GLOSSARY

Pre-Exercise GI Strategy Table

Pre-exercise food choice balances carbohydrate availability, comfort and the time available for digestion.

Pre-Exercise Meal is a substantial eating occasion before activity. Meal size, composition and the time until the start influence its practical suitability.

The pre-exercise meal contributes to starting fuel availability and comfort. A larger meal generally needs more time before strenuous movement than a small snack, but digestion is not governed by one fixed clock. Food volume, fat, fiber, exercise intensity and individual tolerance all matter. Familiar carbohydrate-containing foods can be useful before demanding exercise. Adjusting a particular meal for comfort is different from removing fiber or fat from the athlete's everyday diet.

Carbohydrate eaten before exercise can raise glucose and insulin before muscular glucose uptake increases with activity. Some individuals develop a transient fall in glucose around the transition, but symptoms and performance effects vary. A laboratory glucose dip does not automatically establish a clinical disorder. Rehearsing the timing and composition can identify a tolerable approach. Recurrent or severe symptoms need assessment, especially in athletes using glucose-lowering medication, rather than repeated unsupervised experimentation.

Lower-residue and lower-FODMAP strategies address different properties of food. Reducing poorly absorbed fermentable carbohydrates may help selected athletes with gastrointestinal symptoms, while reducing residue aims to limit intestinal contents. Neither approach is a general requirement for all competitors. Restriction should be targeted, temporary where appropriate and followed by dietary review so that energy, carbohydrate and nutrient supply remain sufficient. Changing several foods at once also makes the actual trigger harder to identify.