Should You Eat Before Exercise?
It's long been said that you should avoid eating shortly before exercise as it can lead to a spike in blood sugar followed by a decline that could harm your performance.
The New York Times recently featured an article busting this fitness dogma as a myth, as newer research shows that eating before a workout doesn't necessarily impact performance.1
The author cited one study, in particular, in which cyclists who drank sugary drinks prior to a workout were able to complete a strenuous 20-minute ride with no problems.2 It was also noted that research has shown eating easily digestible carbohydrates before exercise may enable you to work out longer.
That said, there's actually plenty of research, and reason, that strongly supports skipping eating before exercise… especially if you're interested in maximizing your fat-burning potential.
Why Exercising While Fasting Is Beneficial
If you're already devoting the time to working out, you're probably interested in making the most of that time and getting in the most possible benefit in the shortest amount of time … and one way to boost your return on your exercise "investment" may be to do your workout while fasting.
When you exercise while fasting, it essentially forces your body to shed fat, as your body's fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and your SNS is activated by exercise and lack of food.
The combination of fasting and exercising maximizes the impact of cellular factors and catalysts (cyclic AMP and AMP Kinases), which force the breakdown of fat and glycogen for energy.
One study found, for example, that fasting before aerobic training leads to reductions in both body weight and body fat, while eating before a workout decreases only body weight.3
Exercising While Fasting May Be a Relative Fountain of Youth
Exercise and fasting together also yields acute oxidative stress, which actually benefits your muscle. According to fitness expert Ori Hofmekler, acute states of oxidative stress are:
" … essential for keeping your muscle machinery tuned. Technically, acute oxidative stress makes your muscle increasingly resilient to oxidative stress; it stimulates glutathione and SOD [superoxide dismutase, the first antioxidant mobilized by your cells for defense] production in your mitochondria along with increased muscular capacity to utilize energy, generate force and resist fatigue.
Hence, exercise and fasting help counteract all the main determinants of muscle aging. But there is something else about exercise and fasting. When combined, they trigger a mechanism that recycles and rejuvenates your brain and muscle tissues."
The mechanism he refers to is triggering genes and growth factors, including brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and muscle regulatory factors (MRFs), which signal brain stem cells and muscle satellite cells to convert into new neurons and new muscle cells, respectively.
More here:
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/09/13/eating-before-exercise.aspx
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