Medusa

How Athletes Should Consume Carbohydrate?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">We are living in an era where people tend to blame carbohydrate for various physical ailments&period; Experts often said that frequent intake of refined&comma; unhealthy carbohydrate tends to increase the prevalence of epidemic obesity and Type II Diabetes&period; However&comma; carbohydrate is one of the primary sources of energy and it is essential for the inner working of our body&period; So&comma; carbohydrate isn’t necessary bad if we consume it in ideal quantity&period; In some countries&comma; about 80 percent of daily caloric intake is derived from carbohydrate&period; People obtain carbohydrate from grains&comma; fruits&comma; legumes and various kinds of sugar&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">We should be aware that carbohydrates are not identical&period; In general&comma; it is healthier for us to choose low GI carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates&period; Processed&comma; simple and refined carbohydrates should be consumed in moderation and shouldn’t represent the majority of our carbohydrate intake&period; As an example&comma; caramel bar and sugar-coated donuts are less healthy compared to banana and corn&period; Carbohydrates are not necessarily bad&period; They won’t cause diabetes and obesity if we consume them at moderate amount and we choose the right type&period; We should fall into this kind of easy oversimplification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In fact&comma; it is recommended for athletes to consume high-carbohydrate before an physically intense activity&period; High-carbohydrate diet should help to extend endurance and increase glycogen stores&period; This will help us to preven physical and mental fatigue&period; Overall&comma; carbohydrate should supply about 60 percent of total calories&period; This should be ideal for endurance athletes who perform stop-and-go activities&comma; such as basketball and soccer&period; It is recommended to choose mostly complex carbohydrate which can be processed and released more slowly to ensure better endurance&period; On average&comma; our body should pump about 150mg of glucose each minute&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Before the training and competition activities&comma; we should perform the carbohydrate loading session&period; About four days before the competition&comma; we should increase the intake of complex carbohydrate&period; We should keep the carbohydrate composition about 70 percent of our daily intake&period; If we do this&comma; we should be able to increase the internal glycogen stores&period; Runners should be able to keep a faster pace much longer&period; However&comma; we shouldn’t consume too much carbohydrate&comma; because we could experience water retention&semi; for each gram of glycogen that our body stores&comma; three grams of water will also be stored&period; In some cases&comma; this could lead to slight weight gain and discomfort could happen&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It should be noted that carbohydrate loading may not be useful if the aerobic activity only last for less than one hour&period; It means that we need to modify our training program and carbohydrate intake before the match&period; We should be aware that carbohydrate is the best source of energy during the first hour of the physical activity&period; As comparison&comma; fat and protein will take longer to digest&period; It is acceptable to consume moderate amount of refined&comma; simple carbohydrate about two hours before the match begin&period; However&comma; our endurance should be based on complex carbohydrate that we have consumed in the last few days&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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