Is sugar good for our muscle recovery?
Everyone loves sugar, there is no doubt about that. Some people love sugar too much which can lead to a variety of health disorders that can impair their well-being. But is sugar all bad? It rots our teeth, it makes us gain fat and research has revealed it can potentially make us ‘more’ tired.
However, not all sugar is bad for you, in fact, sugars are an essential component of a healthy diet. According to Harvard Health, the real culprit may be a specific type of sugar known as ‘fructose’. Fructose is a naturally occurring sugar in mainly fruit and vegetables. Fructose appeals to us because in ancient times it was a rare source of concentrated energy and most of our food did not have a particularly high sugar content. So it tastes very good. The only problem is that now we have access to such great quantities of concentrated fructose that we are gorging ourselves and overloading our bodies.
Fructose
If you were to eat one apple you would consume approximately 7 grams of fructose. This is the equivalent to a 100 grams of apple juice which would contain roughly the same amount of fructose. The big difference is, that an apple contains dietary fibre which will make you feel full, but a glass of apple juice contains very little dietary fiber but all of the sugar, therefore we can drink a lot more of it and not feel full.
In addition, according to a study by the NCBI fructose does very little to aid in the replacement of your muscle sugars but will stock up reserves in your liver, this means it is more likely to be converted to fat than the energy that you can readily use. In addition, it causes insulin resistance which can affect your bodies ability to regulate your energy levels and lead to diabetes. Based on this information, we would advise that fructose is bad for muscle recovery and your muscles in general.
Glucose
Not all sugar is bad though, comparatively glucose is much better for you and your muscles. You will find large amounts of glucose present in foods like bread and potatoes, these are starchy foods that are not as sweet but can help you keep your energy levels high. That being said, most nutritionists seem to advocate that the key to good health is a balanced diet. Although, in Western society it is important to realize that most of our diets are currently unbalanced in favour of foods with lots of processed fructose sugar.
In summary it is our opinion that your muscle recovery and energy levels will feel better if you lower the amount of processed sugar in your diet and seek out food that will make you feel full and provide quality nutrition than foods that will give you a sugar buzz and leave you feeling hungry and tired.