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May 30th, 2007, 11:27 PM
Hey there.. lately I've been trying to educate myself a little better on the composition of a good post-workout meal. I'd usually just drink a protein-only shake, or eat a chicken sandwich on wheat or something, but I've been hearing more and more about the importance of taking in high-glycemic carbohydrates after a workout. My basic understanding is that the spike in blood sugar and the resulting insulin burst lets the muscles absorb the protein and rebuild faster and better than they would from a typical balanced meal. My question is about the content of sugars in sports drink and other foods, but first a little info just so I can verify whether I got my facts right. :)
Now, my understanding of chemistry is only high school level at best, but here's what I've learned:
Glucose (aka Dextrose): One of the two types of monosaccharides used in the food industry, this is basically the pure blood sugar that muscles use for energy. This is what every other carbohydrate is turned into to be used by the body (...right? :doh:).
Fructose: The other monosaccharide, this must first be metabolized by the liver to change it into glucose.
Sucrose: Common table sugar, it is a disaccharide, consisting of one glucose molecule joined to a fructose molecule by an oxygen bond (so basically 50% glucose/50% fructose).
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): A mixture of glucose and fructose, usually in a 58% glucose/42% fructose ratio in sports drinks.
Maltodextrin: A chain of dextrose molecules that can vary in length (usually 5-20 molecules in consumer food, I think?).From reading other threads and various articles online, it seems most serious bodybuilders recommend taking a mixture of pure dextrose and maltodextrin with their (whey) protein shake after a workout (though some seem to suggest taking it before?). Because the maltodextrin needs to be broken down into dextrose first, it provides slightly longer-lasting energy to the muscles while the pure dextrose is used immediately for fuel.
While this definitely sounds like an optimum meal plan (after all, you know exactly what you're getting), let's assume for the sake of argument that someone doesn't want to mix various sugars and instead wants to drink a sports drink like Gatorade. Almost all the articles say to avoid fructose, as it raises blood sugar slower and to a lesser degree than dextrose since it needs to be processed by the liver.
Yet surprisingly, it seems that all the drinks tend to contain either HFCS or sucrose as their primary ingredient (after water). Why would this be, if glucose is the obvious choice for athletic performance? Just how bad is fructose in comparison to glucose for raising blood sugar? For that matter, how does fructose compare to maltodextrin, since both are processed slower than glucose?
Reading the label for Gatorade Fruit Punch, we see: Water, sucrose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, citric acid, natural flavors :mad:, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, ester gum, red 40, caramel color, sunflower oil. Ignoring for a moment the fact a single bottle contains all that "other stuff" that may or may not be helpful, with sucrose syrup as the primary ingredient we can probably assume that the sugars in Gatorade are only 50% glucose, maybe 55-60% glucose tops. Is the fructose providing some actual benefit for muscle regrowth/refueling, or is it just cheaper to manufacture?
There's a chain of Walmart-like grocery stores in the midwest called Meijer's. Like most stores, they have their own lower-priced in-house brand, but interesting their products seem to be of a quality consistently equal to or higher than the name brand equivalents (their organic peanut butter is pretty awesome!). Their "MVP" sports drink reads: Water, glucose syrup, sucrose, citric acid, salt, sodium citrate, potassium phosphate, natural flavors, red 40, ester gum, caramel color. With glucose syrup as the chief ingredient, it would seem that this is a better choice than Gatorade.. or is the different so negligible as to be unimportant? And are either really that much worse than a dextrose/maltodextrin mix?
I hope I'm not thinking too hard about this.. but any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
Now, my understanding of chemistry is only high school level at best, but here's what I've learned:
Glucose (aka Dextrose): One of the two types of monosaccharides used in the food industry, this is basically the pure blood sugar that muscles use for energy. This is what every other carbohydrate is turned into to be used by the body (...right? :doh:).
Fructose: The other monosaccharide, this must first be metabolized by the liver to change it into glucose.
Sucrose: Common table sugar, it is a disaccharide, consisting of one glucose molecule joined to a fructose molecule by an oxygen bond (so basically 50% glucose/50% fructose).
High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): A mixture of glucose and fructose, usually in a 58% glucose/42% fructose ratio in sports drinks.
Maltodextrin: A chain of dextrose molecules that can vary in length (usually 5-20 molecules in consumer food, I think?).From reading other threads and various articles online, it seems most serious bodybuilders recommend taking a mixture of pure dextrose and maltodextrin with their (whey) protein shake after a workout (though some seem to suggest taking it before?). Because the maltodextrin needs to be broken down into dextrose first, it provides slightly longer-lasting energy to the muscles while the pure dextrose is used immediately for fuel.
While this definitely sounds like an optimum meal plan (after all, you know exactly what you're getting), let's assume for the sake of argument that someone doesn't want to mix various sugars and instead wants to drink a sports drink like Gatorade. Almost all the articles say to avoid fructose, as it raises blood sugar slower and to a lesser degree than dextrose since it needs to be processed by the liver.
Yet surprisingly, it seems that all the drinks tend to contain either HFCS or sucrose as their primary ingredient (after water). Why would this be, if glucose is the obvious choice for athletic performance? Just how bad is fructose in comparison to glucose for raising blood sugar? For that matter, how does fructose compare to maltodextrin, since both are processed slower than glucose?
Reading the label for Gatorade Fruit Punch, we see: Water, sucrose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, citric acid, natural flavors :mad:, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, ester gum, red 40, caramel color, sunflower oil. Ignoring for a moment the fact a single bottle contains all that "other stuff" that may or may not be helpful, with sucrose syrup as the primary ingredient we can probably assume that the sugars in Gatorade are only 50% glucose, maybe 55-60% glucose tops. Is the fructose providing some actual benefit for muscle regrowth/refueling, or is it just cheaper to manufacture?
There's a chain of Walmart-like grocery stores in the midwest called Meijer's. Like most stores, they have their own lower-priced in-house brand, but interesting their products seem to be of a quality consistently equal to or higher than the name brand equivalents (their organic peanut butter is pretty awesome!). Their "MVP" sports drink reads: Water, glucose syrup, sucrose, citric acid, salt, sodium citrate, potassium phosphate, natural flavors, red 40, ester gum, caramel color. With glucose syrup as the chief ingredient, it would seem that this is a better choice than Gatorade.. or is the different so negligible as to be unimportant? And are either really that much worse than a dextrose/maltodextrin mix?
I hope I'm not thinking too hard about this.. but any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!