Eating breakfast before exercise can “prepare” the body to burn carbohydrates during exercise and allow food to digest faster after exercise, researchers at the University of Bath have found.
The researchers studied the effect of eating breakfast versus fasting overnight for an hour of cycling. In a control test, breakfast was followed by three hours of rest. The volunteers ate a breakfast of porridge made with milk two hours before exercise. After training or rest, the researchers tested the blood glucose and muscle glycogen levels of the 12 healthy male volunteers who participated.
They found that eating breakfast increased the rate at which the body burned carbohydrates during exercise, as well as increasing the rate at which the body digested and metabolized food after exercise.