People who eat before exercise may boost their blood sugar, giving the body the energy to do exercise more strongly and for longer, according to a British study. It also reduces fatigue or dizziness.
As for people who eat after exercise, they consider it helps to burn more fat in the case of fasting before exercise.
The study supported the latter view: it included 30 men who were obese or overweight, and men who exercised before breakfast burned fat two times more than men who ate breakfast before exercising.
Exercise without food forces the body to switch to stored carbohydrates, and when they disappear quickly, they become fat cells.
The group who ate after exercise did not lose more weight than the group who ate pre-workout during the six weeks of the study, but had "profound and positive" effects on the health of the group that practiced fasting, the researchers said.
Skipping the meal before exercise makes the muscles of men more responsive to insulin, which controls high blood sugar, which reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease.