Eating Before or After Strength Training - What's Better?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Chasing Life – “Eating Before or After Strength Training – What's Better?” (June 30, 2026)

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Main Theme

This episode of Chasing Life, hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, delves into science-backed recommendations for the timing of nutrition in relation to strength training. Addressing a listener’s question on whether it’s better to eat before or after workouts (especially for women in menopause or perimenopause aiming to maintain muscle mass), Dr. Gupta enlists expert Dr. Stuart Phillips to unravel the latest research and bust common myths. The episode also tackles a follow-up listener query on hair loss, exploring causes and current treatment options.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Timing Meals & Protein for Strength Training

Listener Question:
A 45-year-old perimenopausal woman asks whether she should be eating before or after her strength training sessions to best maintain muscle mass.

• (02:37)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Perspective:

• To build strength, “You want your food to work for you. …Protein is key.” (02:37)
• The goal: Prepare your body for stress and help rebuild muscle.

Expert Input: Dr. Stuart Phillips
Director, Physical Activity Centre of Excellence & McMaster Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Health Research

• “Your muscles are made up of what we call amino acids. They're the building block of protein. And when we train them, when we lift some weights, our muscle is more receptive to amino acids or protein. And so delivering it in the form of food is a way of reconditioning and making the muscle bigger and stronger for the next time around.”
  (03:14 – Dr. Stuart Phillips)

What Does Science Say About Timing?

• “We used to think that it mattered quite a bit about when the timing was, immediately before or immediately afterwards… the window of opportunity … is actually open for a really long time. So I stress about that far less. And just say sometime in the three to four hours afterwards is probably a good window.”
  (03:58 – Dr. Stuart Phillips)
• Dr. Gupta summarizes: “Don’t stress as much about the timing, but do think about this: roughly 20 to 30 grams of high quality protein in the meal or snack is probably going to work best for most people.”
  (04:21)

Guidelines for Strength Training Nutrition:

• Eating soon after training is generally helpful—especially as we age.
• Protein plus some carbohydrates post-workout supports muscle building and training quality.
• Fasting before training isn’t harmful, but “probably not optimal for muscle maintenance or gain. Again, particularly in older folks.”
  (04:34 – Dr. Sanjay Gupta)
• Hydration is also vital and frequently overlooked.

De-Complicating Nutrition Advice:

• “We really try to decomplicate a lot of this stuff. My take is… social media… has made [nutrition advice] very, very confusing. ... So if you're exercising on a regular basis, I gotta put my hand on my heart and say, power to you, because you're getting so much good done. … These nutritional things... matter a whole lot less than we thought.”
  (05:19 – Dr. Stuart Phillips)

Notable Quotes:

• “Our muscle is more receptive to amino acids or protein [after training]... delivering it in the form of food is a way of... making the muscle bigger and stronger.” (03:18 – Dr. Stuart Phillips)
• “Don’t stress as much about the timing, but do think about this: roughly 20 to 30 grams of high quality protein in the meal or snack…” (04:21 – Dr. Sanjay Gupta)
• “All of these nutritional things... I've come to the conclusion they matter a whole lot less than we thought.” (05:27 – Dr. Stuart Phillips)

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2. Treating & Understanding Hair Loss (Listener Q&A)

Listener Question:
A 51-year-old woman struggles with sudden hair loss despite normal hormone tests and multiple self-directed treatments. She asks: Where should I go to find the root cause?

• (07:15 – Gina, Caller)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Response:

• Hair loss affects women and men, and is common with aging, hormonal changes, and stress.
• “Healthy adults have about 80 to 120,000 strands of hair on their heads. We normally shed… about 50 to 100 strands every day.” (08:15)

Different Types of Hair Loss:

• Androgenetic alopecia: Hereditary, gradual, predictable patterns. Women often experience diffuse thinning and widening of the part.
• Traction alopecia: Caused by tight hairstyles or harsh treatments.
• Telogen effluvium: Sudden, diffuse shedding after a stressor (illness, medication, pregnancy, or stress), usually 2-3 months after trigger.
• Frontal fibrosing alopecia: Postmenopausal, starts at the frontal hairline.

