All athletes from dancers to football players and fencers to Martial Artists consume a lot of carbohydrates to improve their energy level right before a performance or game. If you want to improve your energy level for your next belt exam, and you want to avoid eating simple sugar, carbohydrates (starch-complex sugars) are another way to attain high energy. They are like sugar, but have much more to offer. Remember, sugars you get from candy bars, sodas and cereals throw your body off-balance and prevent you from gaining proper nutrients, but make you gain excess weight.
So, how do carbohydrates compare with sugar? Carbohydrates (”carbs” for short) differ in a very important way. For example, take a bowl of sugar and a bowl of rice (carbs). Rice offers you starch, protein, minerals and vitamins. Sugar has no nutritional value. Here’s another example: a small baked potato (carbs) and a handful of gumdrops (sugar). Both contain about 100 calories. A baked potato is rich in the kind of sugar called glucose and had vitamin C, protein, B vitamins, six minerals and fiber. The gumdrops give you the same amount of energy in the form of calories, but they are less useful for a Martial Artist because they don’t have any nutrients. They are empty calories. So, carbohydrates provide you with energy as well as nutrients.
Fruit, cereal, rice, bread, pasta, nuts, seeds, grains and beans are all great sources of carbohydrates. It is best to consume a variety of carbohydrate-rich foods to ensure that you get the adequate amounts of the vitamins and minerals you need.
But, be careful and pay attention to this warning. Because carbohydrates are another form of sugar, you must be careful of your in-take on a regular basis. If you eat too much, you will gain weight over a period of time. Don’t use them as an every day energy source. This would only add pounds to you which will have the opposite effect; it will slow you down. Here’s a helpful hint: load up on carbs only on the day before you belt exam. Good Luck!
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on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Martial Arts.
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