Do you burn more fat on a empty stomach?
There are many ways on how to burn stomach fat, however one of the questions most fitness-conscious people ask is this—do you burn fat on an empty stomach?
Once a person eats, food travels from his mouth to the esophagus then passes to the stomach. The food is then being mixed with acid. Once the food is acidic, it will be easier for it to be acted upon by the intestinal enzymes. As food is being digested, its nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins and fats are absorbed through the intestinal walls which contain blood vessels. These blood vessels then deliver the digestion end-products to the body’s circulation.
Let us see what happens on an empty stomach. The common notion is that if you starve yourself, your blood sugar drops thus fat is burned fast.
Yet recent studies are currently disagreeing to this idea. These studies show that an empty stomach leads to fatigue thus you do not have enough energy to sustain your workout if you have an empty stomach. Thus fat burning through exercise is hindered by starving yourself! Exercising on an empty stomach may even be dangerous because you will tend to burn your muscles out in the process.
Thus we recommend eating before your scheduled workout. Loading yourself first with calories have several advantages. First, you avoid fatigue and it helps you recover fast from the stresses. Secondly you will feel stronger before your workout, which will enable you to burn more energy. Third, you sustain longer and intense exercises without feeling dizzy or weak. Hunger in itself is a low blood sugar state and further exercise aggravates the hypoglycemia in the body. Signs of a low blood sugar are weakness, dizziness, nausea, blurring of vision and even fainting. Lastly, you feel full thus it can make you feel satisfied while doing your workout.
What foods should you eat before a workout? Some experts recommend fruits and vegetables. In exercise you do not only burn fat and sweat a lot. You also lose a lot of electrolytes and minerals through sweating, especially potassium, sodium and calcium. A low potassium and a low sodium in the body can make you feel weak, and a low calcium in the body will make your heart beat weaker that normal. If you plan on snacking on a high calorie diet before your workout, you should exercise after 30 minutes to 1 hour to have ample time for your body to digest food.
Ideal foods to eat before a workout are fruits such as bananas or apples. Bananas are rich sources of potassium which eliminates muscle weakness and can also regulate your bowel movement and can prevent bloating. You can also eat oatmeal or whole grain bread. Oatmeal is rich in protein and has a lot of calories which you will actually need in your workout. Whole train bread is nutritious and can help fight off the pangs of hunger as you exercise. You can also eat an energy bar, or sports drink, which has many electrolytes that your body needs while on exercise.
So, why don’t you load up before you pump it up?
