carbohydrates for fuel at exercise intensities above 65 percent of maximum effort. Carb sources include blood sugar, muscle and liver glycogen, and blood sugar made from other fuels in the liver. Assuming you’re not a nocturnal eater, a good night’s sleep depletes liver and muscle glycogen. Eating a meal two to three hours before training helps restore depleted fuels and boosts exercise performance. Researchers from Taiwan found that consuming a low glycemic index (GI) meal three hours before exercise increased endurance running performance better than eating a high glycemic index meal. GI is a measure of how much a food or meal increases blood sugar. High-sugar foods such as soft drinks have a high GI, while foods higher in complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, have a lower GI. The researchers speculated that high-GI foods increase carbohydrate use during exercise, which caused more rapid depletion of vital glycogen stores in the muscles and liver. Eat more complex carbohydrates as part of your pre-training or pre-competitive meal. Examples of complex carbs include whole grain bread and flour, pasta, brown or wild rice, beans and corn. (Nutrition RX Info-Bits - By Steve Blechman and Thomas Fahey, EdD)