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Carb-loading can boost stamina

Wynnie Chan

Calvin asks: My teammates say eating pasta right before running a race can lead to better performance. Is that correct?

Winnie says: Carbohydrate-loading is a strategy used by adult athletes to enhance their performance. The idea is to load the muscles with glycogen to delay fatigue and help maintain high-intensity exercise longer. Carb-loading should ideally start three to four days before an endurance event such as a rugby match or triathlon.

Carbohydrates in foods are broken down during digestion and converted to glucose in the blood. Some of this is used immediately for energy, while the rest is stored in our liver and muscles as glycogen.

Our muscles can normally store only a small amount of glycogen - enough to fuel ordinary recreational activities, such as swimming, jogging or playing basketball. But if a person exercises intensely for more than 90 minutes in one go, the muscles run out of glycogen, which affects performance and stamina.

Carbs should make up the lion's share of an athlete's energy supply from the regular training diet - this should be based on whole-grain cereals, legumes and starchy veggies. When they start carb-loading, it's usual for adult athletes to gradually increase the amount of carbs so that they make up 65-70 per cent of their calorie intake. They also cut back on high-fat foods to compensate for the carb-rich foods they'll be loading up on.

Health experts recommend elite athletes eat six to 10 grams of carbs for every kilogram of body weight. This is a lot of carbs!

Originally, carbohydrate loading involved three days of glycogen depletion, through intense exercise and a low-carb diet, followed by three days of carb loading and tapered training. Recent scientific studies suggest that glycogen depletion is not needed.

Current recommendations are for endurance athletes to scale back on normal training six days before an event, to allow the muscles to rest, and eat a high-carb diet three days before competition to stockpile glycogen.

Sports drinks and liquid meal replacements can be used to increase carb intake, as can foods such as rice, pasta, bread, cereals, fruits and starchy veggies.

An American Dietetic Association provides a guide to how many carbs various foods provide. Use it to help you plan your race preparation.

1 slice bread/1/2 cup rice or pasta/28g dry cereal provides 15g carbohydrates

1/2 cup starchy veggies provides 15g carbohydrates

1/2 cup/1 small or medium fruit provides 10-15g carbohydrates

1/2 cup raw or cooked veggies provides 5g carbohydrates

1 cup milk provides 12g carbs

Wynnie Chan is a British-trained nutritionist. If you've got a question for her or would like to be featured in this column, e-mail [email protected]

Calvin's diary

Breakfast: Bread; water

Lunch: Fried rice or baked rice dishes from the canteen

Dinner: Fish, chicken and vegetables with rice, oranges

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