Forget about those faddish low-carb diets! This is particularly true for performance athletes. "Carbohydrates are essential athletic performance-- in fact, to all physical & mental activity" according the the Wellness Letter from University of Calif, Berkeley (December 2004). The health/fitness/nutrition newsletter goes on to say............. There is no magic pre-game meal. The body's energy stores comes (primarily) from foods eaten hours, even days earlier, not from what you consume just before exercising. However, there are some general guidelines about what should be eaten before a prolonged workout. The goal is to maintain blood sugar & glycogen level but, at the same time, not have much undigested food in the stomach. It's best to eat 1 to 4 hours beforehand: the shorter the time to the event, the smaller the meal/snack should be. Choose high-carb foods, perferably complex carbs (with a fairly low glycemic load), but not too high in fiber, low in fat & moderate in protein-- such as pasta, low-fat yogurt (plain is best), bananas or even crackers. You need carbs after exercise as well. If you are engaged in endurance exercise on consecutive days, it is very important to start replenishing glycogen storage by eating complex carbs soon after exercising. ========================================================= For more of the article see page 6 of the Dec 2004 issue as well as an article on low-carb diets in the Nov 2004 issue. Below is the summary provided at their web site, WellnessLetter.com, for the Dec article... Why Athletes Love Carbs Many people these days avoid carbohydrates—from bread and potatoes to fruit and most vegetables—hoping to lose weight. Such diets may, or may not, work in the long term, but if you’re a serious exerciser or athlete you should think twice before going low-carb. Marathoners and other endurance athletes have long practiced “carb-loadingâ€â€”that is, eating lots of pasta and other complex carbohydrates during the days before a big event to improve their performance. Most exercisers don’t need complicated carb-loading regimens, but there’s good reason why they should still focus on carbs. Carbohydrates are essential to athletic performance—in fact, to all physical (as well as mental) activity.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter If you'd like to check out the Subsciber's Corner on the Wellness Letter web site (see prev post), try the password toast (valid for this month, Dec 2004). It will enable to look at archived articles such as the Lowdown on Low Carb from the Nov 2004 issue.
