7 foods you shouldn't eat after a workout to avoid ruining your efforts

Order on Aliexpress with delivery from Russia and up to 25% discount

A balanced diet is a necessary requirement to obtain effective performance from sports. Eating properly before and after training largely determines how quickly the desired results will be achieved.

One of the products that you cannot do without in sports nutrition is an egg, a source of protein and other substances beneficial to the body. Is it possible to eat eggs before or after training, and how to use this product correctly so that it brings benefits - we will answer these questions in the article.

Is it possible to eat eggs before and after training?

The main goals of going to the gym are to lose weight or gain muscle mass. The composition and characteristics of food intake are determined in accordance with the type of training and the desired result. However, there are general rules that must be followed when following a sports nutrition regimen.

• To work effectively and get results before training, you need to eat complex carbohydrates and proteins.
• It is advisable to eat food no later than 2 hours before going to the gym.
• Fatty and heavy foods before training are excluded.

Eggs are a source of high-quality protein, which is essential for maintaining strength and muscle growth. Before training, it is better to eat an egg white omelet: this is a light food that will give you a boost of energy and will not leave a heaviness in your stomach.

Immediately after playing sports, it is better not to eat for an hour: during this time, the body is working intensively - actively burning fat and growing muscles. However, due to intense physical activity, the body needs to replenish energy through protein-rich foods. This means that an hour after training, eating eggs is not only possible, but also necessary. Quantity – no more than 2-3 pieces.

In what form is it better to use the product? The ideal option is to cook boiled eggs after training, but you can make an omelet or fry eggs with a little vegetable oil.

Attention!

Many fitness trainers recommend training on an empty stomach: physical activity slows down digestion. In addition, if you eat immediately before exercise, your endurance will decrease during exercise and heartburn may occur.

Post-workout nutrition for weight loss

If your goal is to lose weight, then we eat anyway! After training, it’s white meat in the locker room. What did you want?! Your body sweated, flushing out all the nutrients. Will you proudly leave the sports club hungry, but happy, with the clear thought that “that’s all you ate”?! Yes, it was too much, but a lot of useful stuff was also lost, so let’s make up for it! After you've eaten the breast, move on to the banana. With its help, protein is better absorbed, and it will protect your muscles from soreness (micro-tears) after physical activity. At home, continue to make up for what you lost. The following will be used: stewed vegetables, salads dressed with flaxseed oil, low-fat cottage cheese, white poultry, low-fat kefir. By the way, pistachios help you fall asleep quickly, but not more than 10 pieces. Avoid potatoes, they take a long time to digest, but corn, lightly fried in a pan, is healthy. It is necessary to eat after training, and do not starve yourself.

Benefits of eggs

What has earned such a simple and familiar product - an egg - such a respectful attitude from fitness and bodybuilding specialists? The fact is that this product has the highest biological value, equal to one. This means that the egg contains all the nutrients and amino acids necessary for the human body to function.

Benefits of Eating Eggs for Sports Nutrition

Eggs are one of the best post-workout foods. The benefits to the body from consuming them are impressive:

• well absorbed by the body - 98%;
• have a protein to carbohydrate ratio of approximately 10:1, which helps build lean muscle mass;
• have a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which promote cell growth and regulate hormonal balance;
• contain lecithin - a component of nerve fibers and the brain, a powerful hepatoprotector;
• the presence of vitamin D and phosphorus helps strengthen bone tissue;
• lutein and zeaxanthin, which are found in the yolk, prevent eye diseases;
• contain cholesterol, which is involved in the synthesis of testosterone.

Important!

The opinion that athletes should eat only protein after training, since the yolk contains fats, is erroneous. In fact, in addition to fat, the yolk contains most of the vitamins and other nutrients, and saturated fats, which are harmful to the body, contain only 1.6 g (only 2% is absorbed!)

Product value

Eggs, which are familiar to any athlete, contain protein, valuable amino acids, and healthy fats. Along with this, the yolks contain cholesterol - a substance that, when ingested, not only disrupts lipid metabolism, but is also deposited on the walls of blood vessels, causing the development of atherosclerosis.

