Post ride recovery habits (nutrition)

[YardSaleDad]

When you're participating in cardiovascularly intense activity like cycling, the last thing you want is a sugar spike given to you like a Snickers bar does.

If you look at what is in a snickers bar you will understand why it is a revered food among the AT thru-hikers. It provides a blend of fats, protein and sugars, in a calorie dense package. It also tastes way better. I prefer the dark chocolate snickers myself.

 

[jplynch019]

The gatorade is probably an acquired taste. Seems to keep me from getting the "Jimmie Legs" at night. :smash:

 

[freeheelwilly]

It is just missing nutrients. A Snickers bar is healthier than most of that "performance" food. .

Wrong. Completely and unequivocally wrong.

 

[YardSaleDad]

Wrong. Completely and unequivocally wrong.

Oh, now I'm convinced

Granted snickers is not the greatest food out there, but at you are fairly close to the original ingredients it was made from. The peanut is a peanut. The chocolate is cocoa. You also left the main point of my reply out. Foods close to their original form contain more nutrients, that the "performance" foods lack. What natural foods don't contain is large marketing budgets. Spend your money on gels and bars if you like, but it really doesn't beat trail mix, snickers, or a home cooked dinner. When your doctor says "eat right" he means broccoli, spinach, carrots not overproccessed twice cooked extracts, fortified with dried cow stomach.

 

[JimG.]

overproccessed twice cooked extracts, fortified with dried cow stomach.

MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

overprocessed twice cooked extracts fortified with dried cow stomach.

 

[andyzee]

MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

overprocessed twice cooked extracts fortified with dried cow stomach.

You got that right, nothing I like better than a little tripe soup!! :lol:

 

[jplynch019]

them's some good eatins!

 

[Marc]

If you look at what is in a snickers bar you will understand why it is a revered food among the AT thru-hikers. It provides a blend of fats, protein and sugars, in a calorie dense package. It also tastes way better. I prefer the dark chocolate snickers myself.

YSD, you didn't refute any of the problems I had with a Snickers bar. I don't disagree with anything you said in that post, but this is the cycling forum. We were talking about cycling recovery. I don't disagree it is good for hiking. I don't disagree some gels might not be, because that's not what they're meant for.

Again about the Snickers bar- look on the back and see what it has for sugar content. It's probably listed in the ingredients too. Why? Because it's added. And it's a simple sugar which when you're cycling creates a spike in your blood glucose level which will fall and create the cyclist to feel hypoglycemic. It's just not conducive to high energy output activities.

 

[Marc]

Oh, now I'm convinced

Granted snickers is not the greatest food out there, but at you are fairly close to the original ingredients it was made from. The peanut is a peanut. The chocolate is cocoa. You also left the main point of my reply out. Foods close to their original form contain more nutrients, that the "performance" foods lack. What natural foods don't contain is large marketing budgets. Spend your money on gels and bars if you like, but it really doesn't beat trail mix, snickers, or a home cooked dinner. When your doctor says "eat right" he means broccoli, spinach, carrots not overproccessed twice cooked extracts, fortified with dried cow stomach.

Again, I feel you're missing my point. I do eat healthy off the bike. I eat lots of vegetables, I only cook with olive oil, I only eat lean meats and a lot of fish.

But when I'm on the bike, or just getting off is not the time I'm worried about a balanced diet. It doesn't matter then. Time is of the essence and you can get plenty your fill of nutrients when you're eating your complete meals. As I said before, I don't live on sports gel and whey protein.

The problem with natural foods is not only their small marketing budget, but their insanely high price.

Also, enough with the rhetoric, twice cooked, dried cow stomach, blah blah blah. Hammer gel is sugar and maltodextrin, and whey protein is extracted from cow's milk. Let's not conjur images of men with respirators cooking in big black vats with tridents at the evil gel plant.

The right tool for the right job.

 

[mlctvt]

check this out... You may not be able to stomach it but.........


Chocolate Milk: The New Sports Drink?
Study Shows Chocolate Milk May Help Athletic Performance

Feb. 24, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(AP)
Quote
"[Milk] is a sports drink ‘plus.’ It will supply you with things you need whether or not you’re working out."
Keith Ayoob, EdD


(WebMD) During a 2004 Summer Olympics awash in controversies over steroids and supplements, one sportswriter wryly noticed that top American swimmer Michael Phelps was playing it safe -- he preferred to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast between races.


