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CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates can be divided into several families:
Simple sugars, Polysaccharides (starch, cellulose)
Carbohydrates are important energy components in everyone's food, especially that of the athlete.
They supply 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrates.
The average carbohydrate content must be 50 to 55 % of the daily ration.
Athletes may increase this figure in some situations. Especially with a hyper-glucidic diet designed to build up glycogen in the muscle before competition (refer to the article Scandinavian dissociated diet regime and its derivatives); in this case, the carbohydrate content may reach up to 70 % of the daily ration.
100 g of cooked starchy foods = (20 g of carbohydrates) or 40 g bread or 300 g vegetables or 200 g fruit or 400 ml milk.
Carbohydrates can be subdivided into fast and slow sugars depending on the rate of their intestinal absorption.
For an athlete, the type of carbohydrates consumed depends on the competition date:
If the competition date is not close, privilege slow carbohydrates to build up the energy reserves.
If it is close (the day before and in particular the day itself), consume fast carbohydrates which provide energy immediately or in the very short term.
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Glucidic foods are said to be fast when the glycaemic index is high. The glycaemic index of a given food varies depending on the way it is prepared: raw or cooked, whole or chopped, mashed, etc.
Glucidic foods Fast sugars |
Glycaemic index |
Glucose |
100 |
Carrot |
92 |
Honey |
88 |
Grapes |
85 |
Corn Flakes |
81 |
Mashed potato |
80 |
Apple juice |
75 |
White rice |
73 |
White bread |
72 |
Steamed potato |
70 |
Glucidic foods Semi-fast sugars
|
Glycaemic index |
Muesli |
67 |
Brown rice |
66 |
Sugar |
65 |
Wholemeal bread |
65 |
Banana |
63 |
Spaghetti |
51 |
Peas |
50 |
Glucidic foods Slow sugars
|
Glycaemic index |
Whole wheat pasta |
42 |
Orange |
40 |
Apple |
39 |
Chick peas |
36 |
Milk |
25 |
Lentils |
29 |
Fructose |
20 |
Soya bean sprouts |
15 |
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