This is from memory so I’m sure somebody will correct me if I’m wrong but maltodextrin is a more complex carbohydrate but acts as a simple carbohydrate with a high glycemic index. This helps create an insulin response which helps drive the protein and other nutrients to where they need to be in the body as well as replenishing the used CHO from the body. It’s also not hugely sweet which make it more palatable than some alternatives
I guess the advantage from the powders immediately post exercise means the body has very little to break down and it can do it’s job as quickly as possible.
It’s not something I’d use after a shorter endurance ride but after harder or longer efforts I do and very much view it as an addition to the diet rather than replacing fruit and the like. I’d have the recovery shake and then a meal relatively soon as well including all the healthy fruit and veg.
I agree. Some people will say the slower absorption of the casein is an issue, but in my experience with taking a whey supplement vs milk I don’t notice a significant difference.
I prefer real food and try to avoid the pre-prepared mixes, as they inevitably have at least some chemicals in to deal with the challenge of having a shelf life. My favourite recovery drink is around 500ml of skimmed milk, a banana, half an avocado, a scoop of whey powder (28g whey/21g protein) plus a teaspoon of honey. It’s pretty close to the 4:1 depending on how large the banana /teaspoon of honey is. This is usually followed by a three egg omelette with toast in the subsequent hour (minus the dog’s third).
Yup. All the things you include are good parts of a healthy diet but post workout nutrition has a specific purpose and is one of the few times in a healthy diet where an insulin spike is desirable.
It’s the same logic with fruit post workout. It’s obviously a sensible part of a healthy diet but the body needs to break down the food and fructose itself is a relatively low GI sugar. Even though maltodextrin is classified as a complex carbohydrate it does have a much higher GI and works well in this scenario.
Milk, Banana and cinnamon. Mix them in blender and you will have a perfect post workout drink.
This will help you to kill appetite for sugar, will provide muscle recovery and a good night sleep. It contains Protein plus casein and amino acids.
250ml full cream milk
1 frozen banana (I peel 3 or 4 at a time and freeze them in a plastic tupperware)
30g spinach (because its leafy and green and healthy)
Flavouring : either cinnamon or cocoa (heaped teaspoon)
Tastes delicious, hits 4:1, 250ish Cal so perfect for immediately after a workout
Vanilla sweetened almond milk, various forms of chocolate protein powder(20-30g of pro), 1T of Hershey’s simple 5 chocolate syrup. Comes out roughly 2:1 cho to pro, and then I eat Swedish fish, rice Chex, Hawaiian sweet rolls etc to get to 4:1.
This is a very interesting conversation on a subject that has kept me awake for a while. I have 2 questions or comments:
1.- When some of you say things like “it works for me”, “it’s the best”, etc. what do you actually mean? How do you “measure” the benefit? how do you know that it works? Most of the time I use a recovery drink, following general advice, but sometimes I don’t for one reason or another. I can’t really say I notice any difference on the days that I don’t take it.
2.- I have tried several recovery drink recipes and I struggle to meet the 4:1 ration and 20g of protein at the same time. I understand those are 2 important conditions and it seems confirmed by @ian65r 's article. With 20g of protein, you need 80g of carbs. I can get the protein easy from a protein powder, but 80g of carbs is a lot of carbs. 100g of banana (roughly a medium banana) has around 25g of carbs, so you need more than 3 of them. Another source of carbs I have around the house are dates, which have around 70% carbs. Again, you need around 115g of those and that’s a lot of dates (around 20 dates if I remember right). Once you add all that banana or all those dates you end up with a recovery drink upwards of 400-500 calories, which sounds too me rather high. Whe I look at off the shelf recovery driks that claim a 4:1 ratio, they never have 20g of protein.
Perhaps I’ve missed this elsewhere in the thread - but where does the 20g of protein recommendation come from? The 3:1 or 4:1 ratio I’ve seen in loads of places, but 20g of protein is new to me
