Carbohydrates: Why Are They Important for an Athlete?

Carbohydrates are one of the three macronutrients essential for a balanced diet of every athlete. The other two are protein and fat.

Gummy bears, juice, honey, jam, banana, rice, white and wholegrain pasta, oats, potatoes ... All these foods have in common that their energy value mostly comes from carbohydrates. They should be a part of active peoples' diet, but you should be mindful of the amount you consume.

Among the nutrients, carbohydrates have the main role in providing energy for physical activity, especially intense exercise. Carbohydrates are a large group of compounds that contains simple sugars and complex polysaccharides. These groups differ in their composition, which also affects their suitability for consumption.

In this blog, we'll look into carbohydrate composition, their characteristics, and how to include carbs in your diet.

Simple and complex carbohydrates

The basic unit of carbohydrates is one molecule of monosaccharide (sugars). Based on the number of these units, we divide carbohydrates into simple (sugars) and complex.

Simple carbohydrates include monosaccharides or sugars, composed by a single sugar molecule (glucose, fructose, mannose, or galactose), and disaccharides, composed by two sugar molecules (saccharose, lactose, maltose).

The examples of foods that contain simple sugars are honey, sweetened beverages, candy, chocolate, and other sweets. Simple sugars are naturally present also in fruit and vegetables (fructose) and milk (lactose).

This type of carbohydrates metabolizes quickly and gets absorbed into the bloodstream. That's why they are usually recommended before, during, and after physical activity, as they provide a fast source of energy and quickly restore energy levels.

A great source of carbohydrates during exercise are energy gels and isotonic sports drinks, while after exercise the best way to recover is with a recovery drink.

Complex carbohydrates contain at least three monosaccharide units. This includes oligosaccharides (3 to 9 connected monosaccharide units) and polysaccharides (10 or more monosaccharide units).

Examples of polysaccharides are glycogen, starch, and different types of dietary fiber. Foods that contain these are rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats ...

Unlike simple carbohydrates, these take longer to metabolize and need more time to enter the bloodstream. For this reason, you should ingest them at least 3 hours before physical activity. After physical activity, you should have a recovery meal based on simple carbs before consuming complex carbohydrates.

Due to their complex composition, they take longer to leave the stomach, which may cause digestive issues during exercise. They also provide a prolonged sensation of fullness, which is great when you are less active or function at lower intensities and you don't need an immediate source of energy.

Foods mostly composed by simple carbohydrates are often considered 'empty food', as they contain few nutrients except sugar.

Foods with complex carbohydrates are different. They usually contain many other nutrients, such as phosphorous, magnesium, iron, vitamin B2 and B3, vitamin A, E, and C, as well as useful fat. That's why you should include these foods in your diet.

How many carbohydrates do you need?

The amount of carbohydrates you need depends on several factors, such as energy needs, frequency and intensity of exercise, races ...

Moderately active population should get about 50% of their daily energy intake from carbohydrates. During increased activity or competitions, this value should increase.

If you are interested in the ingestion of carbohydrates during exercise aka fueling, check out our fueling guide!

On days with high intensity activity or when filling glycogen stores, it is recommended to ingest from 8 to 12 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body mass per day. If you weigh 65 kg, you should ingest from 520 to 780 grams of carbohydrates per day.

For reference, 700 grams of carbohydrates is found in:

• 1.5 kg of white bread
• 900 g of gummy bears
• 6.8 l of coke
• 4 kg of potatoes
• 3.1 kg of bananas
• 1 kg of pasta (raw)
• 900 g of rice (raw)

That's plenty of food. That's why when you try to carb load, you need to limit the intake of dietary fiber and fats, as they further burden the digestive tract and fill you up, which makes ingesting all those carbs nigh impossible.

Luckily, contrary to popular belief, rice and pasta are not the only foods you can fill your glycogen stores with. To simplify the process and avoid digestive issues, distribute the intake of carbohydrates throughout the day and combine different sources.

Example of foods* to fill your glycogen stores:

• breakfast: white bread, Greek yoghurt, marmelade, orange juice
• snack: semolina with cocoa and honey
• lunch: white pasta with tomato sauce and mackerel, a cup of beetroot
• snack: fruit yoghurt
• dinner: white rice, chicken fillet, small portion of cooked or fried vegetables
• intermediate snacks: gummy bears, banana, fruit juice, fruit yoghurt, energy bars

Example of foods* in a period of reduced physical activity:

• breakfast: oats with ricotta and fruit
• snack: rye bread, prosciutto, fresh bell pepper
• lunch: fish fillet, Swiss chard with potatoes, salad
• snack: Greek yoghurt, cup of fruit
• dinner: buckwheat porridge with stewed vegetables and legumes and a fried egg
• intermediate snacks: nuts, fruit, Greek yoghurt or Skyr, protein pudding, wholegrain bread with a source of protein

*These foods are simply suggestions. Adapt quantities to your body mass and training process.

Are carbohydrates really the problem?

Many athletes are reluctant to consume carbohydrates due to the fear of gaining weight.

But let's consider what carbs are usually served with. For example, pasta or rice with high-calorie sauces, white bread with salami and cheese, potatoes fried on lard ...

An increase in body mass is caused by excess calories, regardless of their source. If you consume too many calories, be it pasta, pizza, or an avocado salad, you will gain weight.

Vegetables are not a source of carbohydrates

In a world of high-protein and high-fat diets, it seems there is a misunderstanding regarding vegetables. The followers of these diets often claim their source of carbs in a meal is broccoli. Yes, broccoli contains carbohydrates, but only 5.8 grams per cup. Vegetables are to be consumed as a source of other nutrients, mostly dietary fiber**, vitamins, and minerals, but not as a source of digestible carbohydrates.

**Dietary fiber is also a part of carbohydrates, but our enzymes are not able to digest it. Find out more about dietary fiber.

Conclusion

We can conclude that carbohydrates have a key role in endurance and recovery of athletes.

They are the primary source of energy during intense exercise and essential to form glycogen stores, which represent your reserve energy during physical activity.

Furthermore, carbohydrates improve recovery and take part in muscle regeneration and growth.

In the period before, during, and after physical activity and during intense training sessions or carbohydrate loading you must focus on the intake of simple carbohydrates. When your activity decreases in intensity and your energy needs are lower, you should consume more complex carbohydrates, as they are rich in other important nutrients as well.