REF-055 · Naderi et al., 2025 · Sports Medicine, 2025 Jul · Paper · PubMed

Narrative Review: Nutrition Strategies for Recovery Optimization

C+thin evidenceMeasured on a mixed groupWritten before October 2026, being re-checked

Overview

Naderi et al. review the nutritional strategies used to speed post-exercise recovery and protect the next session, especially when the recovery window is short.

The abstract's content is qualitative: carbohydrate is essential for glycogen replenishment, most of all in the first hours after exercise, with the effect depending on type, timing and amount; protein accelerates muscle recovery and restores a positive nitrogen balance depending on type and dose; adding protein to a suboptimal carbohydrate intake improves glycogen resynthesis; creatine and caffeine co-ingested with carbohydrate may accelerate glycogen synthesis and improve subsequent performance; milk-based beverages and electrolyte solutions help maintain fluid balance; omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and sodium bicarbonate are discussed as emerging tools for muscle damage and acid-base balance.

The authors conclude that these strategies should be tailored to the individual, particularly for athletes on tight competition or training schedules. The abstract gives no doses, timings or effect sizes.

Key Findings

Carbohydrate: essential for glycogen replenishment, especially within the initial hours after exercise; the effect depends on type, timing and amount (no figures in the abstract)
Protein: accelerates muscle recovery and a positive nitrogen balance; adding protein to a suboptimal carbohydrate intake enhances recovery
Creatine and caffeine co-ingestion with carbohydrate: potential to accelerate glycogen synthesis and improve subsequent performance
Hydration: milk-based beverages and electrolyte solutions to maintain fluid balance
Emerging: omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, sodium bicarbonate for muscle damage and acid-base balance

Practical Application

When the next session is close, the review's order of priorities is: carbohydrate early and in enough quantity, protein alongside it (especially if carbohydrate is short), fluids with electrolytes or milk, and only then supplements such as caffeine or creatine with the carbohydrate — the abstract gives directions, not doses.
Not from this paper; the base's own practice for doses: carbohydrate on the order of 1.0-1.2 g/kg in the first hour and 20-40 g of protein with it; for the primary evidence on carbohydrate timing see REF-056, for glycemic index REF-057, for caffeine with carbohydrate REF-059, for beverage choice REF-058.
Inference, not tested here: these strategies matter most for back-to-back hard days; with a full easy day between sessions, total daily intake settles the matter.

Limitations

Narrative review: no systematic search, no pooled effect sizes; the abstract contains no numbers at all, so any dose quoted from this entry is house practice, not the review's finding.
Mixed populations and protocols across the cited literature.
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level

regraded 2026-09-27 from A: narrative review without systematic method

Content correction 2026-09-27
Removed every unsourced figure: "1.0-1.2 g/kg within 30 min", "20-40 g protein", "400-800 mg sodium per hour", "EPA 2-3 g / 2.3 g + DHA 1-2 g / 1.6 g", "600 mg sodium", "15-25% faster recovery markers", "2-3 days" — the abstract of this narrative review contains no numbers, and the "15-25% faster recovery markers (HRV, sleep, soreness)" combined-protocol claim has no source.
Level A -> C+ (narrative review); lead now states the review's qualitative priorities; dose guidance labelled as the base's own practice with pointers to the primary entries.