Gauthier Delomez 7:06 p.m., October 04, 2022
"Carbohydrates are essential for the proper functioning of our body", recalls the sports columnist Akim Ben Mzakr in the program "Bienfait pour vous".
On Europe 1, he explains that sugar is not the enemy of the athlete and that there are certain rules to adopt to take advantage of a physical session.
Playing sports and eating sugar are not necessarily incompatible.
This is demonstrated by the sports columnist Akim Ben Mzakr in the program
Bienfait pour vous
.
At the microphone of Julia Vignali and Mélanie Gomez, he recalls that "carbohydrates are essential for the proper functioning of our body, it is an energy fuel".
However, there are rules to follow and foods to avoid, after a good physical session, to be in good shape.
How to find the right amount of sugar to ingest each day
First, the minimum amount of carbohydrates to swallow in a day must follow a simple mathematical reasoning: multiply the weight of your body by four to find the number of grams of sugar adequate.
Akim Ben Mzakr even adds that for the greatest athletes, this value can be higher: "Athletes must have a food strategy to put in place before, during and after the event".
>> Find all the shows of Mélanie Gomez and Julia Vignali from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Europe 1 in replay and podcast here
The columnist also specifies that a normal blood sugar level must be between 0.8 and 1 gram of sugar in the blood.
Check the glycemic index of your foods
After a weight training session or any other physical activity, the body needs to recharge.
The columnist of
Bienfait pour vous
supports that "the quality of carbohydrates depends on the glycemic index: if it is higher than 70 (high), the sugar will be quickly digested, increasing with it the secretion of insulin and therefore the storage of fats".
On the other hand, "if it is below 55, the sugar will be digested slowly, severely limiting insulin secretion".
The glycemic index can be easily found by doing some research on the Internet.
"By carbohydrates and sugars, also mean pasta, rice, lentils, chickpeas, corn... The family of carbohydrates is really very large", notes Akim Ben Mzakr.
Associate carbohydrates with three other elements
However, this list must be refined by avoiding "all carbohydrates from ultra-processed foods" which "will be harmful to health and the line", notes a micro-nutritionist interviewed by Europe 1. "There are no good or bad carbohydrates", she tempers, "it all depends on when we are going to consume them and for what purpose. For example, a carbohydrate with a high glycemic index will be beneficial post-workout to restore the muscle glycogen store (. ..). The sugar will therefore not go into the fats but into the muscles, hence the interest of sport", underlines the doctoral student in pharmacy.
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Who advises to "never consume carbohydrates alone".
"To lower the glycemic index of your meal, we will combine our carbohydrates with three elements: fibers (vegetables), good fats (olive oil, avocados, oilseeds, etc.) and if necessary, proteins", lists the micro-nutritionist.
"The good fat, as well as the fibers, will act as a glue and trap the sugar in our rice. For example, a few almonds with an apple is better than an apple alone", she reports on Europe 1.