Improved recovery from prolonged exercise following the consumption of low glycemic index carbohydrate meals.

Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2005 Aug;15(4):333-49. Improved recovery from prolonged exercise following the consumption of low glycemic index carbohydrate meals. Stevenson E, Williams C, McComb G, Oram C. Sport and Exercise Nutrition Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. Abstract This study examined the effects of the glycemic index (GI) of post-exercise carbohydrate (CHO) intake on endurance capacity the following day. Nine active males participated in 2 trials. On day 1, subjects ran for 90 min at 70% VO(2max)(R1). Thereafter, they were supplied with either a high GI (HGI) or low GI (LGI) CHO diet which provided 8 g CHO/kg body mass (BM). On day 2, after an overnight fast, subjects ran to exhaustion at 70% VO(2max)(R2). Time to exhaustion during R2 was longer in the LGI trial (108.9 +/- 7.4 min) than in the HGI trial (96.9 +/- 4.8 min) (P < 0.05). Fat oxidation rates and free fatty acid concentrations were higher in the LGI trial than the HGI trial (P < 0.05). The results suggest that the increased endurance capacity was largely a consequence of the increased fat oxidation following the LGI recovery diet.