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Understanding Carbohydrates July 24, 2010

A couple days ago, I had a strong reminder why carbohydrates are important and should not be over looked when exercising or competing in cardiovascular activates.

On this particular day, I didn’t pack my usual pre-workout meal that I typically bring with me to work, figuring I would have time after work to eat before going off to my workout. Well something came up and I was not able to eat before my workout. Looking at the time, I figured I would just go without my meal and I would be fine.

What a mistake that turned out to be. What I found out was within the first 20 minutes of my workout, I was completely out of energy and done with my workout, which usual lasts 60 minute. You could say I hit the wall; I was tapped out before I got to the half waypoint of my workout, which I usually complete the full 60 minutes of.

This experience reminded me just how important our pre-workout and pre-competition meals are and the roll carbohydrates play in those meals.

The first thing to know about carbohydrates is that they exist in most foods, and they are generally responsible for creating energy. There are, however, “good” carbs and “bad” ones. We consider carbs to be good or bad depending upon their effect on the body and their actual nutrition content.

What do we mean by their “effect on the body”? Well, the body takes the naturally occurring sugars in carbs and converts them to energy in the form of glucose. Glucose is the only usable form of simple sugar in the body.

If the energy is not needed at the time, the body stores this in the form of fat. Consider that when someone is exercising and their coach says “go for the burn”, what they are talking about is the tingling or itching sensation that many people experience as their fat cells release this stored up energy.

So, when we eat a food with carbohydrates we are creating the scenario for having energy or for building fat. How do we know which carbs to eat and which to avoid? This is actually a very simple answer; we consider the type of starch in the food and how the body will ingest it.

There are three accepted descriptions of starch or carbs, and theses descriptions generally look at how the food affects the body’s insulin levels, which in turn will control weight gain or loss as well as energy. There are quickly digested starches that create a sharp rise in blood sugar, there are slowly digested carbs that enter the blood stream over a longer period of time, and then there are an interesting group known as “resistant” starches, which make their way to the large intestine to be processed and have no effect on blood sugar.

Basically, this all means that the higher the percentage of a quickly digested starch within a particular food, the higher the glycemic index, or GI. The GI of a food basically translates to the numeric value assigned to that food in relation to how quickly it affects blood glucose. For example sugar has a GI of 100.

Obviously all foods will have a measurable GI, and the way to understand what this means for the body is to simply note that a food with a higher GI value is likely to lead to the creation and storage of fat on the body. This is because it will increase the insulin level dramatically in the blood, which transfers the sugar or glucose into the liver and then gets stored as fat.

This also means that choosing low GI foods will provide a longer insulin release period that delivers a nice, desirable stream of energy that can be used over a longer period of time without many concerns for fat storage. This is the reason that many athletes aim to eat a meal that offers lower GI foods a few hours before they must play or perform. This is because the long, slow burn of the glucose in the meal will give them a reliable and consistent level of energy.

What about the resistant starches? These are usually known as “fiber” and they aid the digestive process in many ways. When they reach the large intestine they will begin to ferment and actually create beneficial bacteria and certain fats that cannot be produced anywhere else in the body. Most of the resistant starches are considered to be nonglycemic, but there are actually few foods that are entirely resistant – for example many beans are resistant to a great degree.

To understand how to identify good carbs versus bad carbs it helps to consider the amount of processing the food has undergone, and how that might affect the GI of it. For example, many whole grains that are eaten “intact” or un-ground are considered partially resistant, whereas grains that are ground into flour are highly glycemic because the processing eliminates some of the steps our bodies would have taken to digest the food. This is best seen when comparing the GI of whole wheat berries versus a slice of wheat bread. The bread, even though it is of the whole grain variety, will have a GI very close to a slice of white bread.

As stated a bit earlier, an athlete would aim to ingest a low GI meal a few hours before entering into a game or competition. The foods they would choose would have lower to intermediate GI counts. The GI index is as follows:

Low GI = below 55

Intermediate GI = 55 to 70

High GI = all foods above 70

A good example of a nice balance of GI foods for an athlete would include a heavy grain bread, one or two apples and some protein. Obviously this indicates that the good carbs are also high in fiber and relatively unprocessed.

The bad carbs are those that are highly processed and cause the blood sugar levels to spike, which then leads to an equally rapid decline. This decline feels like an energy “crash” leaving the individual depleted and also allowing them to store fat.

Some examples of high GI foods that should not be frequently consumed include, pastry, candy, refined white flour baked goods and breads, soda, and foods that are heavily laden with preservatives and artificial flavorings.
So, carbohydrates are not all bad, and someone who takes the time to assess their impact will be able to make wise choices for their own diet.

Another example and my personal favorite pre-workout meal is as follows. I consume this meal three to two hours before my intense cardio workouts and soccer games. Consuming this meal, two to three hours before allow you body to fully digest the meal and load your body’s energy stores. It also allows your body to completely digest the meal, which demands blood for digestion to take place. With digestion, completed within those two to three hours, your body’s blood can focus on supplying your moving muscles with what they need during exercise working harder and longer.

