For Serious Training, Hold the Carbs at Dinnertime

Strategically skipping bread, pasta and other carbohydrates at dinner might improve subsequent athletic performance, provided those low-carb meals are combined with the right types of workouts, according to a new sports nutrition study. Its findings undercut some entrenched ideas about how athletes should eat in preparation for spring marathons and other endurance races.

As those of us who are athletes or spend time around them know, diets are a topic of consuming interest for the group, since an athlete’s diet affects how well he or she can train, recover, progress, chisel a physique and compete.

But the ideal sports diet remains elusive. Many dietitians and coaches advocate for heaps of carbohydrates at the training table. Carbohydrates, which break down during digestion into sugar, are the body’s first choice as fuel during exercise. But the body’s reservoir of stored carbohydrates is small, and even if athletes supplement their supply during exercise with sugary drinks or food, prolonged or intense exertion generally incinerates much of the body’s available carbohydrates.

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