Now it appears that the six-time gold medalist may have been onto something. A new study shows that plain old chocolate milk may be as good -- or better -- than sports drinks like Gatorade at helping athletes recover from strenuous exercise.

The study, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, was small in scale; it was partially funded by the dairy industry. But dietitians say the study should help to counter the notion that high-tech, expensive supplements are better than whole foods when it comes to athletic performance. They also note that milk contains key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, in quantities that sports drinks can’t match.

"[Milk] is a sports drink ‘plus,’" Keith Ayoob, EdD, a registered dietitian and associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, tells WebMD. "It will supply you with things you need whether or not you’re working out."

The study builds on findings that intense endurance exercise reduces the muscles’ supply of stored glucose, or glycogen, a key source of fuel for exercise. To maximize glycogen replacement, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association recommend taking in a serving of carbohydrates within 30 minutes after a long and vigorous workout.

Milk vs. Sports Drinks

Common sports drinks such as Gatorade supply those carbs, as well as fluids and electrolytes lost through sweat. However, more recent research suggests that adding protein to the mix may further hasten recovery. Hence the new wave of drinks such as Endurox R4 that include protein as well as higher doses of carbs.

In the study, nine male cyclists rode until their muscles were depleted of energy, then rested four hours and biked again until exhaustion. During the rest period, the cyclists drank low-fat chocolate milk, Gatorade, or Endurox R4. During a second round of exercise, the cyclists who drank the chocolate milk were able to bike about 50% longer than those who drank Endurox, and about as long as those who drank the Gatorade.

The findings suggest that chocolate milk has an optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein to help refuel tired muscles, researcher Joel M. Stager, PhD, Indiana University kinesiology professor, tells WebMD.

But the most puzzling result of the study, experts say, was why Endurox -- which has the same carb-to-protein ratio as the chocolate milk -- fared so poorly. Researcher Jeanne D. Johnston, MA, tells WebMD it may have to do with the different composition of the sugars in the milk. Another theory is that the sugars in the milk may be better absorbed in the gut than those in the Endurox.

Edward F. Coyle, PhD, a researcher on exercise and hydration at the University of Texas, tells WebMD the trial would have been stronger if the researchers had also tested the effect of flavored water or another dummy (placebo) drink.

The study was partly funded by the Dairy and Nutrition Council, an industry group. Coyle says that the study’s reliance on industry funding is not unusual in the world of sports research, as federal funding for such research is hard to come by.

A Cheaper Alternative?

While rapid nutrient replacement may not be important for casual exercisers, it can make a big difference in performance for competitive athletes who work out vigorously once or twice a day, says Roberta Anding, a sports dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Anding has long recommended chocolate milk for young athletes who come to her practice at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. For children and teenagers from lower-income families, it doesn’t make sense to spend serious money on sports drinks when they can get milk as part of a subsidized lunch program, she tells WebMD. The only advantage of sports drinks, she notes, is that they never spoil.

Ayoob estimates that more than two-thirds of teenagers should be drinking more milk anyway because they don’t get enough calcium in their diets. He also recommends milk for its vitamin D and potassium content. “For me, this is a no-brainer,” he says.

Sources: Karp, J. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2006; (16: 78-91). “Nutrition and athletic performance -- Position of the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine,” http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/adap1200.cfm. Svrluga, Barry, “Olympics Swim Trials,” Washington Post, July 13, 2004, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44785-2004Jul12.html. Jeanne Johnston, department of kinesiology, Indiana University at Bloomington. Joel M. Stager, PhD, department of kinesiology, Indiana University at Bloomington; Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Edward F. Coyle, PhD, professor, kinesiology and health education, University of Texas. Roberta Anding, clinical and sports dietitian, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston.


By Richard Sine
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, M.D.
© 2006, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[jplynch019]

Study was funded by .....

I get a little suspicious of these findings when the study was funded by the American Dairy Association. If Anheuser Bush had funded it they would have found Bud Light to be the ultimate recovery drink. :beer:

 

[ga2ski]

PBR = Post Bike Ride