The density of nutrients in sweet potatoes could potentially outweigh that in a chip. So how does this apply to nutrient timing for optimal performance? Before you workout, you want to make sure you consume macros that will be the fuel source for the upcoming exercise.

So eating enough carbs and protein before and after a workout might help the anabolic response of the workout itself. Even eating the right foods before bed could arguably help stabilize blood glucose during sleep and eating the right foods before you go into a big business meeting might help you stay focused and not doze off.

Appropriate carbohydrate timing and amounts can go a long way in helping you maximize performance. We'll go into exactly how to figure this out, but first, let's de-stigmatize carbs. Carbs are one of the most, if not the most, misunderstood macros. The initial craze around cutting out carbs occurred when its associations with diabetes and weight were brought to the public.

First and foremost, carbs are not bad for you. When you are training, your body is under stress to provide the energy necessary to perform the task at hand.

Metabolic mobilization can increase fold just from a single exercise stressor. In other words, exercise requires a lot of fuel. The more intense the exercise is, the more fuel you need to sustain your energy levels.

F uel can be stored in your muscle as glycogen, but also transported in the blood as glucose. Glucose either comes from the food you just ate or from your liver where it was released to help aid in providing the necessary energy for exercise. And guess where glycogen and glucose predominantly come from?

This is why having post workout carbs can be extremely helpful for energy restoration. On that note, your body is still burning carbs, even when you are at rest. Excessive spikes in blood sugar from foods that are high in carbs that are absorbed and processed fast are what started the major concern about carbs-diabetes and overweight associations.

However, not all carbs cause this kind of spike more refined and processed foods do and this spike needs to be taken in context - glycemic load versus glycemic index which we discuss below. In short, not all sources of carbs are created equal. Because carbs are fuel, they need to be understood in the context of your goals, your training and how you feel.

Taking in post-workout protein and carbohydrates to replenish depleted glycogen stores is also critical for proper recovery. This is where understanding the difference between glycemic index GI and glycemic load GL can be helpful in determining what, when, and how much to eat at any given time during the day to help maximize your performance.

Often confused, glycemic index and glycemic load are two different measurements of how our bodies respond to carbohydrates. Glycemic index measures how quickly food breaks down to sugar in the bloodstream rated on a scale of However, it does NOT take into account the actual serving size of food.

What does this tell us? The GI is high because it is based on 5 cups of watermelon, not the standard 1 cup serving size. The relatively low GL shows that the carbohydrate content of 1 cup of watermelon isn't much at all because watermelon is mostly well, you guessed it, water.

Research suggests that the glycemic load is a better indicator of how carbohydrate will affect blood sugar because it takes into account the amount of carbs in food.

However, I'll add another phase that I call, somewhat in jest, The Rest of The Day Phase. The Energy Phase is called this because this phase occurs during the workout when energy demands are highest. As you probably know, the energy used by skeletal muscle is ATP.

This ATP is formed and resynthesized by macronutrients from the diet so carbs, proteins, and fats contribute indirectly to the energy of muscle contraction. This breakdown of nutrients, while completely necessary, is, by definition, catabolic.

As such, the workout period, as I've addressed in the past see Precision Nutrition - next week , is marked by a number of anabolic and catabolic effects.

Since this drink not only enhances blood flow but stocks that blood up with amino acids and glucose, the protein balance of the muscle will be shifted toward the positive and glycogen depletion will be significantly reduced.

In addition, those amino acids and glucose units, independent of their effects on muscle protein and glycogen status, can also lead to a decrease in cortisol concentrations and improve the overall immune response part of the acute phase response listed above and described in detail in the Precision Nutrition article.

Of course, if the aforementioned supplement is in a liquid form and is sipped during the exercise bout as recommended , dehydration, a potent performance killer in both strength and endurance athletes, can be staved off as well. When examining the science of nutrient timing in detail, it becomes clear that one of the key "when to eat" times of the day is during the Energy Phase or during the workout.

Of course, in focusing on when to eat, I'm in no way suggesting we should neglect considering what and how much to eat. In fact, they're probably your next two questions so let's get to them right away.

As indicated above, during the Energy Phase it's important to ingest some protein and carbohydrate. In my experience the easiest way to do this is to drink an easily digested liquid carbohydrate and protein drink. Dilution is important, especially if you are an endurance athlete or if you're training in a hot environment.

If you don't dilute your drink appropriately, you may not replenish your body's water stores at an optimal rate 9; Now that we know when to eat and what to eat, let's figure out how much.

Unfortunately this isn't as easy to answer. How much to eat really has a lot to do with how much energy you're expending during the exercise bout, how much you're eating the rest of the day, whether your primary interest is gaining muscle mass or losing fat mass, and a number of other factors.

For a simple answer, however, I suggest starting out by sipping 0. For you lb guys, that means 80g of carbohydrate and 40g of protein during training. This, of course, is the nutrient make-up of Surge.

