Protein shake, peanut butter sandwich, granola with nuts, Greek yogurt, are just a few popular foods consumed by athletes to replenish their protein and carbohydrate levels. Here you will learn more about why they are recommended and where you can find them.

When you finish a training session that involves high impact exercise, it is important to replenish these levels. One of the reasons for this is that the more the body has been stressed, the greater the need for it to recover. When a lot of physical strain is placed on the body, the body is more prone to infection.

Carbohydrates, or carbs, can help prevent these negative changes in the immune system. If consumed after exercise, glucose and fructose levels are stabilized and converted into energy.

During physical activities, muscles use glucose, which is available energy, and carbohydrate, which is stored energy, for energy. If a balanced diet is not followed, the levels of both substances are so low that exercise cannot continue, which causes the hormone cortisol to be secreted, which is known as the stress hormone. This hormone is known to have catabolic effects, which in the long run ends up causing you to lose muscle tissue.

To avoid losing muscle mass, you must have enough insulin, as it prevents you from losing muscle mass. Therefore, after training you should eat foods with a high glycemic index to recover quickly.

Meals with carbohydrates as protagonists, if planned correctly, can help boost recovery, especially muscle recovery.

They are important because as we have already mentioned, they favor a quick recovery and they are also our main source of energy for various bodily functions, such as temperature maintenance, digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Carbohydrates can be divided into simple and complex carbohydrates depending on their chemical structure.

They are the ones that our body absorbs more quickly because they are sugars that are quickly converted into glucose. Some foods that fall into this classification are fruits, milk and all its derivatives, honey, products with refined sugars such as sweets, syrups, pastries and fruit juices.

These carbohydrates have three or more sugars in their structure. Most of them are usually fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Due to their structure, they take longer to be converted into glucose and assimilated by the body. This prevents sugar levels from rising dramatically in the blood. Although they are slower to be absorbed, they are still a necessary fuel for many bodily functions.

The foods where we can find them are commonly vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, artichokes or zucchini. They are also found in whole grains, whole wheat flours, potatoes and legumes such as lentils and beans.

While it is necessary to consume them to have a more balanced diet, we must be careful with the amounts consumed, because if we exceed the amount we need, they will be stored in the liver or end up becoming fat, which will be deposited in the tissues for future use.

These meals will help you replenish your glycogen stores right after exercise.

Toast with honey or jam: 2 slices of bread with a spoonful of honey each.

Raisins: a handful of raisins (100gr approx.)

Cereals with skimmed milk: Look for cereals that do not contain a lot of sugar, preferably whole grains.

-Potato: one medium potato cooked or steamed

Fruit: a large piece of banana or melon.

Pasta or brown rice: avoid mixing with fiber or fatty foods.

These foods are only recommendations, you can combine foods in the way you want and that works best for you, for example, bread with honey and banana or protein shake with some fruit.

You can include shakes with some of the SO2 Sport proteins in your routine. For this you can add fruit, milk of your choice, honey, flaxseed, etc.