ASON SPORTS MEDICINE OFFICE
Vicki Galliher, ACSM
GMHS Sports Medicine Director
Recovery Nutrition: Getting The Right Mix
Recovery from intense physical training and competition requires time and a diet that replenishes muscle glycogen, body water, and electrolytes, as well as stores of triglyceride in skeletal muscle. Proper nutrition during the recovery period is essential for rapid and effective adaptation to the stress of intense exercise. How do we get the right mix?
It is not uncommon for a person weighing 130-160 pounds to lose the following in a hard workout or competition:
· Water: 2,000 grams (range 1,000-3,500 grams)
· Sodium Chloride (Salt): 5 grams
· Muscle Glycogen (Fuel source for muscle tissue): 200 grams (range 150-250 grams)
· Liver Glycogen: 50 grams
· Intramuscular Triglyceride: 50-100 grams
· Adipose (Fatty) Tissue Triglyceride: 50 grams
For muscle glycogen recovery:
It is recommended that athletes do the following:
· Within 15 min after stopping exercise, eat 50-100 grams of rapidly absorbed carbohydrate (sports drinks, fruits, energy bars) along with 10-20 grams of protein.
· Continue eating 50-100 grams of carbohydrate plus 10-20 grams of protein every 2 hours until your next complete meal.
· For the day, eat 400-800 grams of carbohydrate, the exact amount depending upon the intensity and volume of your training (e.g., more exercise requires more total carbohydrate and more rapidly absorbed carbohydrate plus protein).
For Body Water and Salt Restoration:
It should be recognized that complete rehydration requires sufficient sodium and potassium replacement and extra water intake above that which is lost in sweat and urine during exercise. The most important method for rehydration after exercise is to drink large volumes of fluids and eat meals that contain sufficient salt.
When athletes drink without eating salty foods for the two hours after exercise, a significant portion (25-50%) of what they drink will be excreted as urine. When athletes drink after exercise, their bodies retain approximately the following percentages of the beverages they consume:
· Caffeinated diet soft drinks = 50-60%
· Water = 60-70%
· Sport drink = 65-75%.
Dietary Fat Is Important:
In the past, little attention has been given to the amount of dietary fat needed for an athlete to recover from exercise. This lack of attention probably stemmed from the idea that the energy content of adipose tissue stores is so large that dietary fat must be nonessential for recovery from exercise. However, it is now recognized that the increase in body fat oxidation characteristic of an endurance-trained athlete is derived almost exclusively from triglyceride fat stored within the skeletal muscle fibers (i.e., intramuscular triglyceride, IMTG). Therefore, it is now clear that in order to fully restore IMTG after exercise training, athletes should eat more fat than is obtained in an extremely low-fat diet.
Athletes are generally advised to eat 50-100 grams of 'healthy' fats each day. This equates to about 1 gram of fat per 2 pounds of body weight. Healthy fats are those low in saturated fat content. Emphasize food sources high in monounsaturated (olive & canola oils, almonds, peanut butter) and polyunsaturated fats (fish, soybeans, corn oil).
Suggestions for Post-Practice Football:
Energy bars Peanut butter & jelly sandwich Chocolate milk
Soft granola snack bars Ham & cheese sandwich Fruit & nut trail mix
Cereal bars Turkey or roast beef sandwich
Summary
The important premise of these recommendations is that the optimal mixture of nutrients to speed recovery from hard training and competition can be obtained by eating wholesome foods and beverages, provided correct choices are made regarding food type, amount, and timing. Realize that you can properly and adequately fuel your body’s recovery by consuming basic foods and drinks, without buying expensive “sports” bars, supplements, and drinks. The primary advantage of products marketed for “sports nutrition and recovery” is convenience.
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