There’s nothing wrong with eating before exercising. However, don’t eat bad food before exercise which can reduce your performance and interfere with your health.
Bad food and drink consumed before exercise
Filling energy by eating before exercise is very good for you. This can maximize calorie burning and increase nutritional intake for exercise.
When you know the right way to keep your body fit while exercising, you will of course avoid consuming certain foods before going to the gym.
Consumption of fast food, aka junk food, such as french fries, burgers, and soft drinks, definitely needs to be avoided when starting a workout.
Even so, there are also some foods that you think are healthy that actually have a negative impact on sports activity and performance. Which Food is Choosing Before and After Exercise?
The following are various pre-exercise food restrictions that you need to avoid.
1. Vegetables are high in fiber
Salad is often the choice of food before exercising, even though eating salad before exercising can have a bad effect.
Foods consisting of high-fiber vegetables can slow down the digestive process. This results in stomach discomfort and bloating during exercise.
Several other types of vegetables, such as peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can also have the same effect and you need to avoid them.
For convenience when exercising, you can eat salads and other vegetables a few hours before exercising or after.
2. Raw bananas
Bananas are also often the preferred snack before exercise. The benefits of this banana come from the potassium and carbohydrate content in it.
However, unripe bananas can be bad food for the body if consumed before exercising.
The reason is that unripe bananas have a high starch content making them difficult to digest. So, unripe bananas can cause flatulence.
So, if you plan to eat a banana before exercising, make sure the banana is ripe and yellow, doesn’t look like it was just plucked from a tree.
Eating ripe bananas is the best choice. The ripening process has turned the starches into sugars that your body can more easily use as exercise fuel.
3. Foods high in fat
Indeed, not all types of fat are bad for health, but you should avoid foods that are high in saturated fat before exercise.
Types of high-fat foods, namely oily foods, red meat, milk, and processed products.
In addition, foods high in healthy fats, such as cheese, almonds and avocados can be foods that reduce performance during exercise.
Even though avocado is known as a good fat, the extra fiber in it contributes greatly to flatulence.
Regardless of the type, fat is generally processed into energy much more slowly than carbohydrates and protein.
As a result, it will be difficult for your body to take additional energy or calories from fatty foods during exercise.
4. Spicy food
Eating spicy food before exercise is certainly a bad decision. The reason is, this habit can cause discomfort in the stomach.
Spicy food can also trigger stomach acid reflux which is caused by acid coming out of the stomach and up into the esophagus.
5. Packaged fruit juice
Juice from fruit concentrate is a bad food to consume before exercise. This is because packaged fruit juices have a high sugar content in them.
Apart from being high in sugar, packaged fruit juices do not contain much fiber. The nutrients obtained are not the same as when consuming whole fruit.
Nutritionists prefer to eat whole fruit before exercise. However, you can drink juice after exercise to maintain body fluid intake.
6. Energy drinks
Many people drink energy drinks to improve their performance, even though these types of drinks are considered bad to consume before exercising.
Energy drinks are claimed to increase energy, endurance and concentration. According to Michigan Medicine, this effect is obtained through the caffeine content as the main ingredient of this drink.
Unfortunately, caffeine intake in some people can increase heart rate and blood pressure. This condition can cause feelings of anxiety when exercising.
Better yet, consume sports drinks that contain carbohydrates, electrolytes, and minerals to help restore lost body fluids.
7. Fizzy drinks
Fizzy drinks are bad drinks to consume before exercise because they contain carbon dioxide which can make you feel bloated and have an upset stomach.
Most soft drinks are also high in sugar or artificial sweeteners. This can make your body lose energy more quickly before the training session is over.
You can drink plain water instead. Keeping your body hydrated is the main key so that your body can work optimally when exercising.
Consuming high-fat, junk food , or high-sugar drinks before exercising can have a negative impact on your performance.
Therefore, as much as possible avoid consuming the foods and drinks mentioned on the list above before starting the exercise.