Fast Food For Recovery From Cycling?

As nutritionists, we are strong advocates for athletes' maximising dietary quality. We spend a lot of time encouraging athletes to maximise their intake of nutrient-dense foods, so they have a dietary pattern that helps support their overall health and well-being. So why on earth would fast food be considered an option for recovery, you may be asking?

Fast food is often demonised (and often rightly so) due to its contributing role to poor health in the population, particularly among sedentary people. The consumption of hyper-palatable foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt and sugar, which makes them very energy-dense and easy to consume to excess, is a large part of the reason they can be poor for health and are often demonised, particularly by individuals who are health-seeking (like many cyclists).

Ironically, many recovery products marketed to cyclists by sports nutrition supplement brands could arguably be classified in a similar group to fast food. Owing to their high palatability, high energy density, and ease in which they allow an individual to put away calories without feeling overly full.  

For any athlete who has completed significant training sessions, consuming foods which may be easier to consume and digest and provide rapidly absorbed macro nutrients post-exercise may actually be beneficial for recovery, particularly when they don’t necessarily have a significant appetite post-exercise and rapid recovery is required (i.e. <12hours).

 A classic research study from 2015, which got quite a lot of publicity at the time, examined the impact of consuming either a selection of food items from McDonald's or a selection of sports foods, from well-known sports supplement brand Powerbar, Cytomax, Cliff and Gatorade, on recovery of muscle glycogen (a key component of recovery from endurance exercise) after a bout of glycogen depleting exercise. 

 The trial took a group of 11 recreationally active males and subjected them to 90-minutes of intervals to deplete their glycogen stores. They then measured their muscle glycogen before giving them two meals, one immediately after exercise and another two hours later, before remeasuring their muscle glycogen 4 hours post exercise. At the end of the 4 hours, they also completed a 20-mile simulated cycling time trial to measure performance.

The table above shows the composition of the different meals. As you can see, they tried to match the macronutrient composition of the two different options as closely as possible (which is a challenge with off-the-shelf foods). Each meal in the different trials contained very similar amounts of carbohydrates, fat, and protein.

 When it came to the results, it was quite simple. There was no difference in muscle glycogen, blood glucose, blood insulin, blood lipids, or 20km time trial performance between the two different feeding trials. Ironically, there was actually a slightly better total amount of glycogen storage in the fast food trial than in the sports food trial (see white bars on the graph below).

In terms of the takeaways (pardon the pun), the study suggests that provided you consume enough energy and macronutrients, it doesn’t really matter (when it comes to glycogen recovery, at least) what food choices you make, particularly if the foods are relatively processed and easy to digest. Over 4 hours post-exercise at least. 

So, should athletes be using fast food for recovery? If there was ever a time to enjoy a meal like this, it’s going to be after a demanding session where you’ve got a big energy deficit to try and get on top of. and the high palatability maybe beneficial. It is not uncommon to see 'fast food' options included post-exercise in some sports such as rugby and football, but you're unlikely to see your local Uber Eats riders cueing up with a delivery to a team bus at a grand tour. 

Athletes often travel, so it can certainly provide a convenient recovery meal on the road, but there are obviously better options out there from a food choice perspective. Arguably the same to be said for recovery drinks, with many homemade alternatives providing just as effective as the off the shelf product. 


Coach Ben