Why Athletes Need Sugar and Carbohydrates in Their Diets
Are you under the impression that cutting out carbs is a “healthy” diet? Do you think anything containing bread or flour is junk food? Should sugar be avoided at all costs? If so, we need your help. Carbohydrates, including sugar, are actually healthy. And cutting them out can actually do more harm than good to your health and fitness.
To find out how many carbs you’re actually consuming, any nutrition tracking app (such as the free Cronometer ) can calculate the number of grams of carbohydrates you consume throughout the day. If you use an AI-powered tool, such as the chatbots built into many modern wearable apps, be sure to check the actual product label to ensure it accurately tracks carbohydrate grams.
Low-carb diets should not be confused with healthy eating.
As I’ve often said , what we do to lose weight isn’t the same as what makes us healthier. You can lose weight on a low-carb diet, and that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean cutting out carbs will make you healthier overall .
In fact, many dieting shortcomings can be mitigated by allowing yourself more carbohydrates. The fact that both low- and high-carb diets can be effective for weight loss doesn’t mean they’re all the same. People who consume more carbohydrates tend to experience less fatigue during exercise and are more flexible with their eating habits, whether they’re trying to lose weight or not.
Carbohydrates include sugar, starch and fiber.
Before we delve into this topic, let’s talk about what carbohydrates are. Almost everything we eat can be classified as fats (including oils), proteins, or carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include:
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Sugars , including table sugar, glucose, and fructose. Natural sugars are found in fruits, vegetables, and milk.
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Starches are substances that plants use as carbohydrate reserves. White bread and white rice are examples of foods that contain a lot of starch and virtually nothing else.
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Fiber is a type of fiber that our bodies cannot fully digest. Various types of fiber are found in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
You may hear about “complex” carbohydrates. From a biochemical perspective, starch and fiber are complex carbohydrates. However, this term is often used incorrectly, for example, to refer to “fiber-containing foods” such as fruits and whole grains. White bread is full of complex carbohydrates, so don’t take this distinction too literally.
It’s important to remember that both sugars and starches are broken down fairly quickly, producing energy for our bodies. Fiber slows this process, but so do fats and proteins. Therefore, if you need quick energy during a run, you may prefer sugars or starches. If you want a complete meal that can be digested over a long period of time and provides all its beneficial properties, foods containing fiber, protein, and fat are suitable—but these meals may also contain sugars and starches.
Sugar is not a poison or a toxic substance.
Excessive consumption of added sugar in the diet is certainly bad. And most Americans do consume large amounts, far more than their bodies can handle. I don’t condone such excessive consumption. (Most of us would probably be better off eliminating at least some of this sugar from our diets.)
But I want to say that we need to pay attention to why excess sugar is harmful and not overreact by demonizing sugar or saying it’s a poison, a toxic substance, and that it should be eliminated from the diet. There’s absolutely no reason to believe these myths. Excess sugar is harmful to us because sugar is a dense source of empty calories . But our bodies handle sugar in moderation just fine.
And if you’re an athlete—even a recreational one who enjoys running and lifting weights—you may find that simple carbohydrates like sugar help you maintain energy during workouts. This, in turn, allows you to perform at a higher quality level. Take marathon runners, for example: consuming packet after packet of sugary gels is unnatural and abnormal; but neither is running 26.2 miles at a steady pace without stopping. One feeds the other . Even if you want to argue about why humans evolved, you have to accept the fact that hunter-gatherers consumed a lot of honey .
Carbohydrates may reduce fatigue before and during exercise (and possibly in everyday life).
If you’ve ever felt exhausted during a long workout, you might have attributed it to the workout itself. But people on a diet or following a “healthy” diet may experience this feeling due to a lack of carbohydrates.
I say this partly based on research that has shown that proper nutrition is crucial for endurance athletes, like the marathon runners mentioned above. This is scientifically proven.
The other part is a largely anecdotal, but convincingly anecdotal, observation: people who eat carbs before a workout tend to feel more energetic during it. That’s why the best stimulant-free pre-workout supplement if you want to avoid caffeine is called “eat the damn snack .” If you’ve been doing cardio on an empty stomach or been on a keto diet all day and then trying to grit your teeth during a workout when you’re completely exhausted, try eating some carbs before your workout. You’ll feel a huge difference.
And it’s not just about physical performance. Research also shows that a low-carb diet can interfere with cognitive tasks like memory and attention . The body can survive on a low-carb diet, but it performs best when carbohydrates are readily available.
Eating carbohydrates allows for more flexibility in your diet.
One of the main reasons low-carb diets are so effective for weight loss is that it’s difficult to avoid carbs when eating out or snacking on the go. Most processed foods contain carbs, but so do most home-cooked meals, unless you specifically prepare them without them.
As a result, on a strict low-carb diet, you have virtually nothing to eat, which largely explains why it’s so easy to restrict your calorie intake. However, if you eliminate carbohydrates, you’ll end up missing out on many healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which contain many vitamins and other nutrients essential for a healthy diet. It’s very difficult to consume fiber if you also eliminate starches and sugars.
More carbohydrates means you need less protein.
Getting enough protein is important, and I don’t just mean meeting the minimum recommended daily intake . If you exercise, you’ll need more protein, and if you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll need even more protein—these are just a few common reasons why it’s beneficial to include protein in your diet.
Carbohydrates actually help you with this. Carbohydrates are considered “protein-sparing,” meaning that if you get enough carbohydrates from your diet, your body is less likely to break down protein for energy. Or, in other words, on a low-carb diet, some of the protein you consume is wasted simply because your body needs an energy source and doesn’t have its preferred source—carbohydrates. So, if you’re struggling to get enough protein from your diet, make sure you’re getting enough carbohydrates; this will help the protein you do get be used more efficiently.