The benefits of eating a High GI carbohydrate meal after exercise.

When most people hear the word Hi GI food they run for the hills because of the “negative” connotations and how high Gi food is linked with weight gain. BUT there are two important times of day that High Gi carbohydrates can be taken in, the first is with breakfast in the morning because you are coming off a "fast". So, at that time you want a simple carbohydrate source to “re start the metabolism. And the second time of day and the one that will be discussed is straight after exercise.

Firstly what must be understood is what High GI is or High Glycemic foods. The Glycemic Index is a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar and hence insulin levels. A high Glycemic carbohydrate source is 70 and above.

The reason that the Hi Gi carbohydrates are critical is because it starts the whole recovery/muscle growth process. Following a hard workout, your body is severely depleted of glycogen and glucose.

During the workout working muscles use glucose (usable energy in the blood) and glycogen (stored energy from the liver and muscles) for energy. As such, there is a point at which blood glucose levels and glycogen levels get so low that intense exercise can't continue. There just isn't enough available energy for your muscles to use.

Once this occurs the hormone cortisol is secreted, this is your body's "stress" hormone and it has very catabolic (catabolism is the process that the break down of molecules into smaller units and release energy)  What cortisol does (being catabolic) is it uses up muscle tissue for protein and convert it into glucose. A process called gluconeogenesis ensues, producing glucose from these amino acids in the liver. The net result is a loss of muscle tissue.

The post-workout meal prevents this. It also allows insulin to be released, one of several anabolic hormones in the body and that is why it is critical to get the carbs to the muscle cells as fast as possible. As well, the elevated insulin levels will help to drive nutrients into the muscle cells and prevent that unwanted muscle breakdown and start the recovery process.

So we see that Hi Gi carbs have their place and it’s all a matter of timing!