The pre-workout meal I like is one serving old fashion Quaker oatmeal (use the original plan oatmeal, not the flavored stuff), one cup of blue barriers, one teaspoon or organic almond butter and one large class of water. I consume this two to three hours before intense workouts and competition.

If you are not currently doing something like this, try this meal out and let me know how it works for you or if you have a different pre-workout meal you would like to share, let me know what it is.

JT

Secrets about pre-workout and competition meals. June 18, 2010

If you would like to learn the secrets of pre-workout and/or competition event meal and how to maximize their effectiveness, then you have to read this. I’ll cover how pre-workout meals help your performance, the time window you have to consume a pre-workout meal, so it actually helps you instead of hurting you and what food to consider when creating your own pre-workout or competition event meal.

Just last week I was discussing a pre-competition event meal with someone on my soccer team, when it hit me, how man people haven’t heard of or put in place a good meal to help fuel their workout or competition event. Thinking back when I first heard of the pre-workout meal, I can remember times when I would have a great workout, pushing hard the whole way through the workout and feel great at the end of the workout. However, I can also recall times when I would start what I thought would be a great workout then about 10 minutes into the workout, I would feeling exhausted and completely out of energy. I would wonder what went wrong. How could I be out of energy already? Did I get enough sleep? Was my mind somewhere else? Was it stress? Did I eat enough?

I later learned I simply didn’t eat correctly to fill up my energy (glycogen) stores. You can say the tank was running on empty before I even stated my workout. The key to performing intense workouts is to have energy or glycogen available to fuel our working muscles. Without glycogen, we simply don’t have the energy to fuel our workouts.

Our liver is able to store between 300 and 400 calories of glycogen and our blood stream is able circulate not more than another 100 calories of glycogen at a time. This gives our bodies the ability to store between 400 to 500 calories of glycogen at a time. If we take the time to properly, fill our glycogen stores we will have a steady flow of energy to perform at a much higher peak for a much longer period.

Although pre-workout meals can load our glycogen stores and help to sustain perform at a high level for a much longer period, if we do not consume our meal at the right time, we can actually do more harm than good. This is why the timing of the meal is just as important as what we actually eat.

The pre-workout or competition meal should be consumed two to three hours prior to starting your workout or any prolonged and/or intense physical activity. This gives your body enough time to fully digest your meal and load your muscles, liver and blood stream with glycogen. There is a physiological change that takes place when food is ingested. This change redirects blood flow from the muscles to digestion.

Since the body’s total blood volume remains the same, the movement of excess blood to any part of the body requires an enlargement of the vessels in that specific region, and a reduction in the size of the vessels in all other parts of the body. When you eat, there is a greater need for blood in and around the area of digestion for the purpose of carrying nutrients to the main vascular system. When vessels dilate around digestion, they constrict in muscular areas. If you perform prolonged and/or intense exercise during digestion, the central nervous system will constrict vessels around digestion and dilate in the working muscles. This nervous input and redirection of blood flow slows digestive processes and the motility of the digesting food in the gut. As a result, you may experience cramping, nausea, dizziness, and general feeling of fatigue.

With your pre-workout or competition meal, you want to have an easily digested, high complex carbohydrate meal with a minimum of fiber, simple sugars, and saturated fat. High fiber foods will service no real value right before a competition and may cause the need for an untimely bathroom break if your event lasts a while, which if during a competition may not work well. Fat slows down digestion and has no positive influence on fuels metabolized during workout or events. Too many simple sugars can spike your insulin levels, causing a rapid removal of blood sugar and actually leaving you feeling more tired and with your glycogen stores still not full. As mentioned above you want to consume a high complex carbohydrate meal three hour before your workout or competition. This will allow a slower release of glucose into the bloodstream to fill your muscles and liver without the over release of insulin, which causes glucose to be carried and stored as adipose tissue (fat).

Although insulin is important to carry glucose into your muscles and liver, you do not want too much insulin to be released. When blood sugar level are too high, an over release of insulin accrues to remove glucose from the bloodstream. Since the muscles and liver and absorbed glucose at a slow rate, the excess glucose ends up being stored as adipose tissue (fat). To avoid this, make sure your carbohydrates come from complex carbohydrate sources.

For workouts or competitions lasting over 60 minutes to 90 minutes or more, it is also a good idea to consume a light amount of protein with your pre-workout or competition meal. Protein is the body’s building blocks, which helps with muscle repair and helps prevent cannibalization of muscles. Additionally, protein can be converted for energy use, but is done at a slower rate than carbohydrates, which can provide and energy source later in the workout.

Although a pre-workout meal or competition meal can be made up of many different foods, below are some suggestions you may find useful. Be sure to choose high starch food such as skinless potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, rice, pasta, plain bagels, or low fiber hot cereals. For protein, I suggest egg whites or a light protein shake. One of my favorite pre-workout or competition meals is one serving of old fashion oat meal, with a cup of blue barriers or a banana with a dash of cinnamon on top. If I feel the need for extra calories or know, I am going to have a longer or harder workout I may add one tablespoon of all natural almond butter.

I hope you find this information useful. Be sure to let me know what you think and how this works for you. If you have any recipes you would like to share, sent them my way and I will be sure to post them.