Causes:

• Genetics, age, medications, underlying health conditions (PCOS, diabetes, psoriasis)
• Dietary deficiencies: Protein, iron, zinc, biotin (B7), B12, D
• Stress: “When the body is stressed, it has to shift priority from non-essential things to more essential things. …Hair… is a non-essential appendage.” (11:15 – Dr. Sanjay Gupta quoting a dermatologist)

Treatment Options & Guidance:

• Start with a dermatologist—clinical examination is key to accurate diagnosis.
• Medications:
  • Minoxidil (topical, foam, or pill)
  • Spironolactone (for women, blocks dihydrotestosterone, DHT)
  • Ketoconazole shampoo (reduces inflammation)
  • Finasteride/Dutasteride (for men only)
• Address triggers (for telogen effluvium, focus on correcting causes like illness, medication, stress).
• Other treatments:
  • Peptide-based serums
  • Rosemary extract, saw palmetto, antioxidants, caffeine, castor oil
  • Red light therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections have shown promise for some.
• Lifestyle:
  • Gentle hair care, minimize heat/styling stress, avoid smoking, balanced diet, hydration, sleep, stress reduction.
  • “It is easier to prevent loss than to regrow hair.” (14:46)
• Key Advice: “The sooner you address shedding or thinning, the easier it is to maintain your hair.” (14:50)

Notable Quotes:

• “Hair loss… impacts self image, emotional well being and can cause a lot of distress according to these surveys, in addition to anxiety and depression.” (08:07 – Dr. Sanjay Gupta)
• “When the body is stressed, it has to shift priority from non-essential things to more essential things. And hair… is a non-essential appendage.” (11:15)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:53] – Caller asks about optimal meal timing for strength training
• [02:37] – [05:54] – Deep dive: Strength training, nutrition timing, hydration, and expert mythbusting
• [07:15] – [15:00] – Listener’s hair loss query: causes, types, treatment, and lifestyle strategies

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Memorable Moments

• Dr. Phillips’ debunking of nutrition timing myths: “I stress about that far less… Sometime in the three to four hours afterwards is probably a good window.” (03:58)
• Warm, practical tone: Dr. Gupta often reassures listeners—“power to you” for regular exercise, and empathetically addresses common insecurities about hair loss.
• “It is easier to prevent loss than to regrow hair.” (14:46) – A succinct truth about proactive approaches to health.

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Summary

Chasing Life delivers actionable, jargon-free insights this episode:

• For muscle maintenance, protein intake matters more than exact timing—get your 20-30 grams of quality protein within a few hours post-exercise, and don’t stress about being exact.
• For hair loss, proper diagnosis is crucial—consult a dermatologist, look into common causes, and don’t get overwhelmed by internet advice or miracle cures.

Empowering listeners to focus on consistent habits and self-care, Dr. Gupta and Dr. Phillips cut through confusion, promoting a realistic and less stressful path toward strength and health as we age.

Transcript

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Hey, everybody. Chasing life is going to take a break this week. We got to chase life ourselves. In the meantime, we're bringing you a great episode from the archive. Hope you enjoy it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey there.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. This is the show where I get to tackle your health concerns. We're taking lots of real life questions from listeners. We're digging into the science and the stories behind them and, and sometimes like you'll hear today, we're calling a consult, getting another expert to weigh in as well. Kira's back with us with our first question.

[Kira]

Hey, Sanjay. So, like a lot of people that listen to the show, our first caller is really focused on staying healthy and strong. But she does have a very interesting question on timing. Here it is.

[Caller 1]

Hi, Dr. Gupta. I'm a 45 year old menopausal or perimenopausal woman. I guess I'm trying to do all the right things. I'm trying to make sure I'm eating protein and I'm strength training to try to keep muscle mass as I age. So given that strength training a few times a week, I'm just wondering when is the best time to eat, if I should be eating before my workouts. Thank you.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

All right, thank you so much for calling in. And also, it's great that you're being proactive about your health. You're asking a really important question. This is something I thought about as well in my own exercise routine. I'll get you an answer right after this break.

