Experts say to AVOID fruit after exercise to lose weight

August 22, 2016  22:17

There is no doubt about it, fruit is good for you - it's low calorie, full of essential vitamins and micronutrients and can be enjoyed as part of balanced and nutritious diet. 

However, eating too much fruit or at the wrong times can lead to fat gains, say experts.

According to personal trainer Callum Melly, founder of Bodyin8.co.uk, you need to understand how carbohydrates are broken down within the body to know if you're eating fruit at the wrong time. 

As he explains, when you consume carbohydrates they are stored in two forms, as either 'muscle glycogen' or as 'liver glycogen'.

Muscle glycogen is a product of starchy foods and liver glycogen is a product of fructose (the naturally occurring sugar from fruit.)

'The thing people forget or just don't understand when it comes to food in general, let alone fruit, is that food is fuel and we should only eat what is required to fuel our daily energy requirements, especially when it comes to carbohydrate intake,' he said.

Carbohydrates are an important energy source for us, they are important for brain function and important for muscle function and therefore should be eaten around specific times depending on your energy requirements. 

A common misconception, says Callum, is that fruit post-exercise is good for you as it will replenish muscle glycogen. 'However,' he warns, 'fruit will only replenish liver glycogen and not muscle glycogen. Glycogen is our muscle's fuel source and will be used during exercise and therefore needs to be replenished afterwards with starchy carbohydrates such as rice and potatoes.'

So when should we eat fruit? 'We want to ensure that when we eat fruit we will maximise the energy we receive from it, but more importantly ensure that the fructose is used by the body as an energy source and doesn't get converted and stored as body fat,' he said. 

'Therefore, the best times to eat fruit are first thing in the morning and 15 minutes before a workout as your body will use this readily available energy to fuel morning activity and then your exercise.' 

Callum continued: 'There is practically no limit as to how many calories the body can store as fat, hence why we have such a huge obesity crisis in today's society. 

'People believe that fruit is good for you, and by all means it is; however, people just aren't eating it at the right time and as a result, their body fat is increasing. 

'Remember: food is fuel/energy and we only need to eat what our bodies need to maintain our energy expenditure.' 

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