What to eat after a workout for optimal results?

The process of exercising can cause you to lose some protein as well as the amount of glycogen stored in the muscles. Therefore, adding nutrients after a workout is an important key to helping your body recover and optimize your training results.

Eating or adding some food sources to the body after exercise is an extremely important step to help you optimize training results. First of all, to choose the right foods, you need to understand how your body is affected by physical activity.
When you are exercising, your muscles will use up their stored glycogen for fuel. This causes your muscles to be depleted of some glycogen. In addition, certain proteins in the muscles are also broken down and damaged.
After a workout, your body tends to try to restore lost glycogen stores and repair and rebuild muscle proteins. Therefore, adding the right nutrients right after exercise will help your body quickly accomplish these goals.
What to eat after a workout? The nutrients that you should consume after exercise should include both carbs and protein. These substances will help your body achieve a number of benefits:
Reduce protein breakdown in the muscle Increase protein synthesis in the muscle Restore glycogen stores Enhance the body's ability to recover after exercise

Macronutrients, including fats, proteins and carbs, play a role in the body's recovery process after exercise.
2.1. Protein helps repair and rebuild muscles Exercise triggers the breakdown of proteins in the muscles. How quickly this happens will depend mainly on the exercise as well as your level of training. Even professional athletes or people with good athletic skills experience protein breakdown in the muscles.
Therefore, consuming an adequate amount of protein after exercise will provide your body with essential amino acids, helping to effectively support the process of repairing and rebuilding lost proteins.
Experts recommend that you consume about 0.14 - 0.23 grams of protein per pound of body weight (0.3 - 0.5 grams/kg) immediately after a workout. Even consuming 20 to 40 grams of protein seems to help maximize the body's ability to recover from exercise.

2.2. Carbs Help Restore Glycogen Stores The body's glycogen stores are used as fuel during exercise, so consuming carbs post-workout will be a necessary step in helping you replenish and restore them. The rate at which stored glycogen is used will depend on your type of physical activity. For example, endurance sports will cause your body to use more glycogen than resistance sports. For this reason, people who participate in endurance exercises such as running or swimming, need to consume more carbs than bodybuilders.
In general, you should consume between 0.5 - 0.7 grams of carbs per pound of body weight (1.1 - 1.5 grams/kg) within 30 minutes of exercise to trigger muscle glycogen resynthesis. .
Moreover, when you consume both carbs and protein at the same time, it helps the body to increase insulin secretion and promote glycogen synthesis in a better way. You can combine carbs and protein in a 3:1 ratio, for example 40 grams of protein and 120 grams of carbs.
Eating plenty of carbs to rebuild glycogen stores is of prime importance for people who exercise regularly, such as twice in the same day.
2.3. Fat helps promote muscle growth Many people think that eating fat after exercise will slow down the digestive process and inhibit the body's absorption of nutrients. However, some recent studies have shown that consuming whole milk is more effective for promoting muscle growth after exercise than skim milk.
On the other hand, when consuming high-fat foods after exercise will not greatly affect the ability to synthesize glycogen in the muscles.

The body's ability to build and restore glycogen and protein levels is enhanced after you exercise. Therefore, you should consume a combination of carbs and protein as soon as possible after a grueling workout.
While the timing of these macronutrients doesn't have to be exact, many experts recommend consuming them within 45 minutes of exercising. Delaying carbs for at least two hours after a workout can reduce glycogen synthesis success rates by up to 50%.

The main goal of a post-workout meal is to provide the body with the right nutrients for full recovery and to maximize the benefits of exercise.
What should you eat after a workout? Choosing foods that are easy to digest will promote faster nutrient absorption. Here is a list of foods that you should choose to consume after a workout, including:
Foods containing carbs:
Milk chocolate Sweet potatoes Quinoa Fruits like berries, pineapple, kiwi and bananas Rice cakes Oatmeal Rice Potatoes Pasta Dark green leafy vegetables

Protein foods (protein):
Eggs Animal or animal protein powder Salmon Greek yogurt Chicken Cottage cheese Tuna Protein bars Fatty foods:
Avocados Nuts Peanut butter Mix nuts and dried fruit

The combinations of the foods listed above can make for great meals, helping you get all the nutrients you need post-workout. Here are some model meals that you can incorporate after each of your workouts, including:
Avocado omelette with toast Cheese and fruit Crackers and tuna Sweet potatoes and salmon Peanut butter and rice cake Quinoa with pecans and berries Almond butter and whole grain toast Skim milk and cereal

You should drink plenty of water both before and after your workout. When the body is fully hydrated, it will help internal functions work more efficiently, thereby helping you to maximize the benefits of exercise.
During exercise, sweating will cause you to lose a lot of water and electrolytes. Therefore, replenishing these fluids after a workout can help with recovery and improve exercise performance.
In addition, you should also make sure to drink enough water if your next training session will take place within the next 12 hours.
Maintaining a healthy diet combined with regular exercise will help bring great health benefits. Therefore, you should pay attention to follow to bring the best results.

Reference source: healthline.com