What are the benefits of post-exercise nutrition?

Question

Randy Bird,MS,RD,CSSD,CSCS · Answer

The question is, what are the benefits of post-exercise nutrition? And there are quite a few. The primary one I focus on is recovery. So first, what is the definition of recovery? Recovery is to return to a normal or better state. So now post-exercise, what exactly do we have to recover from? You have used fuel, so now we need to refill that gas tank. We need to get carbohydrates in to replenish the stores that are naturally in your muscles. You need to repair the damaged muscle, so we need to provide protein, which has amino acids necessary to build back that muscle fiber, build it stronger than it was. We lose sweat and electrolytes in water, so we need to replace those, again, to return to our normal state. Another benefit with post-exercise nutrition is it enhances your immune system. Exercise can slightly suppress your immune system, and getting the food back in helps you return that immune system to a strong state. The last thing I would say is timing matters. With exercise, you have increased blood flow to the muscle. So the sooner we get food into our body after exercise, then we can get those nutrients delivered to the muscle while you have greater blood flow to the muscle.

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"What are the benefits of post-exercise nutrition?"