This isn't a complete analysis of post recovery and carbohydrates but I wanted to vent out a little bit on why liquid drinks are great for your recovery after a workout and why glucose, carbs, sugars are good for you. In my next post (hopefully by the end of the weekend) I'll post up other things on protein and fats benefits post-workout and what to eat and drink after a workout.
Bear with me.. haha
The consumption of nutrients immediately post-workout is absolutely essential. It helps the body recover from a grueling workout, replenish glycogen (sugar/carbohydrate) stores, repair muscle tissue, reduces post-workout soreness, raises testosterone and growth hormone levels (which are needed for overall muscle and bone development), and reduces cortisol levels (which is a stress hormone that is both good and bad for you depending on the amount flowing through your body; a good effect of cortisol is that it helps break down glucose (sugar/carbs) for you to use as energy but a bad effect is that too much cortisol has a reverse effect on all of its benefits and can make you fat and increase your chance of heart problems. Check out the effects of cortisol here: http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm
And the sooner nutrients are consumed and absorbed, the sooner the body can go from a catabolic (muscle destroying) state to an anabolic (muscle building) state. It is for this reason that a liquid meal is preferred to solid food. With a drink, one can put the dry ingredients into a bottle, and mix it with water and drink it immediately after a workout. And a liquid meal is digested and absorbed quicker than a solid foods meal.
Carbohydrates ( glucose, glycogen )
So the goal post-workout more specifically is to restore muscle glycogen (. The body will even break down muscle tissue for this purpose if carbohydrates are not available. For this reason, it is vital to include carbohydrates in the post-workout drink. But what form of carbs is best for this purpose?
Post-workout is the one time that high-glycemic carbs are preferred. This term refers to carbs that are high on the glycemic index. This is a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar and hence insulin levels. Normally, it is best to eat lower glycemic foods so as not to initiate an insulin spike. (This is kind of like that sugar rush we get when we consume foods high in carbs(sugar) and then within an hour feel sleepy and want to take a nap.)
But post-workout, the exact opposite is true. The elevated insulin levels will help to drive nutrients into the muscle cells. This is why it’s paramount that you intake carbohydrates directly after a workout. If your resources to food and drinks are limited from post-workout shakes/smoothies & other drinks, a can of soda is actually good for you because your body NEEDS the glucose to get into your muscles cells regardless of how fast it gets absorbed into your body. At times, I may not have fruit post workout because it is a low-glycemic sugar (fructose – fruit sugar) and is digested slowly, so slowly that my body won’t use this to restore muscle glycogen.
*Muscle glycogen is the conserved energy within your muscles that prepare your body to use energy later in the day (like how bicyclists consume a lot of carbs before a race because they’re muscles are going to need all that energy (muscle glycogen) for the race.
Ideally a liquid post-workout drink is best. But when that is not available solid foods will due. Fortunately for you guys that think working out a lot and getting in good shape will force you to eat nothing but lean meat, power bars, vegetables, fruit and none of that good soul food type stuff are wrong. The following site has a list of foods within the glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemix index (70 or more) are absorbed into your muscles more quickly and will help you RECOVER faster: http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm
If you have the sources to foods, powders or anything with dextrose/maltodextrin please do so. Dextrose is simply the name for glucose that has been derived from corn. Glucose is the body's primary energy source, and the form in which carbs must be converted into to be used to create glycogen.
Moreover, dextrose can be absorbed directly through the gut into the bloodstream. And with this rapid absorption, it raises blood sugar and insulin levels faster than any other carb. And since it is already in the form the body requires, it can be used immediately for glycogen replenishment.
Maltodextrin, on the other hand, is actually a complex carb. But its molecular chain is shorter than other complex carbs. Moreover, it is consists of loosely bonded glucose molecules. And like dextrose, maltodextrin is absorbed directly through the gut. So it raises blood sugar and insulin levels as much as dextrose does.
However, before maltodextrin can be utilized, it must first pass through the liver for the bonds between the glucose molecules to be broken down. So the rate at which it is used for glycogen replenishment is slower than with dextrose. However, because it is metabolized slower, there will not be as quick of a drop of insulin and blood sugar levels as with dextrose.
When you start to fill your body up with glycogen stores from doing this you’ll notice that you’ll be able to go through your workouts easier than before. Having these glycogen stores will give you the energy you need to recover throughout the day after your workout and consistently doing this will keep you energized throughout the week; this is why when people start to work out more and eat healthier, they seem to have more energy all-around. One thing to keep in mind though is not consuming too many carbs after a workout because then you’ll get that spike in glucose (sugars) and crash (just like how people crash from drinking rockstars/monsters/red bull type drinks).
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