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Subject:
Carb Loading
Submitted By:
Nicholas Rudawski,
University of Florida
I got into natural bodybuilding a
couple years ago and when I came across your book it was a great find
for me. Thanks for writing it. My question pertains to carb loading in
two parts. First, you state that it is better to eat carbs which are
broken down into glucose instead of fructose due to preferential storage
of glucose in muscle cells. Therefore, if I ingested pure glucose (like a
dextrose-based fruit drink) for the carb load, would this work well for
that? Obviously, such a drink would be lacking in nutritive value, but
from the macronutrient standpoint, does it make any sense?
Yes, that is basically accurate. The only exception I can see is during
extremely taxing training or competition where glycogen depletion is an
issue in relation to performance. Under these circumstances, some
proportion of fructose may be optimal to stabilize blood sugar levels
and more efficiently restore liver glycogen.
Next, I like eating pasta, breads,
and sweet potatoes for carb sources, but they usually contain a
non-negligible amount of protein (a serving of pasta usually has 8 grams
or so). Thus, if I eat a lot of pasta, I usually end up eating in
excess of the protein allowance for the carb load. Is this ok or could
you recommend some better foods to negative this macronutrient concern?
I'm trying to max out my carbs so I don't want to just stop at a couple
of servings of pasta. This is why I ask about drinking dextrose-based
products, since they typically contain almost no fat or protein.
Pasta, at a 6/1 carb/protein ratio, is higher in protein than most
carbohydrate foods. In any event, don’t be concerned about the protein
content of carbohydrate foods. Protein that is part and parcel of a
carbohydrate food, as opposed to steak and potato or a turkey sandwich
for example, does not pose the problems discussed in NHE and should not
be counted toward the carb-load protein limit. |
