For people who exercise, what to eat and drink before and after a workout is always a question mark. Eating well around exercise directly affects both your performance and the results you want.
How many hours before or after exercise should I eat? Should I have a protein- or carbohydrate-focused meal? How much should I eat for the sport I do? Here are 3 basic tips to help you find the answers.
Tip 1: Eating well before exercise
Should we exercise on an empty or full stomach? This is one of the most common questions. For the best results, don't exercise on an empty stomach! Your body needs energy, and exercising hungry can lower your blood sugar and reduce your performance. Rather than heavy, hard-to-digest foods before a workout, a meal that supports your exercise and boosts your performance will help you get better results — and many studies support this. People doing intense exercise in particular should be sure not to train hungry.
That said, some studies support the idea that a morning walk on an empty stomach burns more fat. People exercising specifically to burn fat can try gentle cardio-type exercise on an empty stomach.
Tip 2: Eating well after exercise
Post-exercise nutrition has 3 aims:
- Refill the glycogen stores emptied during exercise
- Reduce muscle breakdown
- Increase protein synthesis after exercise to repair the muscles
This may sound scientific and complex, but once you start you'll find it's quite simple. Eating well after exercise means you feel less soreness, burn more fat and make faster progress toward your results. The first 2 hours after exercise are the most important and ideal window for this rebuilding process. To make good use of it, there are two key points: refill glycogen stores with carbohydrate (a banana is an easy choice after a workout), and give your muscles the protein they need (a non-GMO vegan protein bar is a convenient option to help rebuild muscle).
4 easy post-workout recipes
1. Nature's miracle — coconut water: During exercise you lose fluid and electrolytes through sweat and breathing, which can leave you tired, sluggish and dizzy afterwards. Coconut water is rich in potassium, magnesium and other electrolytes, omega-3 fatty acids, all the essential amino acids and iron, making it a wonderful drink after exercise. Sweeten it with a little stevia and have 1–2 glasses after your workout.
2. Powerful protein smoothie: 2 cups of almond milk (or 1 cup water + 1 cup almond milk), ½ small cup of hemp powder, 1–2 tablespoons of chia seeds, 2 tablespoons of acai, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, and stevia to taste. Blend and enjoy (makes about 680 ml).
3. Green smoothie: 2 cups water, 2 handfuls of spinach, 3 handfuls of lettuce, the juice of ½ a medium lemon, 3–4 celery stalks, 1 medium banana, 1 medium pear and 1 medium apple. It provides 3–4 fruit servings of carbohydrate to refill glycogen, plus amino acids from the greens for muscle recovery. Blend and enjoy.
4. Banana protein shake: 450 ml almond milk, 2 frozen bananas, 2 tablespoons of a vegan protein source (pea, hemp or rice). Blend and enjoy.
Tip 3: Which foods for which exercise
People who exercise usually have one of two aims: building muscle or burning fat. For either, making the right food choices helps you reach your goal more easily.
For muscle-building exercise like weightlifting, the key is getting enough lean protein — but the point people often miss is balancing that protein with carbohydrate and fat. Muscle-building is a construction process, and like any construction it needs energy, so the energy you take in from food needs to be higher than your basal metabolic rate. A protein-focused diet is essential for building muscle, but keep carbohydrate and fat in balance. For professional bodybuilders, the daily protein recommendation is 1.5 g per kilo; exceeding this creates excess protein in the body, upsetting the balance and potentially leading to liver and kidney problems over time.
For people who want to lose weight, cardio exercises are the choice for fat burning. “Cardio” comes from the cardiovascular system; it's the general name for exercises that raise your heart rate — running, walking, swimming, tennis. Common cardio mistakes include eating high-energy bars beforehand, training on a completely empty stomach, or wearing thick clothes to sweat more. Since the aim of cardio is fat burning, a light meal like an apple or fat-free yogurt about an hour before will help you burn more fat. Some studies support fasted cardio for more fat burning, but because it can cause discomfort from blood-sugar swings, doing cardio an hour after a light meal is healthier.
8 foods worth adding to an exercise routine
1. Banana: High in potassium (a medium banana has 600 mg) plus vitamins A, B, E, K and C and folic acid. Its carbohydrates give fast-acting and lasting energy — an ideal pre-workout food, lovely with coffee or green tea.
2. Coconut water: Nature's sports drink, rich in the electrolytes that help keep your body in balance — great before and after exercise.
3. Chia seeds: Rich in protein, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals like calcium, and plant-based omega-3 and omega-6. High in soluble and insoluble fibre, they swell up to 15 times their volume in liquid, keeping you full, supporting digestion and giving energy.
4. Green smoothie: Greens are far richer in nutrients than most food groups. Blending them boosts absorption — blend your greens with plant milk or herbal tea and add fruit for flavour to give your body the carbohydrate and amino acids it needs to recover after exercise.
5. Cabbage: Its phytochemicals, fibre and chlorophyll support blood formation and help cleanse the blood. 100 g provides about 200% of daily vitamin C, 300% of vitamin A (beta-carotene) and 1000% of vitamin K₁, plus B6, potassium, calcium, magnesium and manganese — and a serving with 2 g fibre and 3 g protein is only 50 calories.
6. Nutritional yeast: Rich in B vitamins including B12, ideal for vegetarians. 1.5 tablespoons provides 8 g of protein, with a low fat content that's easily absorbed during exercise.
7. Acai: Contains antioxidants, omega-3, amino acids, minerals, vitamins and fibre. Its omega-3 helps keep skin hydrated and strong, and its carbohydrate and amino acids respond naturally to your body's needs after exercise.
8. Buckwheat sprouts: One of the richest grains, and gluten-free, so easy to digest. With carbohydrate and protein, it's ideal after exercise. Low-GI buckwheat is high in fibre, amino acids, manganese, magnesium and antioxidants, and can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Dry it to make pre-workout granola and enjoy with almond milk.