I seriously hope anyone doesn't feel that eating carbohydrates after exercise is a bad thing or will cause you to gain weight. It seems like the newest nutrition article on this website states that eating carbohydrates is a "bad" thing after workouts. (Link below)

http://www.healthcastle.com/sports_postworkout_carb.shtml

As the title of the article says "Why to avoid carbohydrates after a Workout." This is clearly a deceiving title that makes anyone who is not a nutrition professional want to run from all foods containing carbs post-exercise.

We need to remember that it's not the "carbs" that hurt our weight loss efforts with exercise, it's the calories that cause weight gain.

There are a lot more studies that show, carbohydrates after exercise are very important and a good thing. It's just the amount that you take in.... For the average -moderate exerciser a good dose of 30 grams of carbs should at least due the trick of help preventing muscle soreness (having some protein with your carbs is the best route to prevent muscle soreness and good recovery)

This article barely skims this topic, and just really seems to down carbohydrate intake after exercise. "Limited carbohydrate intake after exercise" should be the title.

The funny thing is that the author stats carbohydrate intake should be avoided, when there is a photo of a woman eating a carbohydrate loaded apple besides the title!! Talk about not upholding to your word.

And half the snacks listed as good source after meals have a decent amount of carbohydrates in them... berries, milk, trail mix, and bananas.

The bottom line is carbohydrate intake after exercise is good when the author makes it look like you should avoid carbs at all costs in a an Atkins sort of way. Protein is important to have too after work outs, and a combination of both of them will actually increase muscle protein synthsis, thus creating lean muscle tissue easier!

Hi Josh83,
This article was merely reporting on a University study. The people involved were not athletes, they were sedentary people, young with body fat readings of more than 25%.

"A new study from the University of Massachusetts observed the effects of eating carbohydrate-heavy meals after a workout. They found that only high-caliber athletes required the quick energy of carbohydrates and that most people should focus on eating protein-rich foods instead.

Participants in this study were all young, had a body fat percentage greater than 25, and lived sedentary lifestyles".

The studies you are talking about refer to the same people?

"There are a lot more studies that show, carbohydrates after exercise are very important and a good thing. It's just the amount that you take in.... For the average -moderate exerciser a good dose of 30 grams of carbs should at least due the trick of help preventing muscle soreness (having some protein with your carbs is the best route to prevent muscle soreness and good recovery)".

These people were sedentary lifestyle people not people that regularly engage in moderate exercise.

In my clinic I find trying to educate people as to the amount of calories they should consume is an almost impossible task, most sedentary lifestyle people just keep on getting fatter, America,Australia and England are perfect examples of this with more people exercising but obesity still rising.

I think you were a bit harsh in your criticisms of this article,a bit confrontational, Gloria, Ian and the HealthCastle team do a great job bringing a wealth of information to this forum.

I totally agree with you that it is the calories that put the weight on, but people seem to be getting the message that they should eat to solve everything, you lose far more weight by diet alone than you ever will lose by exercise alone. In fact I believe a lot of these claims by exercise people are more about building their industry than dealing with truth and honesty.

Cheers

Yeah, actually there are plenty of studies that show that carbohydrate intake after exercise is good. Bottom line, it stimulates muscle protein synthesis, aka creates muscle. Unfortunately for me to show a link to them, would be a waste of time, because they are medical journals that have to be paid for in order to view. Or feel free to "google it" or whatever else you do to see for yourself. I'm sure a medical article stating the facts on muscle protein synthesis will pop up, if you don't have access to paid journals. I don't make false claims.

With this statement: "A new study from the University of Massachusetts observed the effects of eating carbohydrate-heavy meals after a workout"

Well.. ya know, looks like they never said what kind of workout the participants took part in. But I'm sure it would have to involve some type of vigorous cardiovascular workout or some resistance training. The type of exercise wasn't stated, it would help for the reader to know. I don't care how sedentary or how much body fat the participants had, carbohydrates after a workout helps create muscle protein synthesis in all humans, one human body isn't going to react differently than another when it comes to adding a little carbohydrate after a workout, just because they have 25% body fat and not 15%. And actually 25% body fat for a female is acceptable, though off the topic.

And the statement "carbohydrate heavy meals" is rather unclear. Well, an apple is "carb heavy", so is skim milk, and yogurt.... These were all foods that were included at the end of the article as examples of what to eat post exercise. Or is the article relating to a certain amount of carbs to avoid post exercise... 60 grams, 100 grams? How does the reader know?? They don't.

Which is why the article is being criticized. The study may have had been designed very well, but this article gives a false idea about carbohydrates, especially the title. "Why to Avoid Carbohydrates After Your Workout." There are many people who will just read the title or quickly skim the article and have the idea that carbohydrates are truly bad after workouts, regardless of the amount or what types of carbs they consume. This is how negative images are created about certain foods.

As said before, "Limited carbohydrate intake after exercise" should be the title.

And if you're going to create a title that says "Avoid Carbohydrates After Your Workout" in it, don't list foods that have a high ratio of carbohydrate such as fruit and dairy products as "good snack ideas" for an article which has a title about avoiding carbs. This causes part of the article to contradict it's title!

And the statement: "I think you were a bit harsh in your criticisms of this article,a bit confrontational, Gloria, Ian and the HealthCastle team do a great job bringing a wealth of information to this forum."

Healthcastle does do a decent job with presenting factually information in many cases, this just happens to be an article that needs some improvement.

Look as these as feedback from readers to create better articles on the website.

Harsh.....hardly. Honest, yes.