Fortunately, it is impossible to judge the cholesterol contained in eggs so unequivocally - what it will be for the body (“harmful” or “beneficial”) depends on the type of heat treatment of the product and what it is combined with. For example, scrambled eggs cooked in a small amount of vegetable oil will only bring benefits. And if you add bacon, sausage or lard to the dish, it will certainly “turn into” another “portion” of bad cholesterol for the body.

The benefits of eggs for athletes are as follows:

• 1 chicken egg contains 6 g of high-quality protein;
• The product contains essential amino acids required by the body to restore muscle structures;
• Eggs are rich in vitamins and microelements (in particular, potassium, calcium, iron and phosphorus);
• Contain mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids that regulate hormonal balance in the body;
• Eggs also contain lecithin - one of the important components of nerve fibers and the brain;
• Despite the fact that most experts “scold” this product for its cholesterol content, this substance is nevertheless involved in the process of testosterone synthesis (the hormone responsible for the growth of muscle mass).

Harm and contraindications of eggs

Despite the important role of eggs in our diet, this product can be harmful to the body under certain conditions. What are the negative effects of this product?

• With excessive consumption of eggs, the liver suffers, harmful cholesterol accumulates in the body, which contributes to the development of atherosclerosis.
• An egg that is not thermally treated can cause a serious illness - salmonellosis.
• To ensure survival, chickens kept in poor conditions are given antibiotics in their feed, which are then laid in their eggs. This reduces a person’s immunity and susceptibility to drugs.
• Poor quality chicken feed contributes to the accumulation of nitrates in eggs, which have a negative effect on the human body.
• Egg is a product that often causes allergies.

It is not recommended for allergy sufferers to eat eggs. People with diabetes, cholecystitis, obesity, or high cholesterol should significantly limit their consumption of the product and include it in their diet only on the recommendation of a doctor.

Raw vegetables

Raw vegetables do not help the body recover after exercise.

They did not expect? You will probably say that vegetables are very healthy, low-calorie, they contain a lot of vitamins and microelements, and therefore must be consumed after a workout. However, there is another side to the coin: raw vegetables do not contain enough carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats, and therefore they cannot help the body recover after performing difficult exercises. It is better not to waste healthy products in vain, but to replace them with a dish containing all the necessary elements. For example, after a morning jog, you can eat eggs with whole grain bread - the proteins and carbohydrates they contain will help you quickly restore strength. And after an evening workout, a peanut butter sandwich is a great dinner.

How many eggs can you eat per day?

If a person is healthy, you can even eat eggs, but you need to do it correctly, focusing on the norms recommended by nutritionists for various categories of people. An adult can eat 1-2 eggs a day with breaks without harm to health (no more than 7-8 eggs per week). An athlete needs much more: great physical activity contributes to intensive digestion of food.

The rate of consumption of eggs by people involved in sports depends on the specifics of the diet, age, body weight, and type of activity. The average daily norm is 3-5 eggs. To build muscle mass, a bodybuilder needs to eat up to 10 pieces a day. During drying, you need to limit yourself to protein only - no more than 20 g (1 protein) daily.

Caffeine

Coffee dehydrates the body. / Photo: kapservis.ru

If you can still drink a cup of Americano before training, since caffeine gives an additional boost of energy, then after the gym it is better to refrain from coffee. The fact is that caffeinated drinks dehydrate the body and increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which negatively affects your well-being.

Source

Is it possible to drink raw eggs?

Many athletes prefer to include raw eggs in their meals. On the one hand, this is reasonable: thermally untreated eggs are digested more slowly, which means more calories are burned, and moreover, raw eggs retain all the nutrients in their entirety. However, it is recommended to drink raw eggs only if you are confident in their quality and manufacturer. Otherwise, this may result in salmonellosis. In addition, boiled protein is completely absorbed, while raw protein is only half absorbed.

how much raw eggs should you drink before going to the gym?

Protein should be taken not before training, but after it, for 20-40 minutes. And before training, you need to consume carbohydrates so that the muscles have somewhere to get energy for work. And drinking raw eggs generally poses a risk of contracting salmonellosis. After training, it is best to drink protein or gainer. Well, or eat cottage cheese or boiled eggs, and always with a small amount of carbohydrates.

