Everybody talks about the benefits of fruits in bodybuilding. Find out how to make powerful muscle-building anabolism with ordinary fruits? The fact that fruits are very useful for the body and they contain a large amount of nutrients has been known to every person since childhood. The same is often said for bodybuilding. Let's see how true these statements are. Let's take an apple and a potato for comparison. There is a lot of information on the content of vitamins and minerals in these products on the Internet and it will not be difficult for you to find it.
If you take a closer look at it, you cannot say that there are a lot of vitamins and minerals in an apple. If we compare this fruit with refined products, say, flour, then, of course, the situation will be different.
Let's look now at potatoes and apples in terms of energy. A medium apple contains:
- 5.5 grams of fructose;
- 1.5 grams of sucrose;
- 2 grams of glucose;
- 0.8 grams of starch.
Most of all in potatoes:
- starch 15 grams;
- 0.6 grams glucose;
- 0.6 grams sucrose;
- 0.1 fructose.
Types of sugar and its effect on the body
In total, it is customary to distinguish three types of sugar:
- Monosaccharides - have a simple structure and consist of one molecule;
- Disaccharides - the structure is somewhat more complex in comparison with monosaccharides, which includes two molecules;
- Polysaccharides - have the most complex structure, containing a large number of molecules.
As you know, glucose is the main source of energy for the body. From a chemical point of view, it is a monosaccharide. The substance is used by all cells of the body and can be stored in the form of glycogen. Through oxidative reactions, glucose can be converted to pyruvate during cardio and to lactate during anaerobic training.
Starch is also a type of sugar, namely a polysaccharide. Once in the body, the starch molecule is broken down into glucose and, for this reason, has a similar effect on the body. Also note that starch is released three times slower and enters the bloodstream compared to glucose. The most controversial of all types of sugar is fructose. Scientists are still studying its effects on the body. By its chemical structure, it is a monosaccharide. Fructose is often used by people with diabetes. This is due to the fact that the substance is not able to increase the concentration of sugar in the blood. But it's worth finding out how good fructose is for healthy people. If you have diabetes, you need to monitor your sugar level. With this disease, it is forbidden to eat various sweets, as well as foods with a high glycemic index. However, sometimes you want to eat something sweet, and here fructose helps diabetics. Since the substance is not capable of increasing the concentration of sugar, it may seem that this is an ideal product. However, it was found that the metabolism of glucose and fructose has significant differences.
Fructose can only enter the bloodstream from the digestive system through passive diffusion. In addition, it is almost completely absorbed by the liver, in contrast to glucose, which is a universal source of energy. Only liver cells are capable of using fructose, where it is transformed into fatty acids. This in turn can lead to obesity.
Fructose cannot interact with fructokinase-1. This substance is an enzyme whose main task is to regulate the conversion of glucose into fatty acids. This is why fructose can become fat very quickly. Scientists have proven that fructose is unable to activate the synthesis of insulin and leptin. It is these hormones that regulate the energy balance in the body. At low dosages, fructose can actually be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes. However, for a healthy person who wants to lose weight, it is undesirable. Insulin regulates the formation of fat and if it is absent in the blood after a meal, then there is a high probability of obesity.
Leptin also regulates the process of fat production, and the rate of its production depends on the level of insulin. Both of these substances play a huge role in weight loss. Also, a few words should be said about glycogen. This substance is used for quick energy production, and most of it accumulates in the liver and a small part in the muscle tissues.
The stock of the substance in the biscuit is consumed in the absence of food. About 12-18 hours after the last meal, the glycogen stores in the liver are completely depleted. Muscle glycogen can only be used up under the influence of physical activity.
Fruit after exercise
When we figured out the types of sugar and its effect on the body, we can establish what happens when eating fruits (apples in our case) after class. We have already talked about the content of all types of sugar in an apple, and of 10 grams of carbohydrates to restore glycogen stores, only half will be used up. The remaining carbohydrates can be converted to liver glycogen or become fatty acids. Moreover, the apple contains most of all fructose, which cannot be converted into muscle glycogen in any way.
Since all athletes adhere to appropriate nutritional programs, they are definitely not at risk of obesity from fruits. But starchy foods, such as potatoes or buckwheat, will be broken down into glucose in the digestive tract, which will subsequently replenish the glycogen supply. These foods do not contain fructose and are unlikely to form fatty acids from starch.
Thus, if you are faced with the question - what to eat after the training: potatoes or an apple, then you will get more benefits from the first product. Athletes should be careful when consuming foods high in fructose. This substance simply cannot replenish your glycogen stores, but increasing fat mass is easy.
For more information on fruits and fructose, see this video:
