Post workout food

Question: Is the fast carb and protein after workout only a muclebuilding technique or is it an overall fitness/recovery thing? Cause I always read in bodybuilding articles to have fast, high glycemic carbs after your workout as well as fast digesting lean protein, but these were Mass building diet tips and most Off season(bulking) diets add on a little fat with the muscle. Im trying to eat as much complex carbs as possible, even after workouts to minimize fat/weight gain, or should i just have quick carbs anyway post training?

 

"Complex" carbs (even a worthless source like starch contains complex carbs) do not put on more or less weight than simple sugars, they both provide the same amount of calories.

Here's a better idea for carbohydrate intake. Make sure the source is as rich of fibers, minerals and vitamins as possible. The whole glycemic index thing is bull**** if you ask me. Insulin is not a bad thing, it's just a signal for muscles that glucose is on its way. It's only bad if the muscles have no use for it, in other words, if you're an overeating fat ass.

 

I heard banana is good because its a fast release of glucose?!

 

You could mix it up.. Like consume 20g of simple carbs with your 25-30 grams of protein.. The whole point of messing with complex and simple carbs is the rate at which they get into your bloodstream.. Think of Casein protein and complex carbs as food that will sit in your gut and slow drip into your system, where whey and simple carbs are like turning on a faucet to turn out a fire. You can use both to your advantage.. What you want to do is extinguish the hypothetical fire without causing a flood. You do too much and your body will just store it.. You want to provide your body with everything it can handle, but not more or less... Its better to gain a little fat in the process of bulking, if bulking is your goal than to not gain bulk out of fear of gaining fat.. I use Optimum Casein as my staple protein shake, and only use optimum whey right after I work out for example..

 

Tell that to my dad and best friend who are diabetic and follow a low GI diet.

I personally follow a low GI diet myself as I will probably be diagnosed with diabetes at some point myself as it is genetic and have found it very effective in controlling my weight and staying generally very healthy. I stopped training for 4 months but kept the diet going and when I started training again my resting heart rate had gone up but was still only 50 beats per minute and I could easily run 5km despite having done no cardio for months. But that's just my personaly experience.

 

Thats what I have heard as well. And if we are wrong then somebody better tell all those tennis players that eat Banana's in between sets that they're wasting their time.

 

It's different for diabetic people for the same insulin related reasons. For non-diabetic, non-fat people, insulin is not something to worry about.

 

Very true but by you calling it bull**** you completely undermine the fact it is a very healthy diet that would benefit most people, not just diabetics, when compared to the average persons diet. While the whole simple carbs versus complex carbs issue is debatable the health benefits are not.

 

How is the simple carbs vs the complex carbs even debatable?

We already know the body can only assimilate so much at a time/ per serving. Its like having a fish tank, taking into consideration that 2 gallons will evaporate within the month, and putting in an extra two gallons after you just filled it to the rim..

Better to break that two gallons up within the month and add it when needed.. Hope this example makes sense.. There is nothing really debatable about how quickly they are assimilated, and where extra calories go when unused. If you are super active and young, those calories may not make a bit of difference.. But when you start hitting the age of 27+, those extra calories just start to pack on.. I know, I've been working my extra calories off for the last 6 months. Going to be 30 in a week..

 

I personally am an advocate of a low GI diet and therefore avoid simple carbs as I have had good results with it. But there have been numerous studies with varying results. I think it makes perfect sense which your analogy supports.

But some do question it's validity stating that in the course of the day as long as the overall calorific intake is the same there is no difference wether those calories are made up of simple or complex carbs.

 

That what is a healthy diet? Avoiding simple sugars has nothing to do with being healthy or not. It's just possible to eat rich simple sugars (fruits) as it is to eat rich complex carbs (veggies).

 

Simple sugars = pooring in two gallons at once.
Complex carbs = pooring in two gallons slowly over an hour.

They provide the same amount of calories, it does not matter one bit unless you are over eating and fat. Yes one will result in a sudden spike of insulin, but that's ok as long as your muscles can put the glucose to use.

I'm 32, but calories still go to the same place as they did before; to the muscles if there's room, otherwise your blood sugar level will rise, and if that's not possible either they will be converted to fat. Simple or complex, there's no difference.

 

Both are good, its simply how you time them..

I don't think anyone would argue for instance, that its best to eat all you can for the day in one sitting. Thing is, even for diabetics, if you get stuck in traffic and end up being very late for a meal, there is a place for something like an orange which will spike your blood sugar and bring you back from lethargy.

An aspect of diet is timing your meals and spacing them throughout the day.

 

Sure there is. You just explained it perfectly. There are times in a day when eating someting like Oatmeal is going to be more beneficial than eating something like dextrose. If your body cant use it efficiently, then its not going to do anything good for you. Eating oatmeal in a casein protein base after an intense workout isn't going to get the nutrients into your system at the ideal time.. Especially if it is digested slowly in up to 5 HOURS. After a heavy workout, you are going to want the type of nutrients that are going to hit your system within minutes of consuming them. Same with trying to have a type of recovery shake before bed time.. You arent going to want 40 g of protein and carbs that hit your system instantly or you just crap them out and they arent efficiently absorbed.. Your body can only handle so much at a time, so a slow trickle effect is much more desireable.. If it takes 5-7 hours to digest 40g of casein protein if it turns into a type of glue once consumed, its going to be more ideal to take right before bed for example.. Pretty cut and dry.. If you want to stay warm for 7 hours, you can burn a thick oak log.. Or you can burn the equivalent in weight in tinder which will burn very bright and hot for just a few minutes.. But whats the point if your going to freeze your ass off for the next 6.5 hours?

 

Agreed 100%. What I meant was there is no difference in health aspects. It does, of course, matter when you need the energy it provides.