What to Eat Before a Workout

[dutchcan]

This topic may have been covered before, so forgive me if this is a repeat.
I just got back from the gym...I go at 8 a.m.. Around 7 a.m., I have half a banana, and a very small amount of whole grain cereal with a smattering of skim milk. I feel I need something before I go for my workout, and I thought this was a good choice. Turns out, about halfway through, I can really feel this in my stomach, and it's not good. I almost get sluggish, and forget about getting a sensible time on the erg. I was talking to one of the instructers, and he suggested, first off, to get rid of the milk---"milk is only for babies, and adults should generally not drink it." Also, fruit can be problematic for some people, so best to stay away from that before a workout. He suggested yogourt. Does anyone have any suggestions..something that will provide me with the energy, but not the indigestion. Also, has anyone else heard that milk is a virtual 'no-no'?

[rowan]

I just got back from the gym...I go at 8 a.m.. Around 7 a.m., I have half a banana, and a very small amount of whole grain cereal with a smattering of skim milk. I feel I need something before I go for my workout, and I thought this was a good choice. Turns out, about halfway through, I can really feel this in my stomach, and it's not good. I

For me, I need to wait longer than 1 hour after eating before I can comfortably do a decent erg session. I usually try to wait 90 miniutes minimum, preferably a couple of hours or more.

[ancho]

...
I have half a banana
...

- What do you do with the other half?

...

...milk is only for babies, and adults should generally not drink it...

- Everybody knows that adults only drink BEER. If you insist in drinking milk, you'll have to double your beer dose

Now seriously: A banana one hour before workout seems ok for me
Any cereals should be at least 90 minutes before excercise. Milk is hard to digest, so why don't you drink some juice?

[ragiarn]

I was talking to one of the instructers, and he suggested, first off, to get rid of the milk---"milk is only for babies, and adults should generally not drink it."

In a way the above statement is not too far from the truth. Lactose is the sugar in milk and as we approach adulthood most of us lose the ability to digest lactose because of a decrease in lactase (digestive enzyme) in the intestines. As a result the undigested lactose can cause a number of gastrointestinal disturbances including increased bloating gas and some evene diarrhea. If really like milk you can add Lactaid to your milk which adds the missing lactase.
Yogurt is a good substitute because the Lactose is fermented in the process of changing milk to yogurt. You get the benefits of milk without the side effects of milk.

As far as timing of pre-exercise meal, that varies amongst individuals. The average meal takes about two hours empty from the stomach to the intestines but there are some individuals who have a very slow stomach emptying time and it may take up 4 hours for the stomach to empty.
You have to experiment to find what works for you.

[johnlvs2run]

I have half a banana, and a very small amount of whole grain cereal with a smattering of skim milk.

The milk is the problem.

Also there might be milk in the whole grain cereal, or something else in the cereal that is hard to digest.

Having half a banana, with 1 piece of bread or toast, chewing well and *plenty* of water would be good about an hour before sessions. Make sure there is no milk or fat in the bread.

Yogurt would give you the same problem as milk, and also cause you to gain useless weight.

Fruit is fine but I'd have it after your workout for replenishment. It is better to have fruit by itself, before you eat anthing else, as it digests more quickly. Or else eat fruit with bread but never with protein. If you ate something heavy and then ate fruit, it would sit in your stomach and ferment. So you have it very close to right. Just get rid of the milk and then you should be fine.

[Bob S.]

As far as timing of pre-exercise meal, that varies amongst individuals. The average meal takes about two hours empty from the stomach to the intestines but there are some individuals who have a very slow stomach emptying time and it may take up 4 hours for the stomach to empty.
You have to experiment to find what works for you.

Ralph,

Have you ever seen anything about the effect of aging on digestion time? My own gut feeling (pun intended) is that, like most other things, digestion slows down with aging, but I have never read anything about it. Quite a few years ago, I asked this of the physician that I was going to at the time and he didn't think that it was the case - but I had the impression that he didn't really have any data on it.

Most of us in the ancient category have observed that a major effect of aging is the slow down of recovery time from various things - exercise, injury, drinking alcohol, a long sleepless period, sex - whatever. It only seems reasonable that the digestive process would slow down as well - that the body would take longer to replace whatever is used up in the process.

In any case, I would be interested in learning your opinion on this.

Bob S.

[johnlvs2run]

Here are some reasons to eliminate milk and milk products from your diet:

composition of milk
http://www.godairyfree.org/index.php?op ... &Itemid=35

milk causing bone loss
http://www.vegsource.com/articles/walsh ... _intro.htm

indigestion and allergies
http://nomilk.com/intro.htm

arthritis, cancer, dioxin to zits
http://www.notmilk.com/

another 100+ links
http://nomilk.com/#indsites

[dutchcan]

Thanks for the the advice. After considering all what you've said, I've decided to go for a whole banana -- btw, the other half went to my other half ) -- and some orange juice. I only take milk in my cereal, and like I said, it's just to get it wet...but I'll cut that out as well. The reason I only ate half a banana, is the carbohydrates. I always felt it was bloating, but perhaps it's the milk that's the culprit.

But JR, what's this about yogourt putting on extra weight? I eat yogurt regularly, and have never found this to be a problem.

Bob, I think you have something there. It makes sense that the digestive system would slow down along with everything else. For what other reason would stewed prunes be a staple in nursing homes. It's well known that as you age, you require less food. Perhaps it's all connected.