The Only Time You Should Eat Sugar (and not Fat)

Sugar is evil. It'll make you fat. You'll get diabetes.....you've heard it all before. 

As well as it should. Without going off on a tangent, part of the reason the U.S. economy won't rebound anytime soon, is the spiraling, out of control cost of health care. Millions of people are eating way too much junk food loaded with high fructose corn syrup. They get sick, have to go to the doctor, swallow a lifetime supply of medication and drive up health insurance premiums for everybody.

While this might be a simplistic view, partially blaming obesity for our sluggish economy, illness prevention is simple: eat real food, exercise at least a little bit several times a week and avoid sugar. 

For those of us who are on the wellness path, there is one time you should gulp down sugar and that's after a high-intensity workout.

Immediately after a hard core workout, your body's glycogen (blood sugar) levels are low. It's at this time you have a window of opportunity of around one hour when calories will be used up to 400% more efficiently than at any other time. 

Physiologically, it's as if you can eat almost anything you want. Think of this time as free calories. 

But don't go reaching for the Twinkies yet, if you've just completed a 5-mile run and did 200 pushups. 

In the past, sugary sports drinks were the staple of athletes. But in the last five to ten years, studies have shown that the best recovery drink or food has both simple carbs and protein, in a ratio of 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein. 

Unless you are lactose intolerant, one of the best foods to consume after a brutal workout is chocolate milk. 

Who would have thunk it? But chocolate milk has about 28 grams of sugar to 7 grams protein, a perfect 4:1 ratio.  

Including some protein aids the recovery process. After all, when you're strength training, what you're really doing is creating micro tears in the muscle fibers. Protein and plenty of rest rebuilds the muscle tissue.

So what about fat? Should that be consumed after a workout? Just like sugar, fat has a bad rap. I've always thought fat should really be called "lipids." Then, fat-phobic aerobic junkies and models wouldn't be afraid to eat a nutritious avocado for fear of being fat.

But the one and only time you should avoid eating fat is after a challenging workout as it theoretically interferes with the uptake of nutrients to the bloodstream, muscle tissue and organs. 

Under normal circumstances, natural dietary fat should be eaten at every meal to prevent blood sugar spikes--perhaps the number one reason people complain of being tired.

So reach for the sugar, only after a hard workout. Because if your blood is constantly full of sugar you will unknowingly create damage to the lining of your arteries and over time this will create inflammation.

If you're in need of a recommendation for good recovery formulas, email me at judd@fitnessandbodywork.com. 

To your health,

Judd