Honey is a highly nutritious natural product with an incredible number of beneficial properties. Refers to the type of “fast” carbohydrates, which are an essential component of sports nutrition. In combination with protein products, it promotes rapid recovery of strength and helps maintain optimal glucose levels during strength exercises. If you are thinking about this, pay attention to beekeeping products.
Why do bodybuilders need honey?
For bodybuilders, the bulk of honey's valuable nutrients come from quickly digestible carbohydrates. It is considered necessary to consume honey during intense training due to the protein components it contains, enzyme components, minerals, macroelements, and a complex of vitamins that are essential for the human body.
The high concentration of carbohydrates and valuable substances determines the unique nutritional value of honey, amounting to 1379 J per 100 g of pure product. For comparison, 90 g of butter, 225 g of fish oil, 120 g of nuts, 175 g of meat have the same nutritional value.
Just 100 grams of honey eaten per day provides the body with the daily norm of copper, zinc, iron, potassium, manganese, and cobalt. Supplies the body with the required amount of pantothenic and ascorbic acid, biotin, vitamins A and B.
The effect of honey on the body
In sports nutrition for people seeking to build muscle mass through bodybuilding, honey is valued due to the following properties:
- When used regularly, it does not cause glycemia and prevents the release of glucose and insulin into the blood under increased stress.
- Stabilizes blood sugar levels.
- Easily digestible protein compounds of amino acids contribute to the construction and restoration of muscle tissue.
- Normalizes sleep.
- Lowers cholesterol levels.
- Positively affects metabolic processes.
- Strengthens general immunity.
Honey is a source of concentrated energy and promotes rapid restoration of glycogen after strength training. Due to the presence of flavonoids and antioxidants, it removes toxins and free radicals from the body.
How to use honey to build muscle mass?
As part of energy drinks, honey is recommended for consumption before, during and after training. Before starting classes (60-30 minutes), honey ensures a stable, gradual flow of glucose into the blood. Thanks to this, during training exercises, glycogen reserves are consumed to a lesser extent, thereby reducing the body’s fatigue.
Consuming honey directly during bodybuilding exercises helps increase muscle power output. Consuming drinks with honey improves your overall performance.
It is recommended to eat honey in small quantities after completing a training complex to mitigate the effects of the hormones catecholamine, glucogan, and cortisol, the increased production of which is a natural reaction of the body to increased physical activity. In this case, honey is used to... The restorative effect of honey becomes more effective in combination with high-protein foods (low-fat varieties, meat, cottage cheese).
Contraindications to the use of honey are individual intolerance to the components of the product.
Sugar ruins your figure! The first thing people who dream of sculpted muscles give up are simple carbohydrates, or, to put it simply, sweets. But life without sweets is torment, so dried fruits, marmalade, dark chocolate and, of course, honey come to replace unhealthy foods. My article will discuss the unique benefits of honey for our health, and how to use honey in bodybuilding. The most interesting things about training and sports nutrition on my telegram channel
Introduction
This article is a continuation of the series of stories on the topic: “What can replace sports nutrition.” I have already talked about the unique properties of , which I drink during training, and which easily replaces the most expensive pre-workout complex. And today I will explain why, after training in the gym, instead of a regular gainer, I use a miracle of nature called natural honey. But let's talk about everything in order...
The desire to make your body ideal leads to the fact that the standard food set is subject to some restrictions. And the higher the goals we set for ourselves, the stricter these restrictions become. Although these are not just some temporary boundaries, but the most real, permanent principles of healthy eating, this is especially true for people in adulthood. The older we get, the more attentive we should be to compiling.
Girls experience the most pain when giving up sweets, since almost all their favorite sweets, cupcakes, and pastries are strictly prohibited. It is difficult for women to endure such deprivations, although harsh men, in my opinion, love sweets no less than the fair sex.
Why do you need sweets after a workout to gain weight?
Sugar is, of course, white poison, but in gaining muscle mass there is a certain period when it is not only possible, but also necessary to treat yourself to sweets. I'm talking about the "anabolic window". And although there is a scientific version that this is a marketing ploy by sports nutrition sellers, nevertheless, eating sweets after a workout to gain weight is very useful. And here there are many options for slamming the “anabolic window”:
- . The most popular sports nutrition and the least effective for these purposes. During training in the gym, our body consumes fluid (excreted along with sweat) and energy. To start the process of muscle growth, it is necessary to replenish the body's reserves of both. To do this, you need plain water and a source of fast carbohydrates. But whey protein should be taken an hour and a half after a weight training session, after the spent energy reserves have been restored.
