Post Workout Meal

Bodybuilding - Why Those in Bodybuilding Should Avoid Fructose in Your Post Workout Meal

If you've been in the bodybuilding world for at least a couple of months, you should already know that your post-workout meal is really the time to optimize the muscle building process as your body is much more receptive at this point to taking up the nutrients you feed it, directing them to the muscle cells. What many of those in bodybuilding do not know though is that fruit is actually not an ideal food to be consuming during this time.
Here's why.

The Composition Of Fruit

We all know that fruit is healthy for us - this is something that's been said time and time again from both our parents while growing up and by all the 'Guides For Healthy Eating' that are available. Apart from those who are on a seriously strict low carb diet, most people will try and include at least one piece of fruit into their day to optimize their nutritional health.
This is great because fruit is definitely a healthy food; it's got a good dose of fiber, it's relatively low in calories, most are loaded with vitamin C, and many contain other nutrients as well. What some people do not realize though, is that half of the carbohydrates you'll find in fruit are from fructose.

The Pathway Of Fructose

When you consume fructose from the foods you eat, first it gets digested and then immediately gets directed to the liver where it is stored as liver glycogen. This is much different than when it goes into the muscle cells and gets stored as muscle glycogen because the body is not going to be using this liver glycogen for fuel - at least not the nearly the same degree as it does muscle glycogen.
So, by consuming large amounts of fructose in the diet you are actually shorting yourself on the energy-deriving potential from your diet, as well as decreasing the amount of fuel that the muscles have to build new tissue with and help you see a good weight gain.

Applying This To The Post Workout Period In Bodybuilding

So, looking at this from a bodybuilding perspective, when you consume your post-workout meal, what is your main objective?
It's to shuttle as many carbohydrates into the muscle cells as they can possibly handle so they can then use this energy to build new tissues and make you BIGGER.
If you're consuming some of your carbohydrates as fructose, is this going to happen? Likely not. Sure, you will still definitely get some muscle glycogen resynthesis occurring, but you're not maximizing it.

Don't you want to build as much muscle as possible?

I thought so.
So, if you're eating fruit as part of your post-workout meal, rethink this. Definitely do not cut the fruit out - as it's very healthy and should be eating, but just do yourself a favor and move it to another part of your day instead.
Your muscles will thank you.
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