Intro to Sports Nutrition: Chapter 4 - Carbs Conclusion + Cheat Sheet

Our series on carbs is coming to an end for now. Wait, what about that question on how bad the Wine, Pizza and bike combo is? Answer: As far as I can tell, it is pretty bad, and the struggle is real. Let me know if you find any science that says drinking alcohol and eating pizza doesn’t f**k your sleep and hurt your performance the next day, but for now I’ll keep the internal battle going between getting fit and having a little fun. 

Here is the quick and dirty recap for what you should know about carbs:  

• Your body converts all carbs into glucose, so Wonder Bread and Skittles aren't as different as you thought. 
• Sugar is a Carb, so don’t talk about sugar and carbs like they are different concepts.
• Glucose is a type of sugar, which means it is also a type of carb. It just happens to be the final form of carb that your muscles actually use for energy. 
• Your body has a storage limit for carbs, which are stored as Glycogen. Relatively speaking, that storage capacity if pretty small compared to fat. 
• Your body can take excess carbs over the storage capacity and convert them to fat. 
• Your muscles need a fuel source for energy - that is science. Pushing yourself is not all mental.
• To fuel your muscles well, experiment with what your stomach can tolerate. As a rule of thumb, you can range 20 - 90 grams of carbs per hour, depending on the intensity of the workout and your personal tolerance. 
• Performance doesn’t necessarily equal health. We’re not saying gels are “healthy,” but if performance is your goal, don’t diet during exercise. 
• Try stuff out, and let us know what works for you.

If you want to dive deeper, here are some good resources to start: 

• TrainerRoad's Carbs 101 Video
• Global Triathlon Network's Carbs and Cycling