Read a great article today. Recent studies suggest taht exercising on an empty stomach (assuming you're healthy of course) has a lot of benefits. Your body actually burns more fat during the workout. Muscles get their energy from carbs so in the past some athletes (myself included) were encouraged to down some carbs before a game/event. However the new research shows that if you don't eat before the event or workout, your body is forced to burn fat instead because the carbs aren't there to burn. Furthermore, it could help with blood sugar.
"If you exercise after fasting your adrenalin is high and your insulin is low," said Peter Hespel, professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leuven in Belgium. "That ratio is favorable for your muscles to oxidize (break down) more fatty acids." Hespel recommends people do this kind of training beofre breakfsat, since eating carbs interrupts the process of metabolizing fat for abotu 6 hours afterward. He also thinks this could help people with problems like diabetes because exercising without eating produces muscles that are better at absorbing glucose which is important for preventing diabetes. He theorized that it would also help diabetics control their insulin levels.
I have to mention though that while it's a major breakthrough in understanding gluclose and insulin control through exercise, that the study also said the athletes who didn't eat before their event or workout burned more fat, but they also performed worse. So..... if you're looking to help your diabetes or you're not competing, I think it's very noteworthy. The article was put out by the AP (Associated Press) with Maria Cheng as the author.
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