
After exercise, fast food helps you recover just as well as sports supplements - edward
http://qz.com/376232/after-exercise-fast-food-helps-you-recover-just-as-well-as-sports-supplements/
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freyr
> _The after-workout meals had approximately the same nutritional
> content—about 70% carbohydrates, 10% protein and 10% fat._

That's 90%. What's the remaining 10% of nutritional content?

Also, the article links to a study from 2006 about chocolate milk, not a
recent study about fast food. Here is the actual study (pdf):

[http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documen...](http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/Hailes_ijsnem_2014-0230-in%20press.pdf)

Pretty shoddy editing.

Only 10% fat is particularly surprising, since many fast food items will have
much higher fat content than that (hash browns have about 50% of caloric
content from fat, Big Mac 45%, fries 43%, etc.). EDIT: apparently the
distribution was broken down by weight, rather than by caloric contribution.

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MicroBerto
Notes:

* Abstract doesn't mention fast food, just chocolate milk

* Study was small in scope (9 participants) and _single_ blinded.

* Those aren't really "supplements"

For that reason, I'd downvote this if I had the reps.

Anyway, much of the fitness world has been shifting back towards the
"quantity" side of things in the whole "Quantity vs. Quality" argument.

The gist has been that the occasional fast food meal is not going to ruin your
hopes and dreams, but it goes a long way to make sure it fits into your
caloric and macronutrient plan.

There are extreme ends on both sides of the argument:

Your local organic hippie vegetarian may think they're healthier, and by some
parameters maybe they will be, but you can still extremely get fat eating
nothing but "quality" foods, and you can still have zero muscle mass if you
don't eat enough quality sources of protein (which leads to the unattractive
skinny fat body type).

On the other end, you have people who can lose _weight_ with nothing more than
Subway or McDonalds, due to caloric restriction. You can get _very_ extreme
with the IIFYM (If it Fits your Macros) and eat zero fruits/veggies and still
build a beautiful body (that's likely dying on the inside).

The best policy is likely somewhere in the middle, but for the time being,
I'll stay a touch closer to the the _quantitative_ science, which pushes you
towards a proper calorie count, adequate protein, and plenty of
fruits/vegetables (about 5 80g servings per day, doesn't really matter which
ones).

Anyway, back to the study... I get tired of studies on "recovery". What are we
really training for here??? For the most of us, we just want to stay
athletic/sexy looking. So long as you meet your quantitative daily goals
mentioned above, I'm not too worried about reloading my glycogen stores
immediately. If you eat consistently well, your body will take care of the
job.

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scrapcode
In this case their interpretation of "sports supplements" is a Gatorade and a
Power Bar. This makes this study immediately lost all credibility to me and is
filed away as "most likely was done solely for some kind of future marketing."
Why wasn't a high-protein shake, steak, chicken or fish dinner compared? Of
course if your "sports supplement" meal has the same nutritional value of a
fast-food meal, you're likely to get the same effect. How is that
groundbreaking or even worth studying?

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Thriptic
The linked study doesn't examine what is mentioned at all; it is a study of
chocolate milk as a recovery drink from 2006.

No real athlete would consider a power bar, gatorade, or fast food to be a
good post workout meal anyway, as the macros are pretty terrible (protein to
calorie ratio sucks). Also, I don't see any comparison of fast food to the
most popular post-workout supplement, protein powder, so making this
hyperbolic of a statement with the title is kind of absurd.

~~~
freyr
> _No real athlete would consider a power bar, gatorade, or fast food to be a
> good post workout meal anyway_

That's not strictly true. Intense athletic activity will deplete a person's
stores of water, electrolytes, and glycogen. Many "real athletes" will drink
Gatorade or other sports drinks to recover from exercise because they contain
water, sugar, and sodium.

Your focus on post workout meals, protein to calorie ratio, and protein powder
suggests you're looking at this from the perspective of someone involved in
weight training. Of course, athletics is much broader than weight training and
exercise is broader than working out. After running an intense race, for
instance, most athletes will seek carb replenishment before they reach for a
protein shake or beef jerky.

~~~
Thriptic
You make very good points, and I apologize for the accidental condescension
conveyed by my post (which became apparent after a re-reading).

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WizzleKake
The link in the article is about chocolate milk:
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16676705](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16676705)

Here is the actual study:
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25811308](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25811308)

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huac
The salt in fast food replicates Gatorade's uses (i.e. restoring
electrolytes).

