Looking to choose a healthy post-workout snack? Decide early: A burdensome work out session is almost always followed by an unbearable urge to eat something. An intelligent choice would be to consume something healthy post-exercise.
In the recent study it was seen, a post-exercise snack can threaten to unlock the gains or loss of a workout.
The study also says, simply committing in advance to a post-exercise snack may increase the advantages of eating more nutritiously.
The lead researcher of it, Koehler explained, “We found that there was very little research on this very tangible thing that I think everyone can relate to. If your goal is to lose weight, then I would say our findings support that you’re better off making the choice … not when you’re hungry after your workout, but instead before you go to the gym.”
The team observed its findings in the journal Nutrients.
Assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Gustafson said, that recommendation and the data support it repeats is extensive research on the dynamics between timing and food choice.
Previous studies have shown that people are more interested to get indulge in making immediate dietary decisions than when thinking ahead.
Gustafson further added, “Our study confirmed very closely to the ideas in behavioral economics about this present-biased preference. Using solely that model, I would’ve predicted that people would be more likely to choose the healthy snack when choosing before they exercise.”
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The design of the study has also put two other theoretical models to the test.
One, which is known as compensating food, suggests that people consume more calorie-filled food after exercise to do makeup for calories exhausted during a workout.
Nevertheless, other models, exercise-induced anorexia, proposes that exercise can restrain appetite-related hormones and as a result, motivates people to eat less.
Koehler said, “There have been a lot of lab studies that have looked at appetite and hunger.”
he also said, “Most of these studies have found that right after exercise, you seem to be less hungry. I’ve always looked at these studies and wondered: Does it have such a strong impact that you can use this window after you exercise to say, ‘Because I’m not hungry, I’m going to make a really good choice about what I eat’? But knowing myself and many other exercises, there’s also the notion that after you exercise, you want to reward yourself.”
In spite of the apparent contradiction, the team observed indications of both. Though moderate, the 6 percent increase in brownie choice between the pre- and post-exercise groups backed the idea of compensatory eating.
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And the proof for exercise-induced anorexia was pretty clear: The 12-per cent fraction that reduced a snack in the pre-exercise condition increased to 25 percent in the post-exercise group.