Micronutrients requirement after exercise or biking

[iain]

Eggs contain a balance of most micro-nutrients, so reducing veg in a high egg diet would only be an issue for roughage. Personally while I would expect timing to be more critical post weights, a good diet for an amateur athlete is probably not that demanding on timing except around very long sessions. I have read some studies that were convincing despite the inevitable issues of working with real people, but these are primarily around the indolent. Part of the reason I exercise much longer than the vast majority of my peers is to have more freedom to eat what I want.

[Sakly]

Eggs contain a balance of most micro-nutrients, so reducing veg in a high egg diet would only be an issue for roughage.

Is it really an issue?
There are many studies out to show a huge benefit of fiber in the diet and how important that is for a "healthy" bowel movement.
Since I reduced fibrous foods, I have no bowel issues anymore at all. Fiber content over the whole day is probably around 2-5g from the nuts and the berries/banana.
That is another personal anecdote, but another one that convinces me to not believe in nutrition study outcomes (or at least the conclusions made based on the dataset analysis, which is kind of a personal opinion of the author).

[iain]

I wasn't critisizing, just pointing out that vegetables aren't essential. Use of core muscles also stimulates the bowels. Much has been talked about the benefits of slowing the progression through the gut and thereby allowing the microflora to build up and operate, but I have not seen a systematic study of this so for me it remains uncertain.

[Sakly]

I wasn't critisizing, just pointing out that vegetables aren't essential.

I probably got it wrong, as you used the word "issue", which I link to "problem" in my brain
Agree to veggies are not essential (same as fruit).

[alex9026]

Agree to veggies are not essential (same as fruit).

I treat veggies like I do squats and 500m repeats. I don't like them, but I feel the occasional dose does me good

[Sakly]

Agree to veggies are not essential (same as fruit).

I treat veggies like I do squats and 500m repeats. I don't like them, but I feel the occasional dose does me good

I eat some from time to time, mostly in family meals. Yesterday some potatoes and sauerkraut. But they are not satiating to me, so I need to eat soon again afterwards.

[Tsnor]

....Any tips for balancing your post-workout meals?

There is evidence that consuming carbs, especially anti-oxidant carb like tomato juice or cherry juice immediately after a workout improves recovery time. Consuming immediately is best, a two hour delay in one study showed a 50% reduction in recovery benefit.

Recovery benefit is a soft term. Some studies used measuring muscle glycogen levels as a surrogate for recovery. Others used targeted exercise performance to see what lead to the best recovery. Same results both ways.

Example study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19883392/ "Influence of tart cherry juice on indices of recovery following marathon running" "..cherry juice appears to provide a viable means to aid recovery following strenuous exercise by increasing total antioxidative capacity, reducing inflammation, lipid peroxidation and so aiding in the recovery of muscle function.."

At the risk of citing youtube, here are digested study results for a dozen studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGMvtOan1ZM

FWIW: I agree with the skepticism many have on these studies. If I had more trusted results I'd skip these. Seems a low risk decision to trust these studies and eat carbs after rowing (blueberry pop-tarts anyone?) until the studies get disproved during the next fad. Be interesting to see if/when LDL-C levels stop being an important heart health marker.

[carldstevens]

Me too. I always have carbs with meals, and I don't find that they're fattening for me. I seem to work best with a lot of carbs, but I do have to avoid wheat (not gluten), which does cause me issues.

Same here, and reduced sugars also for me.

[gvcormac]

FWIW: I agree with the skepticism many have on these studies. If I had more trusted results I'd skip these. Seems a low risk decision to trust these studies and eat carbs after rowing (blueberry pop-tarts anyone?) until the studies get disproved during the next fad. Be interesting to see if/when LDL-C levels stop being an important heart health marker.

A agree that the evidence is weak, but there is some evidence that fructose (sugar) or glactose (milk) is processed directly via the liver, so including that in your post-workout snack might contribute to liver glycogen better than straight glucose or starch, with less impact on blood sugar. Of course, any fruit will contribute fructose; some more than others.

[iain]

...but there is some evidence that fructose (sugar) or glactose (milk) is processed directly via the liver, so including that in your post-workout snack might contribute to liver glycogen better than straight glucose or starch, with less impact on blood sugar.

Interesting, I hadn't heard this and thought that fructose and galactose were both absorbed by the gut lining while fructose is absorbed and utilised directly by muscles.

In addition, I thought that "blood glucose" was usually measured as the concentration of glucose (despite the name) so inevitably has less impact, that said, I think fructose is absorbed quicker from the blood in the hepatic portal system and so should indeed have less impact on true "blood sugar" levels in the wider circulation. That said, the absorption shares the glucose pathway and I don't know whether absorption of fructose would therefore reduce glucose absorption as I don't know what the limiting step is.

[gvcormac]

Interesting, I hadn't heard this and thought that fructose and galactose were both absorbed by the gut lining while fructose is absorbed and utilised directly by muscles.

In addition, I thought that "blood glucose" was usually measured as the concentration of glucose (despite the name) so inevitably has less impact, that said, I think fructose is absorbed quicker from the blood in the hepatic portal system and so should indeed have less impact on true "blood sugar" levels in the wider circulation. That said, the absorption shares the glucose pathway and I don't know whether absorption of fructose would therefore reduce glucose absorption as I don't know what the limiting step is.

Right. I should clarify: By "blood sugar" I mean serum glucose. And I am talking about liver glycogen, not muscle glycogen. And fructose and galactose both have much lower glycemic index than glucose (25 and 23 respectively).