What you eat after exercise may enhance or prolong the health benefits of exercise. At the University of Michigan, Jeffrey Horowitz found when people ate low carbohydrate meals after exercise, their insulin sensitivity was improved the next day. The change in insulin sensitivity means their bodies more easily took sugar out of the bloodstream and moved it into muscles, where it could be used for energy: "When people exercised and then ate a relatively low-carbohydrate content, their control of blood sugar – their insulin sensitivity – the next day was markedly improved." Horowitz also says the study highlights the idea that you have to keep active to keep the benefits, because the benefits taper off over time. The study in the Journal of Applied Physiology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
