Foods to eat before exercise and sports

Many Type One Diabetics have trouble with their blood sugars before physical activities. I used to have this struggle before I changed the amounts and types of foods that I was eating before swimming. There are many different foods out there to eat before exercise or sports, but the best are foods with combination of carbs and protein. These types of foods stay with you longer and they keep your blood sugars more stable. I have included a short list with some foods that are great to eat before physical activities and sports.

Before swim practice each day, I used to eat about 80 carbs undosed and my blood sugars would still drop to 60 mg/dl or lower. That was before my mom and I did research on what to eat before sporting events and exercise, and found out some good foods and food groups to eat before these activities. Ever since I changed the types of food I eat before swimming and the amount of carbs, my blood sugars rarely plummet during or immediately after physical activity. I love food, but am a picky eater with some foods and even I found many foods/meals that I love to eat that keep my blood sugars in range during exercise.

So, what types of food and food groups should I eat? A healthy combination of carbs and protein is the best way to keep your blood sugars level before exercise. Having just carbs or even just protein won’t help your blood sugars. The protein with the carbs keep your blood sugar in range longer and keeps you filled during your sport/physical activity. Some of my favorites are toast and Nutella or peanut butter or crackers with salami. Whether you prefer to eat little food or an entire meal before exercise, there are foods out there to keep your blood glucose levels steady for longer periods of time.

There are other methods that people use to get their blood sugars to stay in range for a period of time while exercising. Some don’t dose for the previous meal, but this isn’t the best solution. If you eat the meal even an hour before physical activity without dosing, your blood sugars will go high for that period of time. I would not recommend that because especially if the physical activity is a daily thing your health and A1C won’t be as good. A better solution is to eat a small amount before physical activity and to not have a basal for the remainder of the time.

Here are some of the foods that I found to be great options before exercise and physical activity. Even if you don’t like some of them, there are so many options, I hope that you like at least one of the foods. You may even have other foods that you like to eat. The best things are usually any type of bread or fruit with dairy based products or nuts/ nut based spreads.

• A bagel with cream cheese
• Cottage cheese and fruit
• Toast and peanut butter/Nutella
• A protein shake or drink
• Tuna on bread or crackers
• Yogurt and fruit or other carbs
• Crackers/bread with any type of dairy or nut based spread

This list may help you to think of other foods to eat before exercising. Even if you aren’t usually hungry before but your blood sugars are low, at least try to eat/drink something small with carbs and proteins. I hope that this post helps you to change the way you eat and keeps your blood sugars in range during sports and other physical activities.