Nutrient timing – when is the best time to eat and take supplements

Nutrient timing means “the time when one should take nutrients”. Is it really possible that taking particular substances at specific times of the day may impact your well-being and figure?

Agata Brama

What is nutrient timing?

Nutrient timing is nothing new. We all know it from the mass media, which often assign extraordinary effects to the consumption of certain ingredients at specific times of the day. Popular examples of nutrient timing include:

  • drinking water with lemon on an empty stomach,
  • eating fruit only in the first half of the day,
  • breakfast based on protein and fats,
  • not eating after 6 p.m.,
  • eating protein after workout,

... and many more. Are there any scientific grounds to support the strategy of adapting your menu to the time of the day?

Nutrient timing and sport

There is one particular group of people which has long used precise nutrient timing and that is... athletes. Serving components such as: carbohydrates, protein, electrolytes, caffeine, etc. at appropriate times may significantly impact the stamina, strength, and general condition of those who exercise or professional athletes.

For example, the following habits are considered good practices which may improve the athlete’s stamina:

  • a wholesome light meal eaten 60-150 minutes before the workout,
  • ensuring proper hydration,
  • taking vitamins (especially those considered to be antioxidants) outside the training period.

By contrast, after the workout ends, “the anabolic window opens” – which, in practice, is supposed to mean the best moment for taking nutrients, which our body will then absorb like a sponge.

  • During workout, the body uses its muscle glycogen reserves, so according to the “anabolic window” assumption, it is immediately post-workout that we should supplement those reserves by consuming carbohydrates.
  • In practice, sufficiently quick consumption of carbohydrates after a workout will matter for those who train several times a day or take part in competitions (multiple starts during one day) – those are the people for whom the pace of glycogen replenishment will matter, enabling them to approach the next session “with a full tank”.
  • For those who train once a day, at fixed times, consumption of carbohydrates immediately after the workout will not be that important – the glycogen will be replenished from all meals served during the next 24 hours.
  • It is similar in the case of protein – post-workout consumption will matter for those who train several times a day, however, in most cases, it is the daily balance of protein and calories that is of greater significance.