This article looks at the effect of your post-exercise dinner on sleep and exercise performance
What should I know up front?
This article discusses glycaemic index. Glycaemic index places all food items on a scale of 0-100, depending on how quickly that food can make your blood sugar rise. Low glycaemic index foods, like broccoli, will cause a slow rise in blood sugar, whereas high glycaemic index foods (usually high in carbohydrates), like chocolate cake and potatoes, will cause a rapid rise in blood sugar.
What’s the deal?
You’ve just exercised in the evening and now it’s time for dinner. Does the glycaemic index of your meal affect your sleep and could it have any effect on your exercise performance the next day?
What did they do?
10 participants took part in this study, involving an evening sprint interval training session and either a high or low glycaemic index meal for dinner. Their sleep quality was then tracked overnight and on the following morning they performed exercises to test their strength, reaction time and endurance.
What happened?
Participants were able to fall asleep faster and slept for longer after a high glycaemic index meal compared to a low glycaemic index meal. In addition, reaction times were faster the following morning, but strength and endurance were not different.
What can you tell me about the people?
All participants were male, with an average age of 23 years. Participants were recreationally trained and usually exercised at least three times per week.
What else should I know?
Both high and low glycaemic index meals contained rice and vegetables. The low glycaemic index meal had parboiled rice, whereas the high glycaemic index meal had jasmine rice. Eating low glycaemic index foods is regarded as healthy and is recommended for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
What will I do differently?
I always sleep like a champ after a big hearty meal, so maybe this explains why! The increase in sleep duration seems to have positive effects on reaction time too, so it’s win-win! However, I know that I should reduce my high glycaemic index food intake, so maybe everything in moderation eh?
Acknowledgements
This research was published in November 2018 by A Vlahoyiannis and colleagues from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.
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