4 Natural Fuel Foods for Your Next Workout

By Amy Paturel, July/August 2008

Supercharge your workout and get a natural energy boost from foods you have in your kitchen right now.

Recipes for a Better Workout
Breakfasts That Fight Fat
Healthy Blueberry Recipes for a Better Workout
Foods that make your workout easier

More Exercise Tips
6 Ways to Exercise Without Even Knowing It
Lazy ways to burn 1,000 calories
What’s the best after-workout drink?

4. A Bowl of Yogurt
Constant training takes a toll on your immune system, leaving athletes susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections, but new research suggests that probiotics—the live active cultures in yogurt—may help keep you healthy. A 2008 study of 20 endurance athletes (published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine) found that taking daily probiotic capsules enhanced the activity of the athletes’ immune-boosting T-cells and cut the length of time they experienced upper respiratory tract infection symptoms by more than half. Probiotics can also help calm a queasy stomach, which is great for nervous athletes. Upshot: You’d have to eat vats of yogurt to reach the levels of probiotics the athletes in these studies consumed. Still, yogurt has a balanced mix of carbs and protein, so it’s a great post-workout recovery fuel.