2552: Why You Don’t Need Carbs After a Workout by Christian Finn of Muscle Evo on Exercise Nutrition

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[00:01:25] This is Optimal Health Daily, episode 2552. Why You Don't Need Carves After A Workout by Christian

[00:01:42] Finn of MuscleEvo.net and I'm Dr. Neal, your host and narrator. Welcome back to another week of

[00:01:48] Optimal Health Daily. This is where I read to you from some of the best health and fitness

[00:01:52] blogs on the web, kind of like an ongoing audiobook and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:01:59] And with that, let's get right to the post as we optimize your life.

[00:02:07] Why You Don't Need Carves After A Workout by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net

[00:02:14] You don't need carbs after a workout to build muscle, while the rapid provision of

[00:02:18] carbohydrate after exercise is important for some people in certain situations,

[00:02:23] for most people, which likely includes you, it isn't. Here's a closer look at what the science has to

[00:02:29] say on the subject of post-workout carbs and muscle growth. Making the Case For Carves After A Workout

[00:02:36] If I wanted to make a case for the importance of taking in carbs after a workout,

[00:02:40] it would go something like this. After a tough workout, your body is depleted of glycogen,

[00:02:46] the name given to carbohydrate stored in your body, which needs to be replaced as soon as

[00:02:50] possible. Failure to do so is cheating your muscles and putting the brakes on recovery.

[00:02:56] Stored glycogen in muscle cells will also pull water into those cells. This increases cell volume,

[00:03:02] triggering changes in the muscle that will ultimately lead to faster growth.

[00:03:07] The best way to do this is with a rapidly digested carbohydrate with a high glycemic index.

[00:03:12] Potatoes, rice, dextrose, and maltodextrin will all do the job.

[00:03:18] The carbs also jack up your insulin levels, which helps to shuttle nutrients into muscle cells,

[00:03:23] as well as blocking the post-exercise rise in cortisol levels, which would normally have a

[00:03:27] catabolic effect on your muscles. In short, to truly maximize recovery and muscle growth,

[00:03:33] carbs after a workout are essential. Insulin will be spiked, cortisol will be shut down,

[00:03:39] muscle tissue damage will be repaired, and glycogen will be restored as the

[00:03:43] post-workout gods deliver you directly to recovery heaven. Or will they? Actually, they won't. Here's why.

[00:03:51] Post-workout nutrition and glycogen. It's true that muscle glycogen is synthesized more rapidly

[00:03:58] if you take in some carbs immediately after a workout rather than several hours later.

[00:04:04] In fact, delaying the consumption of post-workout carbs for just two hours

[00:04:08] has been shown to slow the rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis by as much as 50%.

[00:04:13] But as long as you're getting enough carbohydrate in your diet,

[00:04:16] glycogen stores will return to normal after a day or two, regardless of when that carbohydrate is consumed.

[00:04:23] Put differently, the speed of post-exercise glycogen synthesis

[00:04:27] is not important as long as the total carbohydrate needed for the day is met.

[00:04:32] Unless you're doing multiple daily workouts, a decent muscle building diet will provide enough

[00:04:38] carbohydrate to restore glycogen stores, regardless of what your post-workout nutrition looks like.

[00:04:44] Think of it like putting fuel in your car. Unless you are taking part in a race, the rate at which

[00:04:50] the pump dispenses the fuel into your car is very little practical significance. What's most important

[00:04:56] is the amount of fuel that gets into the tank rather than the speed at which it gets in there.

[00:05:02] Post-workout nutrition is a different story if you're involved in a sport or activity

[00:05:06] where the length of time between exercise is relatively short. The training practices of some

[00:05:11] athletes, for example, will often demand multiple bouts of exercise targeting the same muscle groups

[00:05:16] on the same day. In this case, speeding up the rate of glycogen replenishment takes on a

[00:05:23] much greater importance. You want those muscles ready for action again as soon as possible.

[00:05:28] In other words, the speed of glycogen restoration is important for some people

[00:05:32] in certain circumstances, but for most of us, it isn't.

[00:05:37] Do you need post-workout carbs to build muscle? The idea that you need carbs after a workout

[00:05:42] to spike insulin levels and gain muscle is also a myth. That's because protein by itself will

[00:05:48] raise insulin levels. Whey protein, for example, has a much bigger impact on insulin levels than

[00:05:54] even pure glucose. But this has little to do with changes in blood sugar levels. Rather,

[00:06:00] the amino acids in whey trigger insulin secretion directly in pancreatic beta cells.

