http://www.care2.com/greenliving/4-natural-fuel-foods-for-your-next-workout.html
4 Natural Fuel Foods for Your Next Workout
By Amy Paturel, Eating Well magazine
What foods can you count on to go the extra mile, and which foods fall short? See what recent studies reveal before your next workout.
1. A Spoonful of Honey.
Recent research suggests that carb blends (foods containing fructose and glucose) may be superior to straight glucose for boosting energy during endurance activities. But before you reach for a sports drink, consider honey: Like sugar, it naturally has equal parts fructose and glucose, but it also contains a handful of antioxidants and vitamins.
Upshot: While not exactly a “super food,” honey has plenty going for it besides being sweet. The darker the honey, the more disease-fighting compounds it contains.
2. A Cup of Joe.
Studies that demonstrate performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine often imply that drinking coffee will give you a boost. Not so, according to the latest research. Scientists put nine endurance runners through five trials after ingesting either a capsule (caffeine or placebo) or coffee (decaffeinated, decaffeinated with caffeine added or regular coffee). Only the caffeine capsule increased endurance. Researchers think that other compounds in coffee may counteract some of the benefits of caffeine.
Upshot: Have your cup of coffee if you need it to get moving, and your stomach can tolerate it, but don’t expect it to keep you going through a long workout.
3. A Glass of Chocolate Milk.
A small 2006 study (partially funded by the dairy industry) found that chocolate milk might help tired athletes refuel as well or better than popular sports drinks. In the study, nine cyclists rode until exhaustion, rested for four hours, then biked again. During the rest period, they drank either low-fat chocolate milk, Gatorade (a fluid/electrolyte-replacement drink) or Endurox (a carbohydrate-replacement drink). The cyclists who refueled with chocolate milk were able to bike about 50 percent longer during the second bout of exercise than those who drank Endurox and about as long as those who drank Gatorade.
Upshot: You don’t need a “sports drink” to refuel after a workout. Regular or chocolate milk–both of which contain a mix of carbohydrate and protein–may work just as well. Before or during a workout, however, stick with Gatorade or a similar carb/electrolyte drink. We recommend using organic milk and naturally sweetened chocolate.
4. A Bowl of Yogurt.
Constant training takes a toll on your immune system, leaving athletes susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections, but new research suggests that probiotics–the live active cultures in yogurt–may help keep you healthy. A 2008 study of 20 endurance athletes (published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine) found that taking daily probiotic capsules enhanced the activity of the athletes’ immune-boosting T-cells and cut the length of time they experienced upper respiratory tract infection symptoms by more than half. Probiotics can also help calm a queasy stomach, which is great for nervous athletes.
Upshot: You’d have to eat vats of yogurt to reach the levels of probiotics the athletes in these studies consumed. Still, yogurt has a balanced mix of carbs and protein, so it’s a great post-workout recovery fuel.
Visit EatingWell.com for free quick and easy healthy recipe collections!
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23 comments
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Kabin
Konteyner
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why is this inappropriate?
Vegans can eat nuts and whole grains.
Check out the vegan fitness forum:
http://www.veganfitness.net/forum/index.php
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There are some good alternatives to both soy and dairy drinks. Our personal favorite is hemp milk. It is very rich and creamy but kind of expensive. There are also several types of nut milk sold and rice and oat milk. They are all good. I suggest trying them all and find out which work best for you. Other factors like use on ceral for baking and whether you have allergies could also be a factor on which ones you use.
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why is this inappropriate?
I appreciate where you both are coming from but,
to jennifer: most of the plants we eat are at the end of their natural life cycle while most animals raised for slaughter are no where near it.
to JRoss: most rainforest-grown soy beans go to feedlots for 'food' animals like chickens.
And directly pertaining to this article, what is a vegan supposed to eat for workout fuel???
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If you aren't eating fermented soy, (I know there are pros and cons to soy) you are putting soy toxins in your body. Here in the states, it's just a cheap filler and my be causing health problems, not preventing them.
After constantly having nausea, bloating and unusual weight gain (my thyroid was fine)and palpitations for eight years, I removed soy from my diet and lost 37 pounds, and never gained it back!
http://www.hiddensoy.com
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Chocolate ALMOND mylk!
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I definitely do not agree with this article. It brings thoughts of massive sugar rushes with complete crash at the end.
Keep in mind that those of us who eat meat can CHOOSE where the meat comes from. Have a chat with your local rancher or find an organic/natural food store and ask where the meat comes from and how the animals are treated. Do you honestly believe that today's "great harvests" of plant foods are any less traumatic to the plants than butchers are to the animals? No matter what you eat, something has to die. However, we can make the choice of where our food comes from.
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There's nothing like a glass of fresh veggie juice for natural energy!
Chocolate milk for energy? Sounds like a recipe for a mucous forming disaster! More energy now, ear infection later, LOL! Is this article a joke or is this for real?
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Oh boy!!!! if you either like cow´s milk or soy or whatever it is about choices I love soy and goat cheese and I ride my bike-love freedom...... my point is LIVE and BE HAPPY. We are going to die anyways either this or that right? just to let you know... I am 43 years old and when people ask about my age surprise!!!! they think that I am in my early 30- maybe because I just don´t worried about simple things and maybe because I don´t eat a lot of meat ( beef or pork ) so........ it is up to you guys! God bless
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This is for all those that drink soy and the comment made by Melanie that "there is no suffering in soy". Over 350,000 acres of Amazon rainforest has been logged to grow soybeans. Indigenous Amazonians are displaced from their homes, species go extinct and the environment is negatively impacted. PLEASE consider where your soy product originates and make purchases that leave the smallest ecological footprint possible.
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