- . It is also called a protein-carbohydrate mixture. You can use a gainer between main meals, but its main purpose is to replenish the energy spent during training. From the point of view of gaining muscle mass, a gainer for muscle growth is better than whey protein and is cheaper.
- Vitargo. Quite an old sports supplement, developed by Swedish scientists back in 1993. In terms of its effectiveness in restoring energy reserves, Vitargo is far ahead of a regular gainer, not to mention whey protein. According to scientific experiments, Vitargo is absorbed 80% faster and restores glycogen levels 70% better than any gainer. It is produced from certain varieties of barley processed by fractional purification.
These are, so to speak, the three most popular modern ways to slam the “anabolic window” with the help of sports nutrition. But how did the bodybuilders of the “pre-protein” era solve this problem?
- Sugar. The most popular way to restore the energy spent during training in the gym was sugar dissolved in water. The same gainer in essence, but without all the unnecessary ingredients that are passed off to us as innovative sports nutrition.
- White bread. Those bodybuilders who had access to scientific information used buns as a gainer, since white bread can quickly restore glycogen reserves. Arthur Jones used butter baked goods as a gainer during a time that went down in the history of bodybuilding as the fastest weight gain. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Casey Whiteor was able to gain 28 kilos of muscle mass in a record 28 days.
However, many old school bodybuilders used natural honey as a gainer, since this sweet product helped replenish the energy spent in the gym most effectively.
Conclusion: To replenish energy reserves spent during training in the gym, there are many options, from expensive protein to regular sugar dissolved in water. What to choose is up to you.
What is honey?
First of all, it’s worth understanding what this product is. Honey is the result of the vital activity of bees, nectar partially processed in the bee crop. That is, it is completely natural. Striped workers collect nectar from honeydew, flowers of various plants and other sugary substances. Next, the insects carry it to the hive.
Honey is the result of the life of bees
There, the bee family performs a number of different actions with it, both chemical (such as evaporation of water, etc.) and physical (such as the breakdown of complex sugars into simple ones, etc.). Honey is called the most ancient food on Earth, because bees were born much earlier than our ancestors. Natural honey is a natural sweetener. Its benefits for the human body can hardly be overestimated, because:
- Honey is a powerful immunomodulator. Disease resistance is a very important factor during winter muscle gain. In addition, honey has antibacterial and antifungal properties, which will also come in handy.
- Honey improves digestion. This helps increase the level of absorption of food needed to gain muscle mass.
- Honey contains fructose. It can be used by patients with diabetes.
- Honey is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. Moreover, they are presented in their natural form, which increases the level of bioavailability of these elements. Honey contains potassium, selenium, zinc, iron, magnesium and iodine. As well as a wide range of B vitamins. If you consider that this group of vitamins is directly responsible for the process of hematopoiesis, it becomes clear why sports nutrition manufacturers add them to every sports supplement, like a gainer or protein.
- Natural honey contains 20 amino acids with the highest level of absorption. No sports supplement containing BCAAs or free form amino acids can compete with honey in terms of bioavailability.
- The chemical composition of honey is very close to the composition of human blood. Of the 24 chemical elements contained in the blood, 22 are found in honey. Thanks to this, honey is absorbed by our body almost completely and is perfectly digested.
Honey is a completely natural product
Conclusion: honey is a completely unique natural product that has truly magical properties. Both ordinary people and actively training athletes can include honey in their diet.
What are the notorious benefits of honey?
We can talk about the benefits of honey for hours, but the most important advantages of this unique product can be summarized in seven most important aspects:
Benefit of honey No. 1. Honey, as opposed to any gainer, does not increase blood sugar levels, and does not provoke an increase in insulin. This means that the chance of acquiring fat folds on the waist from using honey during training to gain weight is much lower than from any sports “plant”.
Benefit of honey No. 2. Honey is a source of energy provided by liver glycogen. This allows it to provide the body with the necessary energy reserves in the morning, as well as before and after training in the gym.
Benefits of honey No. 3. When honey interacts with body fluids, it, due to its antibacterial properties, creates an environment unsuitable for the growth of bacteria. Therefore, honey promotes wound healing.
Benefits of honey No. 4. Honey helps you lose extra pounds if you replace regular sugar-containing foods with it. It contains antioxidants (including flavonoids), which helps maintain a healthy balance throughout the body.
Benefits of honey No. 5. Honey releases glycogen very slowly, replenishing its reserves for primary body functions during night sleep.
Benefits of honey No. 6. It is an excellent aid for recovery during rest. When combined with milk, natural honey promotes brain production, which is important for good deep sleep.
