One of the biggest questions regarding one’s health revolves around dietary choices shortly following exercise. Researching this relatively simple question delivers a plethora of articles that can overwhelm with startling efficiency, which causes general confusion regarding how food affects the body during exercise. If people desire to get healthy in an efficient manner, then this confusion must be cleared up. This article intends to solve this issue by providing clear-cut information regarding what does and does not affect, enhance and hamper one’s health and exercise quality.
The first factor one must consider before enhancing their exercise with fuel for their bodies is whether they should eat before or after exercising. However, this question approaches the topic from the wrong angle as sources like the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and the Mayo Clinic agree that people should perform both actions. Specifically, the Mayo Clinic mentions how eating before exercising could allow one to push themselves further than they could otherwise, and opting for foods plentiful in energy-providing carbohydrates can bolster this effect.
However, timing plays a critical role in the effectiveness of food as an enhancement to exercise. One cannot just haphazardly consume food and immediately follow that meal with vigorous exercise but instead follow the advice of the HSS and eat “three to four hours before exercising.” This allows the body to digest and break down foods that provide the nutrients and energy needed to exercise to one’s maximum capabilities.
Of course, what one eats is as important as when they eat it. Research performed by Rothschild, Kilding and Plews mentions how an excess intake of carbohydrates before working out inhibits the human body’s ability to burn fat during vigorous exercise as the body instead opts to burn the carbohydrates for energy. This presents a conundrum when one chooses what to eat before exercising because the body needs carbohydrates to help one work out longer. Thankfully, the study performed by Rothschild and company provides a way around this issue by eating meals with a relatively low amount of carbohydrates.
However, the most crucial information to take away from this research into the relationship between food and exercise is that everyone’s body responds to food in different ways. One person’s body will never act the same as another person’s and will react to various stimuli in varying ways. Remembering to balance the facts regarding nutrition and health with how one’s body reacts to certain foods and exercises will help anyone achieve immaculate health.
