SUGAR – pre workout meal/breakfast – Part II
Science: Any processed high fructose food like fruits or even boiled/grilled potatoes will obviously spike up the glucose in our body. Now our body have two options:
a) To take up that glucose into my muscles and burn it and later replenish my glycogen stores – Good use of sugar. In this case I do not need insulin spike because my muscles can utilize glucose without insulin.
or
b) if I do not move at all or move just a little, my pancreas will secrete ‘insulin’ to handle high spike in my glucose. Then the insulin will take glucose from my blood and store in my adipocytes (fat stores) as fat.
Watermelon – 90% water, Glucose & fructose content is almost similar, Overall fructose is much less than most fruits, Vitamins & minerals, an antioxidant
When we are served breakfast in hotels; I see watermelon/juice is constant regardless of what we have in breakfast. Having seen so many teams/players, coaches across age groups, and other staff; I can say that none appreciate the value of this wonderful fruit. It is excess to most and doesn’t solve any purpose.
Why and how?
Because most of them are consuming it with their regular breakfast. When we do that…all we end up doing is perhaps adding calories to our breakfast. We do not treat it as food. We consider as a drink and it can be fatal (calorie wise) in a meal. Remember, extra stored as fat, and most items in a fruit are extra if you are having it with a meal. Unless the fruit is high on fiber; it just shoots up blood glucose which is not bad if its the cause of high blood glucose. If the blood glucose is already high (from a meal) and you consume fruits on top then insulin will put it straight into fat stores as fat.
Whereas, on the contrary, if consumed as a standalone meal (just like sugarcane juice), not only this could have several health benefits; but it also becomes a wholesome breakast/pre-workout/snack.
Note – our metabolic machinery do not understand what you are eating. It will treat every food as glucose, protein, fat, or say fructose (mainly in liver). Vitamins and minerals are squeezed and consumed if body needs it. A few vitamins & minerals can be stored for long and some are for instant use and therefore, we are never in constant need of these as we get most from our regular food.
Therefore, when we look at a meal, we should always look at it in totality. Fruits are excellent food source but only when consumed in isolation. When we mix it with our meal then, more or less, a fruit is just added calories with no benefits.
Learning: Have a breakfast of your favorite fruit but do not have have anything else with it if you wish to seek maximum benefits from it while relishing on its taste. Keep changing your fruit – v important again as different fruits are strong at diff vitamins & minerals and fiber to feed our gut flora. Rest are just calories and it doesn’t matter how you taking those.
Fruit in breakfast or as a snack?
To me it is always best as breakfast because of our fasted state. We are in need of energy first thing in the morning and if we can utilize (put it to use) every iota of a fruit’s energy thereby absorbing maximum nutrients.
Whereas, as a snack it may not be so! We often forget that we are never empty stomach during the day. We don’t take into account tea/coffee/small bites that are regular in our routine and therefore, most of us are never empty stomach. However, snack post 3/4 hours of lunch, would be the second best time to have a fruit in my opinion
My pre-work & breakfast for today:
Umesh Chhikara 