Benefits of honey No. 7. It has a positive effect on the immune system. Regular consumption of honey reduces the risk of various heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, obesity, stroke, and also lowers cholesterol levels. This product has a positive effect on the condition of eggs in women.
Honey is one of the most valuable products in the modern human diet.
Conclusion: The benefits of honey make it one of the most useful natural products present in the modern human diet.
The benefits of honey for men
Benefits of honey for men is due to the fact that honey itself and a bee product such as royal jelly increase sperm production by 50% and also improve their quality.
Israeli experts recommend using honey as an adjuvant therapy for inflammation of the prostate gland. Honey improves and activates blood circulation in the urogenital tract. That is, the benefit of honey for men also lies in the fact that it can be used to treat prostatitis and prostatic hyperplasia.
Since honey has a strong calming property, it perfectly minimizes the effects of stress. This is extremely important, since constant nervous tension and stress are one of the main reasons for decreased potency levels.
Conclusion: honey is good for everyone, but benefits of honey for men, makes him an indispensable assistant in solving the problems of the stronger half of humanity.
Honey in bodybuilding
The scientific journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2007 published the results of a study regarding the role of honey in bodybuilding, especially as a post-workout nutrition (gainer). Scientists have proven that this bee product perfectly helps our body recover after a hard workout in the gym, without causing hypoglycemia. Honey is much more effective than maltodextyrin or sucrose and allows you to maintain the required amount of glucose in the blood.
Due to the fact that the glycemic index of honey is lower compared to other sugars, the level of glucose in the blood stabilizes and increases when consumed. This is important because during exercise, blood sugar decreases significantly, and muscles use up glucose resources during physical activity to get the necessary energy.
Immediately after training, you need to “refuel” with carbohydrates for their full recovery. In this way, muscle tissue compensates for glycogen and glucose reserves. When blood sugar levels decrease so much that they become unavailable to the muscles, it is difficult for the body to fully recover. And honey copes just fine with the task of replenishing the level of spent glycogen.
Conclusion: Honey in bodybuilding helps restore lost energy at an accelerated pace. And if you consider that honey, unlike any sports nutrition, is an absolutely natural product, this makes it the best gainer in the world.
How and when to usehoney in bodybuilding?
It makes sense to take honey before and after training. Immediately before the start of the lesson and immediately after its completion. This method of consumption is due to the fact that honey is a fast carbohydrate and is an excellent source of energy. If you take it before your workout, there will be a constant slow release of glucose into your blood as you exercise.
Thus, the already existing glycogen resources will not be used by the body as a source of energy. This will increase the amount of work performed per workout. That is, honey in bodybuilding can be used as a... Personally, I add ginger and lemon to the honey dissolved in water. Honey gives you energy, allowing you to exercise more actively, ginger increases your body temperature, improving the warm-up process, and lemon simply makes this smoothie tastier.
Honey is more natural, more effective and cheaper than any gainer
But using honey as a post-workout gainer is no less, and maybe even more effective. A couple of hours before training, I first dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of honey in 0.5-0.7 liters of water and drink this drink after my next date with barbells and dumbbells. You can use honey in bodybuilding alone, or by adding it to post-workout sports nutrition, if you wish.
Conclusion: the use of honey in bodybuilding is justified and more economically profitable; just compare the price of a kilogram of natural honey and a gainer. And besides, honey is healthier than any sports nutrition.
Myths about honey
Like any food product, honey has become overgrown with many myths and fables over its millennia-long history. Here are the most persistent of them:
Honey Myth #1 | Honey should not be heated, it becomes poisonous. This myth is associated with the appearance of a substance such as hydroxymethylfufural in honey when heated (formed when fructose is heated in an acidic environment). But scientists at the Bremen Institute of Honey have long proven that in preserves, jellies and compotes produced industrially, the content of hydroxymethylfufural exceeds the norms specified for honey (40-80 mg/kg) hundreds of times, but no cases of poisoning with this substance have been recorded . In 1975, the USSR RAS conducted research that determined that consumption of hydroxymethylfufural in a volume of 2 grams (about 5 kg of honey) per 1 kg of human weight does not pose any danger to our health. But the champion in terms of the content of this “killer” substance is roasted coffee. The content of hydroxymethylfufural in it is 2000 mg/1 kg (that is, 125-250 times higher than in honey). In other words, it is possible to heat honey, but it is still not worth it, since when the temperature rises, it loses a significant part of its beneficial properties (amino acids, many vitamins and minerals cannot withstand heating and disintegrate).
Honey Myth #2 | Honey can give you botulism. A number of cases have been recorded in the UK. This is not true. Honey, having a strong antitoxic effect, on the contrary, neutralizes poisons. Honey protects against infection and even decomposition. The most famous historical example of the unique properties of honey is the transportation of the body of the deceased Alexander the Great, immersed in a container of honey.