The Anabolic Phase occurs immediately after the workout and lasts about an hour or two. This phase is titled "anabolic" because it's during this time that the muscle cells are primed for muscle building. Interestingly, although the cells are primed for muscle building, in the absence of a good nutritional strategy, this phase can remain catabolic.

Without adequate nutrition, the period immediately after strength and endurance training is marked by a net muscle catabolism; that's right, after exercise muscles continue to break down.

Now, if you're asking yourself how this can be, you're asking the right question. After all, training especially weight training makes you bigger, not smaller. And even if you're an endurance athlete, your muscles don't exactly break down either.

So how can exercise be so catabolic? Well, for starters, as I've written before, while the few hours after exercise induce a net catabolic state although protein synthesis does increase after exercise, so does breakdown , it's later in the recovery cycle that the body begins to shift toward anabolism 8; So we typically break down for some time after the workout and then start to build back up later whether that "build up" is in muscle size or in muscle quality.

However, with this said, there are new data showing that with the right nutritional intervention protein and carbohydrate supplementation , we can actually repair and improve muscle size or quality during and immediately after exercise 16; For more on what happens during the postexercise period, check out my articles Solving the Post-Workout Puzzle 1 and Solving the Post Workout Puzzle 2.

From now on, when planning your nutritional intake, you'd better consider both the Energy and Anabolic phases as two of the key "whens" of nutrient timing. Therefore, to maximize your muscle gain and recovery, you'll be feeding both during and immediately after exercise. Again we come to what and how much.

As indicated above, during the Anabolic Phase it's important to ingest some protein and carbohydrate. Just like with the Energy Phase, in my experience the easiest way to do this is to drink an easily digested liquid carbohydrate and protein drink.

While dilution, in this case, isn't as important for rehydration because you've stopped exercising and presumably, sweating, you're now diluting to prevent gastrointestinal distress. I won't go to far into detail here - just take my word for it.

You must dilute. Just like with the Energy Phase, how much to eat really has a lot to do with how much energy you expend during the exercise bout, how much you eat the rest of the day, whether your primary interest is gaining muscle mass or losing fat mass, and a number of other factors.

However, just like with the Energy Phase, a simple suggestion is to start out by sipping another serving of 0. If you add up the basic suggestions from the Energy Phase and the Anabolic Phase, you'll find that I've recommended about 1.

For a lb guy, that's a total of g carbohydrate and 80g of protein during and immediately after training. Based on your preconceived notions of what constitutes "a lot" of carbs, this may seem like a lot or not much at all.

Regardless, it's important to understand that during and after training, insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance is good 2; 3; 13; 15; Even if you've self-diagnosed poor carbohydrate tolerance which too many people do unnecessarily during and after the postexercise period, your carbohydrate tolerance will be much better.

And if you consider that most carbohydrate ingested during and immediately after exercise will either be oxidized for fuel or sent to the muscle and liver for glycogen resynthesis and that even in the presence of increased insulin concentrations, the postexercise period is marked by a dramatic increase in fat metabolism 6; 7 , it should be clear that even a whopping carbohydrate and protein drink will not directly lead to fat gain.

Just be sure to account for this increase in carbohydrate intake by decreasing your carbohydrate intake during other times of the day when carbohydrate resynthesis isn't so efficient and booming insulin isn't so benign. From this discussion it should be clear that, using the principles of nutrient timing, one can load up on carbs during and after the workout while reducing them for the remainder of the day.

If muscle gain is your goal, you'll get more muscle per gram of carbohydrate ingested. If fat loss is your goal, you'll get more muscle glycogen and a pronounced muscle sparing effect with fewer daily carbs ingested.

So before we move on, it's important to understand that the kcal I recommended for pound men would be better utilized during and after the workout than during any other time of the day and herein lies the gist of nutrient timing.

Nutrients ingested during the Energy and Anabolic Phases can better contribute to muscle gain, repair and recovery when compared to the same nutrients ingested during other times of the day.

Now that I've covered what to eat during the Energy and Anabolic Phases, I'll be back next week with some recommendations for what to eat during the final two phases of the nutrient timing cycle.

John Berardi is president and founder of Science Link Inc and johnberardi. John specializes in human performance and nutrition consulting.

Nutrition The Science Of Nutrient Timing! What Is Nutrient Timing? By choosing your food wisely, even if you're eating the same number of calories each day, you can up regulate your metabolism, shift your hormonal profile and alter the composition of your weight gain and weight loss.

Although some foods are not optimal during certain times of the day i. Increased Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow Increased Anabolic Hormone Release GH, Testosterone, IGF-1 Decreased Insulin Concentrations.

Glycogen Depletion Decreased Net Protein Balance Increased Cortisol Concentrations Decreased Insulin Concentrations Acute Phase Response Breakdown Increased Metabolic Rate Dehydration Endurance or Intermittent Exercise in Heat.