Right after workouts, your body is in need of nutrients for recovery, refueling, and new muscle build. However, it’s not necessarily the best if you eat after the workout as some foods may be counterproductive and screw all your sweat off. Below are six foods that you should never touch after a workout unless you want to.
Sugary Drinks
Truly speaking; the fizzy options such as soda or the respective sports drinks may look like good ideas, though, in reality, they are high in calories and sugar. Such drinks are the ones that can really cause a blood sugar spike thus being an immediate cause of the energy drop. Instead, you can benefit from drinking simple water or low-sugar electrolyte variants and thus, keep your good health going.
Processed Snacks
Snacks such as chips, crackers, and processed food are usually filled with unique fats, salts, and extracts that are not good for your health. They cannot provide the protein and other important nutrients that are capable of quickly recuperating your muscle capacity, thereby causing discomfort and sleepiness. To enjoy an abundant snack, you could choose a protein shake, fruit, or nuts.
Fast Food
Going to a fast-food restaurant is definitely easy, but it should be out of the picture as far as recovery is concerned. Fast food is packed with bad fats and is very low in the necessary nutrients that your body requires to help you in the process of recovery from exercise. It has the potential to slow down the digestion process as a result of the effort your body is making, and this is likely to bring about a bloated feeling and at worst fatigue.
Pastries and Sweets
If you are fond of consuming a lot of pastries, cookies, and any other kind of sweet, then most likely you are taking a large portion of sugar and processed carbohydrates, which means that sugar will most probably be digested adding to a rapid increase in blood sugar and then, of course, yeast. At this point, the best thing you can do is to go for a light, yet still a healthy bite that supplies your body with a blend of protein and complex carbohydrates.
Salty Foods
After a workout, meals that are filled with salt such as fast foods, snack foods, and canned soups, have a negative effect on the hydration-assumption level. Your system loses sodium with sweat; therefore, it is necessary to be careful to keep the balance of sodium in the body at a normal level. The best choice would be a balanced meal with adequate sodium content.
Alcohol
If you are having trouble with recovering muscular strength and body glycogen, substituting alcohol with water or a recovery drink that will help as it is the best way that will keep you in good health. Alcohol may deplete your system of the body necessary water thereby leaving your muscles to recover on their own. Having alcohol after a workout and your body will be lagged in muscle recovery and glycogen replenishment processes. You can facilitate the recovery process by keeping alcohol at bay and substituting with water or a recovery drink to hydrate and energize your body.
Avoiding the aforementioned meals and going for balanced whole meals and snacks will have your body recover quickly as well as maintain your desired health, thus reaching your fitness goals. Make sure you concentrate on protein, good fats that are heart-healthy, and carbohydrates that are complex with your snacks and meals.