When it comes to eating before a workout, there seems to be no clear answer.
The fascination with fitness and food began in the 1920s with a study that showed eating carbs before exercise gives you more energy.
That research created a foundation for an industry of fitness food brands, and nutrition ‘experts’ offering their take on exactly how to hack your workout by tweaking your diet.
But in the last 100 years, research has shifted dramatically – and the amount of advice available to consumers is overwhelming.
In recent years, research has increasingly found that going to the gym on an empty stomach will burn more fat, especially in the morning.
Daily Mail Online spoke to trainers and nutritionists and mined through the history of workout food research to separate concrete science from hear-say.
Personal trainer and owner of New York Personal Training Rui Li said: ‘Eating right before (exercise) shouldn’t be necessary if you have a well-structured and well-balanced diet.’
If you feel you need to eat before exercising it could mean you are sugar-adapted and not fat-adapted in your ability to consume energy, she added.
Those who are fat-adapted covert the fat in their body into energy without getting ravenous bursts of hunger.
They can work out on an empty stomach by tapping into the stored fat and begin to burn it off.
However, if you have a high-sugar intake you are more likely to be sugar-adapted and need glucose for energy, which is not as long-lasting as fat.
Luckily, you can become fat-adapted by cutting out sugar and reprogramming your body to use stored fat as fuel.
Li suggests adding healthy fats to your overall diet, such as olive oil, avocados and nuts, to reset your body to burn off fat.
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Source: Daily Mail
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