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[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Let's go. Okay. Welcome back to paging Dr. Gupta. Our first caller is basically asking this, when is the best time to eat on days when she is doing strength training. So first of all, when building strength, you want your food to work for you. You want Your fuel to essentially prepare your body for stress and then to help rebuild muscle. So there's several things you're counting on those calories to do. Protein is key. According to Dr. Stuart Phillips, your muscles

[Dr. Stuart Phillips]

are made up of what we call amino acids. They're the building block of protein. And when we train them, when we lift some weights, our muscle is more receptive to amino acids or protein. And so delivering it in the form of food is a way of reconditioning and making the muscle bigger and stronger for the next time around.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Phillips is the director of the Physical Activity center of Excellence and the McMaster center for Nutrition, Exercise and Health Research at McMaster University in Canada. I invited him to comment today because he is an expert on the impact of nutrition and exercise on human skeletal muscle. So the question is this the timing of the meal and the workout?

[Dr. Stuart Phillips]

Yeah, we used to think that it mattered quite a bit about when the timing was immediately before or immediately afterwards. And I think all the research that's been done since that time has shown us that the window of opportunity for getting protein before or after is actually open for a really long time. So I stress about that far less. And just say sometime in the three to four hours afterwards is probably a good window.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Alright, so don't stress as much about the timing, but do think about this. Roughly 20 to 30 grams of high quality protein in the meal or snack is probably going to work best for most people. Now for strength training specifically, eating afterward is generally helpful, especially as we age. You don't need a big meal here, but having some protein and also some carbohydrates in the few hours after lifting supports training quality. And also that muscle building response that we were talking about. To be clear, if you haven't eaten anything and then you do resistance training or weight training, that's not harmful, but it's probably not optimal for muscle maintenance or gain. Again, particularly in older folks. And I think one thing you should absolutely not forget, no matter what kind of workout you're doing, is to stay hydrated. It's so important and so many people don't pay enough attention to this. Philips also wanted to add a little bit of perspective to the entire discussion.

[Dr. Stuart Phillips]

We really try to decomplicate a lot of this stuff. My take is that when I look at social media in particular, it's made very, very confusing and I think that's a little like it's a bit of a marketing ploy to get people to buy into someone's program or someone's supplements or whatever. It is. So if you're exercising on a regular basis, I gotta put my hand on my heart and say, power to you, because you're getting so much good done. And so all of these nutritional things that admittedly, even I used to think mattered, I've sort of come to the conclusion they matter a whole lot less than we thought.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I hope that helps. When we come back, we have a question about something I think no one wants to face. Unwanted hair loss.

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[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Okay, I hear that it's time for another question. Kira, who do we have next?

[Kira]

Okay, so our next caller is actually dealing with something that can be really frustrating, honestly, often super emotional. I'm talking about hair loss and she's just looking for some guidance. Take a listen to her question.

[Gina (Caller 2)]

