It can be difficult to identify what nutritional wisdom is out of date and what you should follow as an athlete. So we asked a sports dietitian: what are some common myths about running nutrition that we need to bust? Here is the top five.
Myth #1: Eating late at night will make me gain weight.
Weight isn’t that simple, and the timing of that late-night snack isn’t the issue. We would have to dig much deeper to consider lifestyle, metabolism, and specific training to get closer to understanding the full equation of what leads a person to gain weight. Restrictive ideas like this abound in diet culture and can be dangerous, leading to unhealthy restrictions that are not based on scientific fact and are not mentally healthy or physically productive. In fact, a study in Journal of medicine and science in sport and exercise showed that having a high-protein snack before bed helped increase muscle protein synthesis by 22 percent, leading to better recovery from exercise.
Myth #2: Carbohydrates are bad
This myth could have arisen more recently from the trendy, albeit scientifically inconclusive, ketogenic diet, or old-school Atkins-era diet myths. Athletes should be skeptical of any diet that restricts a certain nutrient or ingredient – our bodies need carbohydrates for energy. You’ll need readily available carbs if you want to run at a higher percentage of your VO2max without performance impacts, and while exercising at lower intensities, your body more readily uses fat and actually produces more energy per gram than carbs. Although eating fewer carbs during certain points in your workout can be beneficial, any time a diet seeks to demonize a single ingredient or nutrient, that should be a red flag.
Myth #3: I need to fuel up with a mix of food and hydration for every run
You don’t need to eat and drink your calories on every run if you eat enough throughout the day. Where you do need to focus on fueling is in races longer than 60 minutes, as on average our bodies contain enough energy in our stored glycogen fuel to last us anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. The general recommendation for fueling for workouts longer than an hour is to consume 40 to 90 grams of carbohydrates, 200 to 300 calories, and 16 to 20 ounces of fluids each hour. So while you don’t need to fill up on stroopwafels to jog around the block, you should definitely snack on your two-hour training run.
Myth #4: I don’t need to worry about protein.
Runners who train constantly will need to pay attention to their protein intake. On average, endurance athletes require 1.5 to two times the amount of protein as the average person, and not getting enough protein can lead to increased risk of illness and injury, mood disorders, and poor recovery.
The amount of protein you need depends on your body weight, but the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) recommends 1.4 to 2 grams for every kilogram of body weight. For a 150-pound runner, this would equate to between 95 and 136 grams per day. In general, a good goal is to consume 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal and 10 to 15 grams per snack.
Myth #5: I can only refuel right after running
You’ve probably heard of the post-exercise “window of opportunity,” the 30 minutes after an intense run or workout that has been touted as the best time to eat and recharge. That’s due to the idea that muscles are more receptive to replacing lost glycogen (or stored carbohydrates) in the half hour immediately after intense exertion, which is important because glycogen is used for energy during workouts. . Delaying glycogen replacement can hinder an athlete’s ability to recover from longer or higher intensity workouts and leave them at increased risk of injury.
While many nutrition experts still recommend the 30- to 60-minute post-exercise energy replenishment window, previous research has shown that there is a higher rate of carbohydrate absorption and glycogen resynthesis in the two hours after training. And there may be more wiggle room when you factor in the type of exercise, how much you’ve eaten previously, and what kind of shape you’re in.
Eating some form of protein with a carbohydrate source can be beneficial for muscle glycogen replacement, as both carbohydrate and protein work together to return glucose to muscle. While more specific recommendations can be given to runners based on body weight, the general recommendation is to consume 45-60 grams of carbohydrates and 15-20 grams of protein.
This story originally appeared in our sister publication, trail runner.
