What Exactly Is Sugar Alcohol?

We, bodybuilders, and in fact anybody, who understands the importance of proper nutrition for the health, often avoid foods containing sugar. Some of them are sweetened with non-caloric sweeteners, some of them with sugar alcohols. We know about the sweeteners, but what are the sugar alcohols?

Sugar Alcohols (also named polyols) are hydrogenated carbohydrates, whose structure resembles that of alcohols. That’s where their name comes from.

The most common sugar alcohols are sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, erithritol and xylitol. They are almost as sweet as table sugar at half the calories. The reason is they are poorly absorbed in the intestines. That’s the main reason why in higher quantities (30gr and more) they can cause stomach discomfort, bloating and diarrhea. Exception is only the erithritol, which is absorbed in the intestines but is excreted unchanged.

Sugar alcohols are usually added to sugar free foods to mask the strong aftertaste of non-calorie sweeteners. If a food is sugar free but it’s sweetened with sugar alcohols, the sugar alcohols have to be listed in the nutrition facts label.

As a person who realizes the importance of moderating insulin levels, you should certainly avoid high glycemic carbohydrates as well as refined sugar.

If you have to use sweetener go with erithritol if the others cause you stomach discomfort. If you want to go absolutely calorie free go with the non-nutritive sweetener stevia.

The Latest On Read Meat – Eat or Avoid

This is like the fats and the belief that fat is the enemy back in the 80’s and the early 90’s. Now, I guess the same is going to happen with read meat. We, bodybuilders know that red meat is what gives you the most strength and lets you put on muscle the fastest.

But for the last several years we have also known that red meat is hard for digestion, can sit in the guts for months and sometimes years, slowly releasing toxins in the body. Studies in the latest years have also shown that red meats cause oxidative damage (free radicals) and inflammation processes in the body – two of the main causes of cancer.

Australian scientists now say that red meat, consumed even in higher quantities does not cause more inflammation and free radical damage. They suggest that the only the processed red meat like salami and hot dogs are a risk factor. Why? Because of all of the additives that are added to preserve taste, freshness, add color, etc.

We were let to believe we should stray from consuming red meat often. Although the latest findings of the Australian researchers I still think that until more is known about the interactions of red meat with the human digestive system and ultimately the entire body we, the bodybuilders and other athletes are not cleared to go back to eating this type of meat twice and more a day.

So, my advice is to be on the safe side stick to eating fish and occasionally chicken (unless the chicken is the so called free range). For the extra bust in strength take your creatine monohydrate and wait for more studies on this topic.

Detect Lower Body Strength Imbalance

I just read a very interesting article in Men’s Health. It made me think of that for a minute. It was about favoring one leg or another while training quads.

I personally do both unilateral (one leg at a time) and simultaneous lifts. I incorporate those in my smith-machine squats and leg presses. And I can tell I still feel slight difference between the strength of my right and left leg.

For example if I start an unilateral exercise with my right leg the left leg usually struggles to complete the number of reps I performed with the right one. But if I start with my left leg I can complete with the exact number of reps with the right leg without feeling difference.

What researchers say is try this exercise and see if you have imbalance in the strength of your legs. So, try this in your workout: Leap forward five times, using only one of your legs. The fifth time land on both feet. Repeat the same with the other leg. If the difference in the total distance is more than 10% then you have a imbalance.

In this case unilateral exercises will help a lot. Just don’t forget if you determine one of your legs is weaker than the other start your exercise with it and follow with the stronger for the same number of reps you were able to complete with the weaker. That’s very important as it will give a chance to the weaker side to catch up with the stronger one.