Hi, Sanjay. My name is Gina and I'm from Minnesota. I'm a 51 year old woman who's newly experiencing hair loss at what I believe is a higher than normal rate for my age. I've had my hormones checked and at the time of the check, everything was normal. And my doctor prescribed vitamin D. I'm also supplementing with hair loss vitamins and medicated shampoo. However, I feel like I'm throwing multiple solutions at a problem that I don't know the root cause of. No pun intended. My question is, where do I go to find the cause of my hair loss? The Internet is overwhelming. Thanks so much for your show. We listen to you all the time.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Gina, thank you so much. And I really appreciate you listening. Thank you for calling in. Look, hair loss is a sensitive issue and we get a lot of questions about this. So let me give you some context. First of all, according to the American Hair Loss association, by age 35, 2/3 of American men will have some degree of hair loss. And when it comes to women, they make up about 40% of people with hair loss. So this affects men and women both. As many as 2/3 of menopausal women Experience some thinning or even bald patches. And that has an impact beyond just physical looks. It impacts self image, emotional well being and can cause a lot of distress according to these surveys, in addition to anxiety and depression. So let me give you some quick facts. Healthy adults have about 80 to 120,000 strands of hair on their heads. We normally shed normally about 50 to 100 strands of hair every day. Hair is constantly going through these growth stages. There's four phases. The first and the longest is what's known as the anagen or growth phase. Next is the catagen or transitional phase, followed by the telogen or resting phase. And remember that word, telogen. We'll come back to that. And finally there is the exogen or shedding phase. But to answer your question, where do you go to find the cause of your hair loss? Well, your first stop should probably be your dermatologist's office. They can examine your scalp, they can tell you what kind of hair loss you are experiencing. There are different types of hair loss. Some common types include androgenetic alopecia, that's age related pattern baldness. This is the most common cause of hair loss. It's hereditary and it happens with aging. Usually occurs gradually and in predictable patterns. In men, a receding hairline, a bald spot. In women, more diffuse thinning on the top of the head, often including a widening part. There is something known as traction alopecia and that's caused by excessive hair styling or hairstyles that pull the hair tight, such as buns and ponytails, or braids and cornrows using hot oil. Hair treatments and permanents can also cause the hair to fall out, as can heat damage. There is telogen effluvium, remember that word, telogen. Again, that's diffuse and significant shedding. That happens when a trigger such as stress or medication or pregnancy even forces a large percentage of hair follicles into that telogen phase, that resting phase. And this happens at once. And then hair loss will tend to happen two to three months after the stressor event. And then there's frontal fibrosing alopecia. This is a bit more uncommon than the others. It's typically diagnosed in postmenopausal women starting slowly at the hairline, working its way back. And can also affect the eyebrows and other parts of the body. Autoimmune diseases, genetics, hormones, environmental factors. In people who are genetically susceptible, those are believed to play a causal role. Now, there are various common causes of hair loss and some of the ones I just mentioned may overlap a bit. As well. But again, a dermatologist can run tests and help you pinpoint the underlying reasons. Aging, genetics, some chronic conditions including Things like type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, psoriasis, eczema. Some medications. In particular, medications for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart arrhythmias and also the new class of weight loss drugs, GLP1 drugs. They have been linked to hair loss in some people, although it's not clear if it's the medication itself or the significant weight loss some patients experience. Keep an eye on certain dietary deficiencies such as protein, iron, zinc and vitamins B7, also known as biotin, B12 and D. Stress, as I mentioned, both mental and physical. Another cause of hair loss, events like grief or bereavement illness, Inflammation Surgery. One dermatologist told us when the body is stressed it has to shift priority from non essential things to more essential things. And hair, as important as it is for looks, is a non essential appendage. So this brings us to treatments and again talk to your dermatologist about this. They can help guide you to the best solution or solutions for you. Specifically, let me throw a couple medication names at you, some of which you may already know. Minoxidil. This comes in different forms. Liquid foam cream comes in two strengths, 2% and 5% and it's also now available as a pillow. Spironolactone. That's an antiandrogen medication available to women as a topical or a pill. It blocks dihydrotestosterone dht, which can shrink hair follicles. There are two medications out there that are not approved for use in women. But for the men who may be listening to this episode, they are finasteride and dutasteride. They both block dht. There's ketoconazole shampoo which can help reduce inflammation, has been shown to prevent hair loss. And for that condition that I mentioned earlier, telogen effluvium. It might be enough to correct the underlying cause like inflammation or a hormonal imbalance, remove the underlying stressor and oftentimes the hair regrowth will get back on track. Some dermatologists recommend peptide based serums to stimulate growth factors, improve follicle health and reduce inflammation. They don't require FDA approval. They often contain multiple ingredients and as Gina noted, the information from the Internet can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to peptides and things like that. According to dermatologists we spoke to, some ingredients are worth Rosemary extract, saw palmetto, antioxidants, caffeine, castor, oil. Now there are some other treatments you may have heard of that have had success in some people. Red light therapy that's essentially using laser light to increase blood flow and cellular activity and stimulate hair follicles. And also platelet rich plasma injections that involves processing a patient's own blood to concentrate the growth factors and platelets and then injecting that into the scalp. And finally, don't underestimate the role of lifestyle factors. This is going to be a big thing for most people. Adopt proper hair grooming techniques. Avoid tight hairstyles, minimize heat damage and stay away from processes like bleaching and coloring. Also, don't smoke. Studies have shown a link between baldness and smoking. Eat well balanced meals to get enough protein and micronutrients needed to support healthy hair. Drink lots of water. Dehydration can be a problem. Get sleep. Reduce stress. Look, I know it can be stressful just to think about hair loss, but as one dermatologist said, the sooner you address shedding or thinning, the easier it is to maintain your hair because it is easier to prevent loss than to regrow hair. Gina, I hope that helps. And that's all the time we have for today's episode. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions, your curiosity, your stories, your voices. That's what brings the show to life. So keep the great questions coming. If there's something health related you've been wondering about, send it to us and we might answer it next week. Record a voice memo. Email it to paging Dr. Gupta CNN.com that's paging Dr. Gupta.com or give us a call the old fashioned way. 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks so much for listening.

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