Meals taken after exercise should be the most important meals of the day for anyone interested in nutrition, those that wants to build muscle, lose weight or just tone their bodies. There are many recommendations on foods to be consumed in this case, which do not simplify choosing the best foods for this post workout meal.
Not to mention the variety of shakes and supplements available, how they can be combined with the rest of the diet, advice about what you should or should not eat immediately after exercise. Well, the truth is that once you understand what your body needs (and what does not need) after training and what types of foods are best, the meal after training will become probably the simplest one.
What to, and what not to eat after exercise:
Apart from water (that you already know is needed) can be consumed foods that contain protein and carbohydrates, but not fat. Although fat has to be a weighted measure for anyone in nutrition, meal after every workout should not contain fat because it slows digestion.
In this case, it will aggravate the digestion of proteins and carbohydrates, the exact opposite of what the body needs after exercise. If possible, the best would be delaying the meal 30 minutes after training.
Optimal types and amounts of proteins and carbohydrates:
If you dine as soon as possible after the end of training, it does not automatically mean that the food will be quickly digested. Although foods such as chicken, red meat, fish and eggs are important sources of protein, they are not the best alternative dishes that can be eaten after exercise. These food products are solid, and solid protein food digests very slowly. So even if you consume these types of foods, solid and rich in protein, it will take a long time until the proteins are digested and ready to be used by the body.
The best sources of protein for this type of meal:
The ideal source of protein after exercise training is whey protein, mixed only with some liquids (most often water), being ready for consumption as is.
A whey protein shake will be digested by the body much faster than solid food for two reasons:
1. Liquid meals digest faster than solid food.
2. Whey protein is the most quickly digested form of food.
This makes whey protein to be often used as the official source of protein after workouts. Try to consume between 0.15-0.25 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (a 70 kg person should target about 20 grams of protein).
Overweight people should calculate the amount of post workout protein depending on the number of pounds they want to achieve, instead of their current weight – when making this calculation.