Without a doubt, training in the morning has a much greater effect than at any other time of the day, but what worries most people is whether or not they should eat breakfast before playing sports .
When choosing between having breakfast or not before training , you have to take into account what are the consequences of each choice. Exercising on an empty stomach; for example, it can be good for people who may have diabetes, while exercising after breakfast can make it easier for you to lose weight.
Find out if it is better to have breakfast before or after training .
Benefits of training before breakfast
Exercise increases energy expenditure and, therefore, alters energy balance. This potentially favors the conditions for the reduction of body mass and fat. (Edinburgh et al., 2019)
When you exercise on an empty stomach, there is very little glycogen available, which is what serves the body as energy fuel. Instead, the body will start to use lipids (fats) to create energy, this causes that the appetite after exercise does not increase much .
If you are a person who may have the possibility of diabetes, fasting cardio exercise is good for increasing insulin sensitivity. Consequently, blood sugar levels are improved and it is possible to reach normal and healthy levels of it (Edinburgh et al., 2019)
Benefits of training after breakfast
Eating breakfast before exercising is not going to sacrifice fat loss, quite the contrary: it is much better to have a satisfied stomach when training. What you should do is avoid fat and calories and eat breakfast dishes rich in protein and a few carbohydrates. These are the ones that will give you the most drive and energy to train.
If you are an athletic person and you are involved in sports, you should consider eating foods rich in carbohydrates before training. This will give you greater endurance since carbohydrates are, so to speak, the body's fuel.
What to eat before or after workouts?
If we have breakfast before exercising, the following must be taken into account:
- Eat breakfast one hour before sport to avoid discomfort in the abdomen.
- Eat light but nutritious food.
- Choose foods that contain an amount of protein and also some carbohydrates.
We show you some examples of meals that you can eat as breakfast or post-workout to improve physical activity and for after it.
Pre-workout breakfasts
- Toasted whole wheat bread and peanut butter
- Boiled eggs
- Oatmeal with nuts
- Natural juices
- Egg omelettes
These foods are very good since I am very light. This helps that, when we train, we do not feel discomfort in the abdomen and we develop a very good and complete training. They will also give us more energy, and therefore we will be able to resist more.
Morning post-workout meals
- Protein shakes
- Rice and beans (beans)
- Sweet potatoes in tortilla
- High fiber bread
- Avocado
The protein that we consume after training will have the function of recovering the muscles. With the fat and calorie burning done during exercise, this will go a long way.
Eating breakfast before training vs. skip breakfast
Since we saw what the benefits are for both parties, we can give a good conclusion and recommendation for people who are undecided on what to do in these cases.
The best option to take before exercising is to have breakfast. The reason is that, if we eat breakfast before sport, we will avoid premature fatigue, stomach pains and dizziness. We will also gain much more energy for all the physical activity that our body allows.
Another very important point for this choice is that, when you exercise without breakfast , in the long and short term we will see that the reduction in fat will be minimal. By doing this we will lead our body to a deficit that will prevent us from reducing efficiently. In the case of athletes, this will also mean not being able to achieve good physical resistance.
References
- Edinburgh RM, Bradley HE, Abdullah NF, Robinson SL, Chrzanowski-Smith OJ, Walhin J. P… and Gonzalez JT (2019). Lipid metabolism links nutrient-exercise timing to insulin sensitivity in men classified as overweight or obese. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Doi: 10.1210 / clinem / dgz104
- Edinburgh RM, Hengist A., Smith HA, Travers RL, Betts JA, Thompson D … and Gonzalez JT (2019). Skipping Breakfast Before Exercise Creates a More Negative 24-hour Energy Balance: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Physically Active Young Men. The Journal of Nutrition. Doi: 10.1093 / jn / nxz018
- Marie, S. Is It Better to Work Out Before or After Breakfast? For Livestrong [Revised January 2020]
