Does eating sugary foods before exercise improve performance?
Athletes sometimes consume simple carbohydrates such as honey, candy, or soft drinks right before exercise in hopes of getting quick energy. Unfortunately, eating sugary foods won’t provide it. Most of the energy for exercise comes from foods eaten several hours or even days before the start of the race or event. If you are an endurance athlete, recent evidence suggests that eating some sugary foods (like energy bars, some types of candy bars, or sports drinks) 35 to 40 minutes before an event may benefit you by providing energy (glucose) to your exercising muscles when your other energy stores have dropped to low levels. However, some athletes are sensitive to having their blood sugar levels go up and down quickly. Eating sugary foods right before an event could harm their performance. Also, there is overwhelming evidence that athletes also benefit from eating highly digestible protein, such as whey protein, before and during exercise. The whey protein helps athletes recover faster an
