Understanding the Link Between Nutrition and Exercise for Optimal Health

People often believe the best way to lose weight is via diet alone, while it is true that proper nutrition supports good health and fitness as a foundation of weight loss. Exercise also makes a contribution towards weight reduction.

Regular exercise can play an invaluable role in maintaining overall wellness and helping prevent or treat chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. Exercise also enhances mental wellbeing and quality of life.

Carbohydrates

Carbs are one of the essential nutrients for human nutrition. These sources include fruits, vegetables, beans, grains and milk products.

These foods not only supply energy to our bodies but are also an essential source of vital vitamins, minerals, and fibers.

Whether training for or competing in an endurance event, eating carbohydrates before, during and after exercise can help build up muscle glycogen stores to prevent bonks (sweating) during your event and boost performance.

Athletes should consume between 3-12 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight each day, depending on their training routine and intensity of exercise. When participating in longer or more intense training sessions, additional carbohydrates should be consumed so they have sufficient fuel available to fuel their activity.

Protein

Exercise doesn’t need to be an intimidating experience – even small, consistent workouts can improve your health and make a significant difference in how it impacts you. No matter your fitness level, it is recommended that at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity be included each week in some form of physical activity.

A high-protein diet is essential to maintaining the health of our muscles, bones and tissues as well as helping prevent weight gain and obesity.

Protein is made up of chains of amino acids linked together, with their arrangement dictating what function the protein serves.

Protein sources include meat, poultry, fish, tofu, dairy products, beans and nuts. Foods high in protein but low in fat such as nonfat Greek yogurt, tilapia or chickpeas also make great options.

Fluids

Fluids and exercise go hand-in-hand: proper hydration ensures the optimal balance between body water and electrolytes, which improves muscle function. If too few fluids and electrolytes reach muscle cells, performance will diminish rapidly resulting in decreased performance levels.

To optimize performance, athletes should attempt to reduce how much water is lost through exercise – particularly those who tend to sweat heavily during physical activity – by adhering to the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for pre and post physical activity fluid intake.

How much fluid an athlete requires depends on several factors, including their age, body size, training status and sweat rate. Young athletes should drink around 17 ounces of fluid two hours prior to and during exercise.

Sugar

Exercise it’s essential to recognize the link between nutrition and performance. Poor eating can cause numerous health issues including weight gain and heart disease.

Carbohydrates are an energy source that the body relies upon, made up of monosaccharides and disaccharides (composed of simple sugar molecules).

Carbs contain three basic elements – carbon, hydrogen and oxygen – with glucose as the most abundant sugar providing energy to cells in your body.

Sucrose is a disaccharide, or two-sugar compound found naturally in all green plants. Also referred to as table sugar, sucrose can also be manufactured from sugar cane and beets for production purposes.

For sucrose production, mixed juice from sugarcane or sugar beets must first be strained through a mesh screen before purification using heat, lime and flocculation aids. Once at pH 5.0-6.5, sucrose begins hydrolyzing into glucose and fructose – two simpler components.