Myth about honey No. 3 | Harm of honey for children. First of all, you need to know at what age to give this product to babies. Experts recommend not introducing honey into children's diets until they reach 2-3 years of age. Already in kindergarten, and even more so at school age, honey is quite acceptable, of course, in reasonable quantities (1-2 teaspoons per day).
Myth about honey No. 4 | The appearance of a white foam or crust is bad. Here it's just the opposite. If a white layer has formed on top of the honey, then this is most likely an indicator of quality. A natural product that sits for a while crystallizes. Thus, white foam indicates the purity of the honey and its recent collection.
Myth about honey No. 5 | Honey contains a lot of sugar. It's a delusion. Although the product is sweet, it contains practically no sugar. And after consuming honey, blood sugar levels do not increase.
Honey Myth #6 | Light and liquid honey is better than thick and dark honey. Also not true. This beekeeping product has several varieties. Therefore, both color and consistency may differ. It is quite natural that not everyone will like different types of honey. But this does not mean that its other varieties are worse.
Conclusion: Rumors and idle inventions always swarm around honey, like flies flocking to a sweet tooth, but in reality they all turn out to be ordinary fables.
How to distinguish real honey from fake
Honey as a food product is very popular, and natural honey is not cheap. Therefore, there are always those who want to make money on cheap fakes that can be passed off as natural honey. This scam is aimed at sweet tooth lovers who are willing to pay for a tasty and healthy product.
how to distinguish natural honey from fake honey when purchasing, video:
There are different options to deceive a gullible buyer. For example, some sellers try to sell old honey. Or it is diluted with water, molasses or sugar syrup. For thickness, starch, flour and even chalk are added. They can also slip in a surrogate. In order not to fall for the bait of unscrupulous sellers, you need to learn to distinguish real honey from fake. To understand where the product is natural and where it is not, you can do several experiments at home.
how to check the naturalness of honey at home video:
Conclusion: you need to know how to choose honey, and before you buy honey from an unfamiliar seller, you should remember the information presented in these videos.
Harm of honey
Actually, the phrase “harmful of honey” sounds quite harsh, but, like any food product, honey has its drawbacks. For in every barrel of honey..., well, further in the text.
- Honey is an extremely high-calorie product. 100 grams of honey is more than 300 calories. And although honey is much healthier for our body than sugar, it’s still not worth overeating on honey.
- Honey sticks to teeth. This means that the risk of getting dental caries from frequent consumption of honey is higher than from regular sweets. But the problem can be minimized if you simply rinse your mouth after taking honey.
- Honey is an allergen. According to statistics, 7% of the world's population are allergic to honey (many since childhood). This means that honey, like other beekeeping products, is contraindicated for them.
Conclusion: The harm of honey is greatly exaggerated. And if you compare the benefits of honey with its disadvantages, it becomes clear that this is a truly invaluable product for the diet of any person leading a healthy lifestyle.
I hope my article was useful to you and allowed you to learn something new about the benefits of honey and how to use it. honey in bodybuilding. May strength, weight and health be with you!
It has long been proven that honey and sport are two interrelated components, the combination of which guarantees excellent health to the athlete!
The biological structure of honey, as well as its complex composition, is determined by a huge number of beneficial properties. They can be divided into three groups:
- Bactericidal
- Dietary
- Medicinal.
Even now, some people believe that honey can not only preserve youth, but also prolong a person’s life. However, its constant use will definitely not harm your health!
Honey is not only a sweet treat, but also a valuable source of carbohydrates that are easily absorbed by the body. Honey breaks down quite easily and enters the organic system evenly.
Even in ancient China, honey was used to improve the health of human internal organs, increase strength, strengthen willpower, as well as burn subcutaneous fat and preserve youth.
All this helps maintain blood glucose levels. If we consider the situation with sugar, then everything is somewhat different. It is transported into the body in peculiar “jerks”, portions.
Therefore, there can be no talk of a constant glucose level.
Fluctuations in glucose levels in the body can cause feelings of fatigue, hunger, and strong cravings for sweets.
Alternatively, consuming honey or other complex carbohydrates will help.
As for enhanced training programs, the body needs to receive a sufficient amount of carbohydrates. Honey is an excellent helper in solving this problem, as it helps increase energy reserves and endurance of muscle tissue.
If you consume honey shortly “before” a workout and immediately “after” along with protein foods, it will help to better absorb protein and will also have an effect on the rapid restoration of damaged muscle fibers.
