Thread by @JornTrommelen

Fructose Coingestion Does Not Accelerate Postexercise Muscle Glycogen Repletion

Our 2016 paper:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26606271/

A thread with figures.

#fructose #glucose #glycogen

The gut absorption of the carbohydrate glucose is the limiting factor in using glucose drinks for energy during exercise (carbohydrate oxidation). Fructose is a carbohydrate that is absorbed differently in the gut than glucose. Sucrose consists out of glucose and fructose.

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Therefore, a combined ingestion of glucose and fructose allows a higher total carbohydrate absorption rate, oxidation rate, and exercise performance. But does this combination also improve the recovery of the muscle carbohydrate stores (i.e. muscle glycogen) after exercise?

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This study investigated whether the combination of fructose and glucose improves muscle glycogen recovery after exhaustive exercise.

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Subjects were trained cyclists that performed high-intensity cycling exercise to deplete their muscle glycogen stores. Afterwards, subjects received either 1.5 g/kg/h of glucose or 1.2 g/kg/h glucose + 0.3 g/kg/h fructose during the 5 hours of recovery.

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Plasma glucose responses were similar between the three treatments.

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The glucose only, the glucose+fructose mix, and the glucose+sucrose mix increased muscle glycogen stores. However, there was no difference between the drinks.

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However, the glucose/fructose mix resulted in less gastrointestinal complaints. In addition, the glucose/fructose mix is likely better for liver glycogen, but it was not measured in this study.

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In conclusion, the combination of fructose and glucose does not enhance muscle glycogen recovery after exercise when compared to glucose only.

Paper:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26606271/

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