Eating Fruit & Yogurt After Workouts

Eating after a grueling workout is just as important as eating before it. Your muscles need fuel to recover glycogen stores that you burn during exercise. Eating helps exercisers keep their energy levels up after a strenuous workout. Fruits and yogurt are excellent foods to eat after a workout routine. Even if you're not hungry after exercising strenuously, eat at least a little food and rehydrate.

Dried Fruits, Apples and Oranges

• Muscles have to recharge after a workout. Dried fruits contain carbohydrates that your body needs to refuel the muscles. Eating a 1/4-cup serving of dried fruits is a healthy snack after a strenuous workout. Making trail mix by adding a variety of nuts with the dried fruits is another healthy option. Other fruits that make healthy snacks post-workout are apples and oranges. In addition to helping your body refuel, these fruits have vitamins that your body uses to function properly. The advantage of eating dried fruits is convenience. They do not spoil as quickly as fresh fruits and are easier to pack for snacking. Dried fruits also provide your body with a ready source of energy, which is necessary after a strenuous workout.

Yogurt

• Yogurt contains calcium and protein as well as vitamin D to help strengthen your bones. Stronger bones lower your risk of injury during exercise routines and provide better anchors for your muscles. Yogurt also contains B-vitamins, minerals and omega-3s. Eating yogurt after working out helps with muscle repair but also lowers the risk of heart disease. Avoid fatty foods after a workout because your body cannot easily absorb and digest them.

Yogurt and Fruits Together

• Yogurt is low in fat but rich in protein and easy for your body to absorb post-workout, CanadianLiving.com notes. Yogurt also contains bacteria that aid in digestion. This means that eating yogurt together with fruits post-workout helps the body absorb nutrients more easily. This is particularly useful for people who want to build muscle because yogurt contains amino acids that help in muscle repair. Adding fruits to yogurt further enriches their nutritional content but also helps give your body a much-needed energy boost after a workout.

Timing

• Eat within two hours after working out. Aside from helping your body replace lost energy, eating also helps prevent muscle breakdown and stimulates protein synthesis, FitDay.com notes. Eating fruits and yogurt post-workout also helps speed recovery and minimize soreness later. The optimum window in which to eat after working out is within 30 minutes of finishing. Doing so helps your body maximize the effects of the exercise routine and boosts athletic performance.