Sugar in the diet of sport people

Lately we only hear bad things about sugar.

But did you know carbohydrates, including sugars, are a fuel source for the muscles and central nervous system. The availability of carbohydrate can play a key role in exercise performance, therefore, many sports nutrition guidelines promote carbohydrate intake before, sometimes during and after exercise to meet the fuel requirements of the activity.

Carbohydrates can be broadly categorized into sugars, starches and dietary fibre, all of which are dealt with quite differently by the body. An athlete with inadequate carbohydrate intake or stores may suffer from fatigue, reduced ability to train hard, impaired cognitive performance, and a reduction in immune system function. Hence, athletes who train for longer than 45 minutes may require higher carbohydrate intakes than the general population. An athlete’s individual carbohydrate requirements are dependent on the fuel needs of their training and competition programme, but Table 1, provides general targets from the Australian Institute of Sport.

If you want to know more please read through the pdf attached from the Sugar Research Advisory Service.