The Flaws of Carb-Loading for Sports (especially in children)
The concept of carb-loading is from primitive research in the 60’s and two researchers using themselves as test subjects to test the effects of carb-loading on muscle glycogen stores. The science and methods behind this practice are grossly overrated and outdated but yet so many even encourage children in this practice before sports games. Let’s look at a few reasons why this might be a problem and what can be done instead:
--> Research shows that only intense physical activity for 90 minutes or longer may warrant a higher intake of carbs. Aside from that, carb-loading increases water weight. Every gram of glycogen stored from carb-loading equates to 2.7 grams of water weight in the body. Increased water weight can negatively impact performance. This increased body weight is also added to when a person’s digestive transit time is slow and a large amount of food is consumed beforehand.
--> While carb-loading may increase muscle glycogen stores before a game or strenuous exercise, it will also cause an immediate glucose spike. These frequent postprandial glucose spikes contribute to free radicals in the body which bring on my health effects including weight gain, insulin resistance, fatigue, hunger, overreating, accelerated aging, fatty liver, heart disease, etc,
--> Carb-loading causes the body (the liver) to be dependent on carbs to have back up stores of glycogen. The average person only has about 40 minutes of energy in their liver as glycogen stores before they have to dump more carbs in their body. But those who utilize fat to store glycogen, they have weeks to months of energy stored up in fat.
--> Carb-loading can have very detrimental effects on gut health, which can weaken the immune system, contribute to the development of food sensitivities and allergies, etc.
—> If you look at the effect of carbohydrates, protein, and fat on glucose, you will see that carbohydrates only cause a very quick and brief period of glucose energy. The glucose energy from protein is much longer and steadier, as well as the much-later effect of fat on glucose. In the Type 1 diabetes world, many parents mistakenly give their children carbs to prevent them from having low blood sugar during exercise, but they soon find out that carbohydrates are burned very very quickly and thus still result in low blood sugar for their T1D child. When protein is given as well, it helps maintain steady glucose for an hour or so during exercise/sports. While there are many differences for those with T1D, it is very solid example of how carbohydrates are burned extremely quickly while protein provides more steady fuel. For steady, long-term energy, protein (sometimes in addition to carbs and sometimes by itself) is the way to go!
Of course every body and every activity provides different circumstances, so this information is not meant to be a one-size-fits-all post. This is simply to stir thoughts on carb-loading and why it might not be the best option for children in sports. More and more children are developing non-alcohol fatty liver disease at younger ages, so it’s important we more carefully consider their intake of carbohydrates.
REF:
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.1971.31.2.203