What Foods Should I Refuel With? Recipe Included!

You’ve just put in a hard training or racing effort and now you’re wondering how to properly refuel. What should you eat? When should you eat after activity? Should it be in the form of a meal or a liquid supplement? Let me clear up some of the confusion for you!

Choose complete proteins and complex carbohydrates

When choosing foods to eat for optimal recovery, it is important that you choose complete proteins. Complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids that our body cannot create and must be obtained through food. Examples of complete proteins are animal sources of protein (meat), whey protein and soy. Especially important for recovery is the amino acid leucine, 1 of the 3 branched chain amino acids. Whey protein powder is a great source of leucine and it is quickly digested and absorbed which makes it excellent for recovery after activity. If you don’t eat dairy, choose a vegan sourced protein powder or vegan protein food source that has at least 2.5 grams of leucine. You can check the amino acid make up of most foods on https://nutritiondata.self.com/

As for carbohydrates, you should include carbs containing polysaccharides (sometimes referred to as “complex carbs”), such as vegetables, in your recovery meal or smoothie. This is because after activity we want to refuel our muscle glycogen (storage form of glucose) stores. The liver prefers simple carbohydrates which are often found in fruits so if we are refuelling with simple carbs these will be allocated to liver glycogen stores instead.

Eat as soon after activity as possible

Timing is also key for your recovery fuelling! Make sure to eat within 30 minutes to 1 hour after your activity. Your muscles are extra sensitive and metabolically active during this optimal recovery window.

Choose a form of refuelling that is enjoyable and easy to eat for you!

Which brings me to whether you should refuel with a meal or a liquid smoothie or recovery drink. Reaching for high quality foods after your exercise is important when replenishing glycogen stores and increasing muscle protein synthesis. You want to avoid things like artificial sweeteners, fillers and foods with additives so if using a protein powder or premixed recovery supplement, beware of these ingredients. Eating proteins and carbohydrates together have an additive affect on replenishing glycogen and increasing protein synthesis for muscle recovery. Whether you eat a meal or a smoothie, just be sure that it is something that you enjoy and is easy to consume! However, having your recovery foods in the form of a smoothie has the added benefit of starting the rehydration process since you can add water (ice) to your smoothie.

Anti-inflammatory recovery smoothie

Here is an idea of a recovery recipe adapted from minimalistbaker.com:

• 1 cup loosely packed sweet potato or pumpkin puree

• 1/2 medium ripe banana (previously sliced and frozen; add more if you want it sweeter)

• 1/2 cup of shredded raw or steamed carrots

• 1-2 scoops of unflavoured whey or complete vegan protein

• 1/4 tsp each ground turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger

• 1/2 Tbsp chia seeds

• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or other nondairy milk alternative

• 1 large handful of ice cubes

Place all ingredients into the blender and enjoy!

Best of luck on your next race!

References:

Essentials of Sport Nutrition and Supplements, J. Antonio, D. Kalman, J. Stout, M. Greenwood, D. Willoughby, G. Haff.

PMID: 27097042

PMID: 24435468