It will surprise you that high sugars are better left out of your diet that ingested at any time. But let's follow the argument below and derive the most logical conviction, step by step. Sugars are primarily sources of energy to the body. When a body builder consumes sugars, they are broken down to glucose, which is immediately usable by the body as a source of energy. Now the main question arises of the time of day when the body builder should take high sugars. Is it before or after training? The tendency is to take the high sugar energy drinks immediately after workouts and this is not quite good for optimal body performance.
Research shows that sugars aid in the bodybuilding venture if taken before the training exercises. When you consuming the foods that are high in sugar levels before going for the workout, there is adequate provision of extra energy in the body to sustain the workout. Instead of taking the sugars to replace depleted glucose levels, it would be better to provide the energy when it is needed if you are going to prevent muscle catabolism. An energy drink serves its purpose better when taken before or during training to provide energy and then a minimal amount of it after the training to replace depleted glucose. Such a theorem is however useful in complex carbs, which are better taken before getting into the gym.
Some simple sugars such as sucrose require no break down or conversion by your body's enzymes. They can be used as energy sources faster than most complex carbohydrates can, after ingestion. Complex carbs have a slow rate of absorption, slower than simple sugars by far. That means they can be absorbed and used very fast without delays in the metabolic processes. They therefore serve better in the post workout sessions when we have a carbs break. Here they come in handy in a speedy replacement of depleted energy levels at a time when complex carbs could take hours to be absorbed and hence catabolism to have already occurred. But the consumption of simple sugars should be cautioned at the very start.
The simple sugars when ingested, elicit a rapid rise of insulin levels. It is the insulin hormone that mainly regulates your blood-sugar levels and maintains it at optimal levels. The sudden and rapid influx of the sugars in the system usually causes your body to get hormonal instability. The insulin is released in a haphazard way, whereby the amount of insulin released is much more than the amount needed just metabolize the blood sugar. At the very end, the blood sugar levels get dangerously low, much more than it was before you ingested the sugar, instead of rising as expected. You start feeling tired without cause, as the body starts to eat into your glycogen reserves as a way of correcting the sugar imbalance.
At the end analysis therefore, it is better to complex carbs before attending a training session. Then avoid, as much as you can, eating high sugars before, during and after the workouts since they cause imbalances that can negatively affect your ability to train. Concentrated sugars should only be eaten as an emergency step after the bodies energy reserves have been seriously depleted and then only as a temporally measure before complex carbs are eaten.
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