NUTRITION IN SPORT

that the intake of a pre-exercise meal composed
of low glycaemic index CHO-rich foods may
enhance endurance or performance during such
exercise events. Clearly, the use of the glycaemic

78 nutrition and exercise

index may have implications for the athlete and

deserves further attention. However, it is not

intended to provide a universal system to rank

the virtues of CHO-rich foods. There are a

number of other attributes of foods which may

be of value to the athlete; these are often specific

to the individual and the exercise situation.

Other valuable characteristics of

CHO-rich foods for athletes

Nutrient density and alignment with goals of

healthy eating

The guidelines for healthy eating, and for ath-

letes in particular, recommend that CHO and

CHO-rich foods should provide the majority of

dietary energy. However, for optimal health and

performance, athletes must also achieve their

requirements for protein and micronutrients,

including any increase in requirement that may

result from a heavy exercise programme (see

Chapters 10, 21, 23–25). Thus, CHO-rich foods

which also provide significant sources of other

nutrients are of value in allowing the athlete to

meet a number of nutritional goals simultane-

ously. This is an important consideration in the

everyday or training diet of the athlete, particu-

larly for those individuals with very high carbo-

hydrate needs and/or restricted energy intake.

In other words, as CHO increases its importance

in the total food base, particularly a food base of

small size, so should there be an increase in the

focus on nutrient-dense types of CHO-rich

foods.

Many CHO-rich foods provide valuable

amounts of other nutrients, or at least can be con-

structed into a nutritious CHO-rich meal using

typical food combinations. Breads, rice, pasta,

breakfast cereals and other grain-based foods

provide significant amounts of B vitamins and

smaller amounts of some minerals, especially in

cases such as breakfast cereals where fortification

has occurred. Legumes, pulses and soya prod-

ucts are also valuable sources of these nutrients.

Protein provided by legumes and grain foods is

significant, even in a non-vegetarian diet, with

Table 5.3Examples of the glycaemic index (GI) of
CHO-rich foods.

Food GI

High GI (>70) Glucose 100
Cornflakes 84
Cocopops 77
Instant mashed potato 83
Baked potato 85
Sports drink 95
Jelly beans 80
White bread 70
Weetbix 70
Watermelon 72
Honey 73

Moderate GI Wholemeal bread 69
(55–70) One-minute oats 66
Muesli flake cereal 68
Muffins (cake style) 62
Soft drink 68
Brown/white rice 59
Arrowroot biscuit 66
Ice-cream 61
Mangoes 55
Orange juice 57
Sucrose 65

Low GI (<55) Ripe banana 52
Porridge 49
Mixed grain bread 45
All Bran 42
Parboiled rice 47
Milk 27
Flavoured yoghurt 33
Chocolate 49
Unripe banana 30
Apple 36
Orange 43
Pasta 41
Baked beans 40
Kidney beans 27
Red lentils 26
Fructose 20

GI has been based on glucose as a reference food.
Where white bread is used as a reference food, GI
values are higher by approximately 1.4. See Foster-
Powell & Brand-Miller (1995).