Even the most demonized of sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, has been demonstrated not to impede fat loss or improvements in blood lipids when calories are controlled. One criticism that might be leveled at this data is that most of it is done in obese people and not athletes or bodybuilders. Aha, you got me!
Well, not really. Obese people often have compromised levels of insulin sensitivity and lower glucose tolerance, meaning they don't efficiently handle glucose compared to an individual with greater insulin sensitivity. If anyone would be unable to lose weight on a diet higher in sugar, it would be these individuals.
Athletes and active people generally have significantly improved levels of insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance compared to the average population. Athletes and very active people are better able to tolerate sugar's impact on insulin and glucose.
Fortunately for those of us with a sweet tooth, it seems sugar can be tolerated by most people when overall calories are controlled. Weight loss is one thing, but what about other health parameters? Several studies have investigated the effects of sugar-containing diets versus those low in sugar and carbohydrate on factors other than weight. When sugar was incorporated in a moderate amount, and calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fiber were kept equal, there was no difference in changes in blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose, cholesterol, insulin, thyroid hormone, or markers of inflammation.
Low-sugar diets 11 grams per day were associated with slightly more benefits to cholesterol and blood lipids compared to very-high-sugar diets grams per day.
Some people will also counter that since all carbohydrates, excluding fiber, turn into sugar in the body, low-carbohydrate diets will produce superior fat loss and health compared to higher-carbohydrate diets.
However, a study performed at the University of Arizona compared an isocaloric low-carbohydrate diet to a moderate-carbohydrate diet equal in protein. Over six weeks, both diets produced the same amount of fat loss. By now, I'm sure many of you want to burn me at the stake for nutritional heresy.
However, the data suggests that sugar isn't the demon many of us have been led to believe. It can be incorporated into a healthy diet, and you can still lose fat and progress towards your goals.
But it does come with several drawbacks. In small doses, sugar doesn't have to be detrimental to weight loss. Someone purchased Absolute Mass 6 minutes ago from Ringwood.
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Before we can understand how sugar impacts your body and how you can use it strategically, it's vital that we're clear on precisely what we're talking about. Generally, when people use that word, what they're really referring to is sucrose — common table sugar, usually extracted from sugar cane or beets. While all plants contain small amounts of sucrose, as a byproduct of photosynthesis, it's generally in concentrations that are too small to be isolated economically.
But then there are other types of sugar , each of which come from different sources and have slightly different uses in your body. Here's a very brief rundown of the various types of sugar, including sucrose, and common sources:. These sugars fall under the broader category of carbohydrates and are, to varying degrees and at different speeds, converted into glucose for fuel once they enter your body.
Precisely how each of these sugars act within your body is a much bigger topic than we have time for here, though. With higher-volume hypertrophy and bodybuilding workouts, though, it can help to have muscles that have more glycogen in them. There are a few reasons for that:. So glycogen is sugar, and glycogen is great. However, our bodies can get glycogen out of most carbohydrates.
In fact, we could easily get all the glycogen we need simply by consuming starches, such as rice, potatoes, and pasta. Furthermore, not all sugar can even be turned into glycogen. So, keeping in mind that consuming added sugar in excess is a bad idea, there are also some potential benefits to keep in mind. The first benefit is that consuming sugar is a good way to keep your muscles full of glycogen.
This is why some bodybuilders like to sip on sugary drinks while working out. If you have a pre-workout drink that has carbs in it, better for those carbs to be in the form of easily digested simple sugars such as glucose or simple carbs such as maltodextrin.
The problem is that oats are rich in fibre, which is healthy, yes, but also makes them harder to digest. The same idea is true with energy drinks, pre-workout drinks, and even fruit juice.
You get the carbs without demanding much of your stomach. If lifting suppresses your appetite and jams up your digestive system which seems to be quite common for us , you might still be able to have a protein shake with some simple carbs in it either during or after your workout.
This one is pretty easy to answer. Calories can make you gain weight, and sugar does contain calories. So yes, increasing your sugar intake could certainly drive you into a calorie surplus, which could result in weight gain. Depending on your lifestyle, a certain proportion of that weight gain will likely be fat.
Is sugar more fattening than other sources of calories? On the other hand, many other experts, such as Dr James Krieger and Dr Spencer Nadolsky, are much less concerned about the harms of added sugars in the context of people who are lean, active, and healthy. After all, most research shows no harm from consuming even fairly large amounts of sugar in people who are active and have a good body composition.
Not all foods have the same impact on us while bulking up. It just so happens that sugar and carbs in general tend to go along fairly well with lifting weights.
There are certainly pros and cons to the different types of sugar that you consume, just not necessarily for the reasons you might assume. With something like a cherry pie, there are probably cherries and eggs in there. Your body can still break them down and get calories out of them. And as ectomorphs struggling to eat enough to build muscle, calories are exactly what we need more of. There are also many sources of sugar that are rich in vitamins and minerals, such as fruits, dairy, and honey.
For example, the fibre found in fruit can help with digestive health, which can be very helpful while bulking up. Fruits and vegetables contain indigestible fiber, which absorbs water and expands as it passes through the digestive system. This can calm symptoms of an irritable bowel and, by triggering regular bowel movements, can relieve or prevent constipation study.
The bulking and softening action of insoluble fiber also decreases pressure inside the intestinal tract and may help prevent diverticulosis study. This can make it easy to blend fruits into smoothies. Dried fruit is also quite nutritious while being extremely calorically dense, which is great for us skinny guys who are having a hard time eating enough calories to gain weight. However, when someone is skinny, the situation is reversed, and foods that help us gain weight can actually be quite helpful.
Still, some experts believe that even the sugar found in fruits can be a problem. Keep in mind that this study had the participants adding in calories, bringing the participants into a slight calorie surplus and causing them to gain body fat. Anyway, for us ectomorphs sometimes these things are backwards. Up above we mentioned that large quantities of fructose can cause health problems and fat gain, but that it takes fairly obscene amounts of fructose for these problems to arise.
Then, when it comes to the sugar found in fruit and dairy, how much you eat should depend on your activity levels and goals. If you were trying to lose weight, it might help to get more of your calories from foods that are higher in fibre and lower in calories, such as broccoli, lettuce, spinach, celery, carrots, green beans, and apples. Fibre is quite filling, so this might help you eat fewer calories, causing weight loss. More on bulking macronutrients here. When we think of artificial sweeteners we normally think of diet soda, but keep in mind that protein powders are full of that stuff, too.
In fact, if you start regularly consuming protein powder while bulking up, your intake of artificial sweeteners might actually rise quite high. According to the Mayo Clinic , there are even some benefits, such as helping people to lose weight. Their stance is the following:.
Numerous studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are generally safe in limited quantities, even for pregnant women.
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