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NEED body fuel? Charge up with
bread, pasta and rice!
An athlete,
someone who is in a regular physical workout program, or individuals
who led active lives, will most likely have engaged in what is
popularly known as “carbo-loading.”
Also known as
carbs-boosting or super-compensation, carbohydrate loading aims to
prevent the onset of exhaustion during intense workout or endurance
events. Carbo-loading increases the glycogen stores of the muscles,
which increases endurance potential during continuous physical
exercise. If completed properly, carbo-loading can almost double the
normal amount of stored carbohydrates (and therefore, double the
amount of energy as well) found in a trained person.
Although the
body needs a good balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat for
energy, carbohydrates is the body’s primary source of energy.
Simple carbohydrates, which digest faster than complex
carbohydrates, are found in fruits, most vegetables, milk, table or
brown sugar and honey. Complex carbohydrates are found in starchy
food like bread, pasta, bagels, rice, legumes and other grain
products and vegetables. Such food break down slowly during
digestion, giving the body a time-released source of energy.
Wheat-based
products like bread, cereals and pasta are excellent sources of
complex carbohydrates that are ideal for carbo-loading. Besides
being a major source of complex carbohydrates, wheat food are also
rich in fiber, iron, B vitamins and are generally low in fat.
During
digestion, the body converts carbohydrates into sugar. The sugar
enters the bloodstream and is transferred to individual cells to
provide energy. The body may not immediately need all of this sugar,
however. So it stores the extra sugar in the liver and muscles. This
stored sugar is called glycogen.
According to
the Wheat Foods Council, sports nutritionists’ recommendation for
athletes is to increase carbohydrate intake by as much as 60 to 75
percent of their total calories in the form of carbohydrates, as
early as two days before the event. This can be achieved by altering
an athlete’s training load and diet over a 7-day period before the
race. Moderate training and normal diet should be followed for the
first four days. For the remaining three days, low to moderate
intensity exercise and a high carbohydrate diet should be followed.
Carbo-loading
also means reducing training load and resting the muscles to allow
them to become completely loaded with glycogen. Since you want to
start the race with as much glycogen as possible, low to moderate
intensity exercise is as important as eating in the process of super
compensation.
The Wheat
Foods Council explains that all individuals vary in the way they
digest foods because of variations in age, metabolism, training
status and gender. For competing athletes or simply active
individuals, carbohydrates are always a better choice than fats or
proteins because they empty from the stomach faster. Once the
glycogen in the muscles is depleted after 1-1/2 to 2 hours or
prolonged exercise, a high-carbohydrate diet is again recommended to
replenish the glycogen reserve. Grain products such as bagel,
tortilla, pasta and bread are excellent choices to re-fuel the body.
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