Many of us have been using sports food to boost our performance. Designed and packaged to provide energy and nutrients, sports food includes bars, drinks, meals, and gels, but many of them are only pretending to be sports food with no nutritional value. Additionally, many items marketed as sports food have similar nutrient counts to items healthy eaters would normally avoid. So, when should you eat sports food?
Sports gels are pretty much pure sugar like Skittles, but they have added sodium, B vitamins, and branch chain amino acids that replace what you body loses during your workouts. For sports drinks, although they contain around the same amount of calories and sugar as soft drinks, sports drinks also have sodium which is lost from sweating.
When it comes to oatmeal, instant packets are just as good if not better than sport-specific brands. It’s important to be aware that many performance foods are packed with highly processed ingredients and that you can get the same protein by consuming less processed options like cottage cheese.
Highly processed sports food should only be consumed when you don’t have other options like when you’re traveling or don’t have access to fresh ingredients. If you don’t have other options, look for sports foods that are minimally processed and have few ingredients.
