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Regardless of the goal, food is a structuring part in the life of an athlete. Training is decisive, but it is not the only way to achieve the goals that are intended.
Supplementation, alongside nutrition and training, can be an additional help to speed up the results of your effort.
For an athlete, a good nutritional status should be a priority, with carbohydrates being an essential component for good physical performance.
The food supplements market has a large supply of supplements prepared to respond to different objectives: lose weight, build muscle, burn fat and tone, gain weight…
Within the wide range of supplements, carbohydrate supplements take on a predominant role, especially for those who want to increase weight or need a boost of extra energy, either to train or compete, or to recover from the physical effort.
You see now the importance of this macronutrient, as well as the type of carbohydrates present in the supplements and their characteristics.
Why carbohydrates are important
Carbohydrates are part of the nutritional composition of many foods and their main function is to supply energy (4kcal per gram).
In addition to supply energy, they perform many other functions, such as maintaining adequate levels of glucose in the body, reducing fatigue levels, delaying fatigue, maintaining adequate reserves of liver and muscular glycogen and facilitation of nutrient absorption.
In the specific case of athletes and regular exercise practitioners, carbohydrates take on a more relevant role since the athletes’ diet requires an adequate energy contribution to the exercise requirement, with carbohydrates being main power source.
In addition, they contribute to the recovery and construction of muscle mass, especially because their balanced consumption will help the body “save” the reserves of protein – cores of muscle builders – because without the adequate amount of energy from carbohydrates, the body can start using the protein reserves as a source of energy. Also, when consumed together, carbohydrates will help the body to absorb the protein.
According to Cláudia Minderico in the Sports Coaches Course Manual
“This permanent state of negative energy balance leads to weight loss and the alteration of the endocrine function. Inadequate energy intake in relation to energy expenditure compromises sport performance and can limit the benefits of training.”
With intense workouts and competitions, sometimes the amount of carbohydrates ingested is not enough.
This way it may be necessary to use supplementation, which can be done through beverages, gels, bars and other energy supplements, such as carbohydrate supplements.
These supplements are usually directed to endurance athletes (or others) who have a very large physical and energetic wear in their activity and are looking to replenish glycogen reserves, have more energy to exercise or accelerate and improve the recovery.
However, the latter, carbohydrate supplements, on par with the gainers, for example, are also intended for people who want to gain weight, but have difficulty doing so, whether because they have a metabolism too accelerated or because they have difficulty in absorb nutrients.
Variety of carbohydrates
There are varied carbohydrates with different characteristics in terms of composition, digestion and palatability.
In terms of composition, we can differentiate this nutrient by monosaccharides (simple sugars such as glucose and fructose), disaccharides (lactose and galactose) and polysaccharides.
The most common sources of carbohydrates present in carbohydrate supplements are the maltodextrin, dextrose, fructose (carbohydrates), oats and waxy maze (sources of carbohydrates), which can be found in isolated formulas (in which there is only one present) or together.
According to some studies, the intake of carbohydrates in the pre-workout demonstrates the improvement of cognitive performance and physical performance.
Next, you’ll learn a little bit more about the main carbohydrate resources in carbohydrate supplements (and in others).
Carbohydrate Resources + Carbohydrate supplements
Major carbohydrate resources in carbohydrate supplements
Maltodextrin
It results from the hydrolysis of the starch.
It is a complex carbohydrate, but of rapid absorption, presenting a high glycemic index (between 85 and 105) and, as a result, leads to an exponential increase in the levels of insulin.
As such, Maltodextrin helps to increase or balance the levels of muscular energy, thereby helping to avoid the catabolism.
According to Chronakis, BeMiller e Whistler:
“The resulting commercially available, mostly white, powders are of high purity and microbiological safety and are used in a wide range of food and beverage products, including baked goods and sports drinks.”
Dextrose
Dextrose, best known for glucose or glycose – due to its similarity in chemical composition – is a simple carbohydrate with high glycemic index.
It is one of the fastest absorption carbohydrates.
It is extremely useful in the recovery of energy levels at the muscular level, being useful in post-workout, in order to restore the levels of glycogen in the body and to facilitate the recovery.
Fructose
Also known as “fruit sugar”, it is a monosaccharide (simple carbohydrate) present in various foods, such as plants and fruits, with low glycemic index, often used as a substitute for sugar. It is also synthesized by our body from glucose.
The fructose, according to some studies, is useful to replenish the levels of glycogen at the hepatic level after training – but it must be taken into consideration its origin, being that its consumption through the fruit is much healthier than the consumption of other foods in which there is presence of fructose, such as soft drinks or pastry products.
Attention! It is not a very healthy resource, especially when consumed only by itself.
According to “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”:
“Fructose is an intermediary in the metabolism of glucose, but there is no biological need for dietary fructose. When ingested by itself, fructose is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and it almost entirely cleared by the liver (…).”
However, the fact that it is metabolized in the liver does not cause such high blood glucose or insulin peaks.
Oats
Oats is a cereal, a complex carbohydrate with a low glycemic index and a good resource of minerals, vitamins, fiber and protein
Present in various supplements, oats are made up of 60% starch, whose properties are distinct from other types of starch due to their lipid content and the degree of complexity of amylose.
It has been increasingly studied due to the various health benefits “Research and development on oat and its products may be helpful in combating various diseases known to mankind”
In addition to its important role in promoting gastrointestinal health, mainly due to its fiber content, it is a good resource to keep blood sugar levels stable and to promote satiety.
Waxy-maize
It is a slow digestion starch that can also be found in some supplements and a complex carbohydrate with low glycemic index.
It has benefits, especially in the control of sugar and insulin levels.
According to studies,
“(…) waxy maize might be a suitable choice of carbohydrate when a slower, more prolonged release of energy is desired.”
Other references
These ingredients can be found in isolated formulas, but are also used to enrich other formulas, such as gainers, or bars, beverages and energy gels.
There is a very popular carbohydrate supplement that is a potent patented formula that aims to give the body that energetic boost that it needs during and after training: Vitargo.
In conclusion
There is a variety of supplements with different types of carbohydrates, being some more useful for pre-workout meals and others for post-workout.
It is extremely useful for you to read the labels and stay informed about the most appropriate depending on your training objective.