Don’t eat raw ones, you can get salmonellosis + they are poorly digestible... boiled ones are 500 times better, especially since they eat proteins after training... and before it you need carbohydrates for energy

raw egg whites - they are not digestible; we have no enzyme in the stomach; they must coagulate at a temperature - boil, fry, then they are digested very well, and yolks are better raw, coagulated - they are digested worse, because soft-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs - homemade fried eggs - without a doubt - better

Is it possible to eat eggs while losing weight?

Eggs are not only one of the healthiest foods, but also the best ones for weight loss. This feature is explained by their special properties.

1. A small amount of calories (about 78 in one egg) corresponds to the main principle of weight loss - reducing the calorie content of food consumed.
2. High protein content gives you a feeling of fullness: you want to eat less.
3. Egg whites are rich in amino acids that stimulate metabolism, which is very important for the weight loss process.
4. Eggs have a “thermogenic effect”: they contain a lot of protein, it takes a lot of energy to break it down, and as a result, calories are actively burned.

On a note.

The best time to eat eggs is morning. Scientists have proven that if a person eats an egg for breakfast, he consumes fewer calories throughout the day than when he eats, for example, a croissant with the same energy value!

General principles

While you were working out in the gym, your body was intensively using up accumulated reserves to give you the opportunity to perform all the exercises with the intensity that you set for it. When the workout is over, muscle recovery and growth begins, and resources are distributed between them to replenish the energy spent. At this time, the blood is filled with a large number of fat molecules, which the body takes from your fat tissue and uses to fuel working muscles. If carbohydrates enter the body in the next 2-3 hours, the body will return fat molecules back to adipose tissue and will use the carbohydrates that it received with food. If you want to lose weight , avoid carbohydrates during this time.

Therefore, if you are interested in the answer to the question of what to eat after a workout, then the answer is simple: protein !

In some articles you can find the opinion that after exercise you need to eat a banana or grapes, otherwise the body will not be able to effectively restore energy, and therefore muscles. Forget this is a fallacy of the last century. Research has shown that muscle recovery is only affected by the amount of carbohydrates you consume during the day, not specifically after a workout.

Be sure to read our article on pre-workout nutrition.

How to choose the right eggs?

High-quality chicken eggs must have a clean shell of a uniform structure, without cracks, and be consistent in weight and size. The category is marked on the shell:

• “D” – dietary egg, with a shelf life of no more than 7 days;
• “C” – table food, can be stored for up to 25 days.

The next marking sign is the type of egg, depending on its weight. An egg of the highest category “B” weighs 75g or more; selected “O” – from 65 to 75g; Next comes the 1st category egg (55-65g); 2 (45-55g); 3 – from 35 to 45g. For those wishing to lose weight, it is important to know that the larger the egg, the higher its calorie content. In the selected variety, for example, there are 85 units.

The most important indicator of egg quality is their freshness. There are several ways to determine this parameter.

1. Bring the egg to your ear and shake: the stale one creates a gurgling sound.
2. Pay attention to the shell - a fresh egg has a matte finish, but a stale egg can be glossy.
3. The most common way is to immerse the product in water. A completely “drowned” egg is no more than three days old, and one floating on the surface is more than a week old.
4. The white of a fresh broken egg does not spread, has a uniform structure and light color.

Some manufacturers enrich food with special mixtures to increase the content of microelements in eggs - for example, iodine or selenium. Then there are special symbols on the packaging.

In what form is it best to eat eggs?

As already noted, many athletes prefer to drink raw eggs. But it’s better to boil or fry them: this way the protein necessary for muscle growth is better absorbed, and the chance of getting a “bonus” in the form of salmonellosis is minimized. You need to cook the eggs for at least 7-8 minutes so that the yolk is completely cooked and hard. The best option is hard-boiled eggs: frying requires fat, which will increase the amount of calories and cholesterol.

How to cook eggs correctly?

The traditional way to hard-boil an egg is to place the egg in boiling salted water and cook for 8 minutes from the moment it boils. Experienced chefs give another piece of advice: cook eggs at low temperatures. To do this, place the egg in cold salted water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook for 12-15 minutes. With this method of preparation, the water temperature does not exceed 85 C. As a result, the yolk has a pleasant dense consistency, without a “rubbery” effect, and the white is smooth and homogeneous.

Salt is added at the rate of 2 tbsp. spoons per liter of water. This is necessary not only to prevent the egg from cracking, but also to speed up the coagulation of the protein.