We know that fish is a high-protein, low-fat food that is very beneficial for fat loss and body shaping. Therefore, many people like to enjoy a nice meal of fish after a workout, thinking it can effectively replenish nutrients, restore energy, and reduce fatigue. However, the reality is quite the opposite. Japanese sports nutritionists believe that eating fish after exercise can lead to easier fatigue.
“After physical labor or strenuous exercise, the body feels very tired because it produces a large amount of lactic acid. Fish is an acidic food. Eating fish after exercise acidifies the blood, and combined with the large amount of lactic acid produced in the body, it will worsen the degree of fatigue,” a sports nutritionist explained. After a workout, one can eat milk, vegetables, fruits, seaweed, etc. It is not advisable to eat chicken, fish, or eggs after exercise.
Many people often experience muscle swelling, joint soreness, and mental fatigue after physical exercise. To relieve fatigue as quickly as possible, they will buy a large amount of chicken, fish, meat, and eggs for a big meal, thinking this can replenish nutrients and satisfy the body's needs. In fact, consuming these foods at this time not only fails to relieve fatigue but also has adverse effects on the body.
Human food can be divided into acidic and alkaline foods. The acidity or alkalinity of food is not determined by people's taste buds, nor by the chemical properties of the food when dissolved in water, but by the acidity or alkalinity of the final metabolic products after the food enters the human body. Acidic foods are usually rich in proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Foods containing elements like potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium, after being metabolized in the body, produce alkaline substances that can prevent the blood from becoming more acidic. Therefore, sour-tasting fruits are generally alkaline foods, not acidic foods. Although chicken, fish, meat, eggs, and sugar are not sour, they are acidic foods.
An American pathologist, after long-term research, pointed out that only when body fluids are slightly alkaline can human health be maintained. The body fluids of a normal person are slightly alkaline. After physical exercise, when one feels muscle and joint soreness and mental fatigue, the main reason is that the body's sugars, fats, and proteins are broken down in large quantities. During this process, acidic substances such as lactic acid and phosphoric acid are produced. These acidic substances stimulate the body's tissues and organs, causing a feeling of muscle and joint soreness and mental fatigue. At this time, if one simply consumes foods rich in acidic substances such as meat, eggs, and fish, it will make the body fluids more acidic, which is not conducive to relieving fatigue. Eating vegetables, sweet potatoes, citrus, apples, and other fruits, due to their alkalizing effect, can eliminate excess acid in the body, reduce the acidity of urine, increase the solubility of uric acid, and reduce the possibility of acid forming stones in the bladder.
Therefore, after physical exercise, one should eat more alkaline-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and soy products, to help maintain the basic balance of acidity and alkalinity in the human body, maintain health, and quickly eliminate fatigue caused by exercise.