What is the daily intake of honey? How much should you take “before” and “after” workouts?
As you already know, each organism has its own unique characteristics. For some, the ideal period for taking honey before training is 2 hours, while others need to take it 20-30 minutes before starting physical exercise.
P.S. Replace sugar with honey in your diet and you will significantly reduce the number of calories you consume.
Interesting Facts:
1. One tsp. Drinking honey shortly before bed will help effectively support brain activity. It is known that the brain works even during sleep, therefore, it needs constant energy supply for normal functioning.
2. Even in ancient times, Hippocrates used honey as the main element in the treatment of complex wounds and various infections. This leads to another property of honey: toning the immune system, which promotes rapid healing of wounds.
3. Honey contains a number of vitamins, various microelements and essential amino acids, which have a great impact on the human immune system. Just 1-2 tablespoons of honey a day - healthy sleep and long health are guaranteed!
Greetings to you, my regular and new guests. I'm glad to start today's sweet topic, because there is not a single person in the world who would be indifferent to sweets. But how can we prevent eating sweets against the background of our proper nutrition, strength training and the need to achieve results in training? – Today I will tell you how you can combine honey and bodybuilding and get not only pleasure, but also benefits.
What is the composition of honey
Here’s another interesting thing about food in bodybuilding:
I believe that it is no secret to you that honey contains many useful substances, such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, glucose and even amino acids. The calorie content of this product is 300 kilocalories per 100 grams, which gives the athlete enough energy for training. Consumption of honey helps to activate the body's defenses and increases the athlete's body's resistance to various viruses and infections, even during epidemics.
Let's look at the composition of honey:
- water volume – 18%;
- glucose – 30%;
- fructose – 35%;
- other sugars account for 12%;
- amino acids, vitamins and mineral compounds make up 5%.
Consuming this product can quickly restore strength and satisfy hunger. This product is especially preferred by athletes who train for endurance. And bodybuilders too!
How is honey useful in strength sports?
We can talk endlessly about honey and its beneficial properties for the body, but we are interested in those that are important for a bodybuilder. Among these qualities we highlight the following:
- enriches the body of a strength athlete with the necessary amount of microelements and vitamins;
- helps restore strength after long and difficult workouts;
- if you replace sugar with honey, you can get rid of extra pounds;
- helps normalize sleep when consumed at night with milk;
- thanks to the immunoglobulins included in its composition, it leads to an increase in the body’s immune defense;
- normalizes metabolic processes;
- increases strength, endurance and performance.
Of course, honey cannot replace pharmacological drugs for a strength athlete, but it will complement their effect. And studies conducted on volunteers showed that taking this product increases performance by 15% and improves athletic performance.
How and when is it better for a bodybuilder to take honey?
Nutritionists offer several ways for weightlifters to take honey. It can be eaten an hour before the start of training, which will contribute to the influx of a large amount of energy, and the athlete will not feel tired for a long time.
After all, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our body. The second way to consume honey is after a workout. In this case, the athlete’s energy reserves will quickly be replenished (due to the closure of the protein-carbohydrate window), which will help to quickly overcome fatigue and restore strength.
If a bodybuilder has problems sleeping due to long, frequent and exhausting workouts, then honey and milk will again come to his aid, which should be eaten half an hour before bedtime. When taken this way, it will not only provide you with a full, healthy sleep, but will also help your body recover overnight.
This miracle product can be eaten throughout the day with tea or coffee, which can be added instead of sugar. The main thing is not to put honey in too hot water (more than 60° C), because it will lose its healing properties and even become harmful.
I’ll add one more nice quality of honey: despite the fact that it is a very sweet product, it has a low glycemic index (does not stimulate a sharp release of insulin by the pancreas) and does not lead to a sharp increase in blood sugar levels.
You can eat honey in different ways: in its pure form from a spoon, stirring it in liquid (water, black or green tea, milk), and also with cottage cheese. By the way, some believe that honey allows calcium to be better absorbed.
It is interesting that honey is offered to athletes both for gaining weight and for losing (drying) muscles. If you want to lose weight, then after training you should not eat this product so that the body uses glycogen from the muscle depot. After 18.00 it is also better to eat protein foods and complex carbohydrates, which honey does not include.
Alas, dishonest sellers manage to add useless additives to this wonderful product that reduce the beneficial qualities of honey (sugar, starch, flour). Such a mixture will not give anything useful to the athlete. So, don’t be tempted by the low price of this product, find a good, trusted supplier - it’s worth it!
That's it, friends: your desire for achievements in sports is quite compatible with tasty foods, if they are healthy. The only contraindication to consuming honey is an allergy to bee products. - Shall we try?