SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2017
Effect of Glycemic Index of a Pre-exercise Meal on Endurance Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed.
- Glycaemic Impact of Low- and High-Glycaemic Index Carbohydrate Diets in Ultra-Endurance Athletes: Insights From Continuous Glucose Monitoring.European journal of sport science · 2025Trial
- Acute effects of pre-exercise high and low glycaemic index meals and exercise timings on substrate metabolism and appetite in postmenopausal women.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Trial
- Substrate Oxidation Does Not Influence Middle Distance Running Performance: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Effects of pre-exercise high and low glycaemic index meals on substrate metabolism and appetite in middle-aged women.Journal of nutritional science · 2023Trial
- Trial
- The Effects of Low- and High-Glycemic Index Sport Nutrition Bars on Metabolism and Performance in Recreational Soccer Players.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Effects of Low Versus Moderate Glycemic Index Diets on Aerobic Capacity in Endurance Runners: Three-Week Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.Nutrients · 2018Trial
- Carbohydrate Storage and Supplementation Strategies for Peak Performance in Cross-Country Skiing.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2026Review
- Snack and Nutrient Intake Status of Top-Level Female University Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The Synergistic Effect of Compound Sugar with Different Glycemic Indices Combined with Creatine on Exercise-Related Fatigue in Mice.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Longer-Term Effects of the Glycaemic Index on Substrate Metabolism and Performance in Endurance Athletes.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Review
- Athletes' nutritional demands: a narrative review of nutritional requirements.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Review
- Effect of a High Fat Diet vs. High Carbohydrate Diets With Different Glycemic Indices on Metabolic Parameters in Male Endurance Athletes: A Pilot Trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- What Should I Eat before Exercise? Pre-Exercise Nutrition and the Response to Endurance Exercise: Current Prospective and Future Directions.Nutrients · 2020Review
- Effects of Pre-Exercise High and Low Glycaemic Meal on Intermittent Sprint and Endurance Exercise Performance.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- The Glycemic Index of Sport Nutrition Bars Affects Performance and Metabolism During Cycling and Next-Day Recovery.Journal of human kinetics · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow glycemic index (GI) pre-exercise meals may enhance endurance performance by maintaining euglycemia and altering fuel utilization. However, evidence for performance benefits is equivocal.
objectiveTo evaluate the effect of a low GI (LGI) versus a high GI (HGI) pre-exercise meal on endurance performance using meta-analyses.
methodsData sources included MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, AUSPORT, AusportMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Eligibility criteria were randomized, crossover trials with an endurance exercise (≥60 min) component, e.g., time trial (TT), time to exhaustion (TTE) test, or submaximal bout followed by TT or TTE. Participants were healthy, active individuals aged ≥16 years. Interventions included a LGI (≤55) and HGI (≥70) meal ingested 30-240 min before exercise. Study quality was assessed using an adapted version of the validated Downs and Black tool. Effect size (ES) and 95 % confidence interval were calculated for each study and pooled according to performance test type and whether exogenous carbohydrate (CHO) was given during exercise. Potential effect modifiers including exercise duration, pre-exercise meal timing, glycemic load (GL), and fitness were assessed using meta-regression.
resultsThe search netted 3431 citations with 19 studies eligible for inclusion (totaling 188 participants; 91 % male; VO LIMITATIONS: There were small numbers of studies within each exercise testing protocol and limited statistical power within studies. Pre-exercise meal timing, GL, meal composition and participant fitness varied across studies, limiting the capacity to assess the influence of these factors on study outcomes.
conclusionThere was no clear benefit of consuming a LGI pre-exercise meal for endurance performance regardless of carbohydrate ingestion during exercise.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27677914What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.