A Post-workout Drink Without Sucrose

Most workout drinks contain one common ingredient --- sucrose, also known as sugar. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans consumed on average of 52 tsp. of sugar a day in the year 2000. With the prevalence of diabetes rising, you might not want to fill your post-workout drink with sucrose. Knowing what to replace the simple sugars with can have a tremendous effect on your performance, your physique and your recovery.

Sucrose

Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of two simple sugar molecules: glucose and fructose. During digestion, sucrose is broken into these simple sugar molecules and absorbed in the intestine for use as energy. Sucrose enters the blood stream rapidly, which stimulates production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin simply stores the sugar and can do so at a rapid rate. If you have trained rigorously, then your muscles will be sensitive to insulin and the sucrose will be preferentially stored within muscle tissue as glycogen. If you haven't trained however, insulin will store the sucrose preferentially as fat.

When Sucrose Is and Isn't Useful

If you participate in a sport in which endurance is important, sucrose can be a useful addition to your post-workout drink. Professional athletes use sucrose to rapidly replenish muscle glycogen after heavy training or an event. According to researcher Asker Jeukendrup, the replenishment of muscle glycogen after exercise is directly related to recovery of endurance capacity. In other sports, such as body building, sucrose is consumed in order to stimulate insulin after a workout. Spiking insulin at this time is known to stimulate protein synthesis. Athletes use this in the hope of gaining new muscle. When your goal is to lose as much body fat as possible, sucrose should not be on the menu, however. High insulin levels result in a rapid reduction of fat burning, otherwise called lipolysis. Your body's ability to use fat for energy is drastically reduced after consumption of sugars.

Just Protein

After your workout, the most important macronutrient to consume is protein. Protein provides the building blocks of muscle: amino acids. Without these amino acids, your muscles cannot repair or grow. Many athletes consume only protein after a workout in an attempt to help muscle repair and stimulate fat loss. In the absence of insulin, fat metabolism carries on for several hours post workout. A study published in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism demonstrated that consuming sugar post-workout might not be needed for muscle building purposes, provided ample protein is consumed. Most protein powders come flavored nowadays so consuming protein should be as easy as picking your favorite flavor.

Protein and Fat

Fat can provide a good source of fuel post-workout. Many people avoid fat after a workout because they spike insulin with sugar. This is sensible because consumption of fats would result in storage of body fat at that time. Sugar can be replaced with fat after a workout, providing fuel for recovery while maintaining fat burning. Exercise regulates activity of fatty-acid-binding protein, called FABP for short, which is a transport mediator for the uptake of fat into muscle. This allows you to swap sugar for fats in order to facilitate muscle building, recovery and fat burning. According to nutrition researcher Mauro De Pasquale, consuming a small amount of fat post-workout as opposed to sugar can also maintain levels of growth hormones, which would otherwise be blunted by insulin.