I think most runners would know this answer, cuz our coach always had us eat some type of spaghetti or pizza a day before our race. i've never really understood why.
2006-09-05 09:15:21 · 7 answers · asked by ? 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
When you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs for energy your body will break it down into glucose and then rebuild it in the liver as glycogen. The glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles. Then when you need more energy than you have eaten in carbohydrates your body breaks down the stored glycogen into glucose and you burn the glucose for energy.
2006-09-05 09:23:32 · answer #1 · answered by college kid 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Carbohydrate is the preferred energy source molecule in the body. It floats in the blood stream in the form of glucose (and some few other simple sugar forms). When you eat complex carbohydrates which are long chains of sugars connected together, the gut breaks them down into simple sugars before they can be absorbed across the gut wall. By the time the stuff is in your blood, it's sugar.
Directly after a meal, the body recognizes that sugar is coming in and adjusts accordingly. Insulin is released and the organs of the body respond. The liver and muscles take up the sugar and store it by forming it into glycogen (a large molecule storage form of complex carbohydrate). When the glycogen storage capacity is maxed out, all that is left is to convert the extra carbohydrate into fat.
Glycogen storage in muscle is used up with a relatively short burst of activity. It's not enough for a distance run. The liver starts putting out sugar by breaking down glycogen between meals which is why the sugar level in the blood is fairly constant, even though we eat only at certain intervals in the day. When the liver glycogen stores run out, the body switches over to using protein and fat as energy. This isn't as ideal a system (unless you're exercising to lose weight, in which case it's exactly what you want).
The practice of eating a carbohydrate meal before a big day is called "carbo-loading" and it has swung in and out of favor over time. The theory was that you could have not only the glycogen in your liver to run on, but you'd still be absorbing complex carbohydrate from your gut during exercise. It was a sort of "topping off the tank" theory. The problem is that most people digest food all the way through the small bowel between dinner and breakfast, so there isn't really any extra "gut-storage" going on by the next morning. It's probably better to eat a good dinner, but then have a carb source in your breakfast before you go all-out during the day. Also, knowing that you're going to break down some protein for energy during a big day of activity, its important to replenish the supply during or just after with protein containing foods. Carbohydrate is the fuel for the engine, but protein is the stuff the engine block is made of.
2006-09-05 16:39:35 · answer #2 · answered by bellydoc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The excess carbohydrate is converted by glycogen to fat and store in the liver.
2006-09-05 16:29:13 · answer #3 · answered by ewangmmnl 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It gets stored as fat unfortunately. It does get converted to energy before the usual fats (oils, animal fats).
2006-09-05 16:21:59 · answer #4 · answered by Vicki B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are stored for use later on. If you never ran that race, well hun now you'd be fat!
2006-09-05 16:19:15 · answer #5 · answered by kittyfreek 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Building up reserves.
2006-09-05 16:18:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think they are turned to fat
2006-09-05 16:18:45 · answer #7 · answered by the one and only robertc1985 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