Female Athletes – the number of which may be underreported in Africa – are often found using diet supplements to boost recovery after sporting activities. Many of these supplements are not only expensive, but may expose their bodies to several health risks. Professor Brent Ruby, University of Montana researcher has found a more palatable alternative – diverse diet.
According to Ruby, carbohydrate-rich diets are sufficient to boost the physiologic and mechanic dynamics needed for exercise recovery. Ruby and his team found that a McDonald’s Happy Meal was just as effective for exercise recovery as synthetic nutritional supplements.
The study, which aimed at representing women in studies on exercise and sport nutrition, showed that the female and male participants recorded replenishment in their carbohydrate stores to the same extent for both regular carbohydrate diet and sports supplements.
This means Kemi who runs the marathon in Lagos may not need to use sports supplements to recover after a long exercise or training session, and will just replenish depleted glucose stores with a good meal of potatoes, for example.
This, Ruby says, may potentially eliminate sales for nutritional supplements that leverage media attention instead of any real nutritional value.
Read original article here: https://news.umt.edu/2020/04/041720ruby.php