[00:06:05] The branched-chain amino acids, leucine in particular, appear to be the most potent

[00:06:10] insulin secretagogues. Whey also stimulates the release of a couple of gastrointestinal hormones

[00:06:16] known as GIP and GLP1, both of which have the effect of raising insulin levels.

[00:06:23] In one study, taking 50 grams of carbohydrate with 25 grams of whey protein after exercise

[00:06:29] failed to stimulate muscle protein synthesis or inhibit protein breakdown to a greater extent

[00:06:35] than 25 grams of protein alone. The rise in insulin from protein alone is enough to inhibit the increased

[00:06:42] rate of muscle protein breakdown that normally happens after training with weights. In other words,

[00:06:48] if you're taking in a reasonable amount of protein after training, the addition of carbohydrate

[00:06:53] isn't going to help you gain muscle any faster. Dig through the research and you'll find

[00:06:57] very little evidence to show that the addition of post-workout carbs to a protein shake has any

[00:07:03] additional muscle building benefits compared to the protein shake alone. As far as muscle

[00:07:08] building is concerned, a post-workout snack could consist of nothing but protein and fat,

[00:07:13] and you'll likely see a similar rate of muscle growth had you eaten carbs.

[00:07:17] In fact, the combination of fat and protein has a number of interesting benefits

[00:07:21] in the muscle building department. In one study, a post-workout drink containing whole milk

[00:07:26] was found to be more anabolic than fat-free milk. Although both drinks led to an increase in protein

[00:07:32] balance, it was the high-fat whole milk that delivered the greatest results. In another trial,

[00:07:38] eating whole eggs did a better job of boosting muscle protein synthesis, a key driving force

[00:07:43] behind muscle repair and growth, than eating the egg white, even when protein intake was

[00:07:48] identical. How do carbs after a workout affect fat loss? You may have heard that consuming

[00:07:55] fast-acting carbs after a workout will sabotage your attempts to get lean. The research on the

[00:08:00] subject is a bit of a mixed bag. Some studies show that taking in carbs after a workout puts the breaks

[00:08:06] on fat burning, while others show that it has no effect. One trial which looked at fat metabolism

[00:08:12] for three hours after a post-workout meal or plain water shows little difference in the number

[00:08:18] of fat calories burned. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that

[00:08:23] fat oxidation remains high even when a large bowl of pasta is eaten after exercise. On the flip side,

[00:08:30] Colorado State University researchers found a marked decrease in fat oxidation when a carbohydrate-rich

[00:08:37] mixed meal was consumed immediately after exercise. A Canadian team also found that

[00:08:42] replacing the calories burned during exercise with a post-exercise milkshake limits the normal

[00:08:47] rise in fat metabolism that occurs after a workout. However, all four of these studies have

[00:08:53] limited practical application, and here's why. If you really wanted to establish the effect

[00:08:58] of carbs after a workout on fat loss, you need to look at changes in body composition

[00:09:03] over a period of two to three months. Measuring fat metabolism during a narrow window of time

[00:09:09] immediately after exercise gives you a very limited picture about what's going on.

[00:09:14] To lose body weight, all you need is an energy deficit. As long as a post-workout meal or shake

[00:09:20] doesn't reduce or eliminate that deficit, it's not going to slow your rate of fat loss.

[00:09:29] You just listened to the post titled, Why You Don't Need Carbs After A Workout

[00:09:33] by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:11:21] All right so what does this tell us? That we should prioritize protein after a workout?

[00:11:26] That we can go on a low carbohydrate or no carbohydrate diet and still build muscle?

[00:11:31] Really it's not saying any of those things. The most important thing seems to be eating

[00:11:36] a balance of foods, foods that contain carbohydrates protein and healthy fats

[00:11:42] and then the body will take care of the rest. We have to of course exercise but the body will use

[00:11:48] these nutrients when they're needed to support things like muscle growth when they're called upon.

[00:11:53] So we may not need to hyper focus on exactly what we're eating immediately after a workout

[00:11:59] but instead think about our diet quality overall and how to make them as nutritious as possible

[00:12:05] and of course being consistent with our exercise. All right that'll do it for today's episode I hope

[00:12:12] you have a great start to your week and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.