HOW SUGAR DISRUPTS YOUR WORKOUT

If you're the type who trains a lot just to overdo the sweets, this research could be a cold shower! Yes: sugar gets in the way of exercise. Published in The New York Times , a study of the relationship between sugar and exercise indicated that people who consume too much sugar and processed foods tend to reduce the benefits of physical activity.

The first thing to understand is that high blood sugar causes several health ailments, as we know all too well: increased risk of heart disease and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes are among the problems. It turns out that Boston's Joslin Diabetes Center research, published in the journal Nature , found that when we eat high levels of sugar over a long period of time, exercise has less of an impact on health.

The study was initially done with laboratory rats, and found that those who ate a lot of sugar lost less weight compared to rats that had the same blood sugar level, but not because they ingested the nutrient, but because they had less insulin in their bodies. This happened even with the same level of exercise resistance.

Going further in their research, scientists identified that healthy animals' muscles were full of new fibers and arteries capable of bombarding them with oxygen. Meanwhile, those who consume a lot of sugar had these veins with excess collagen “hindering” the arrival of blood with oxygen. Tests with humans indicated similar results, and showed that people with high sugar consumption had reduced resistance to longer periods of physical activity.

The conclusion goes far beyond the one that says sugar gets in the way of exercise. According to professor Sarah J. Lessard, who led the research, the concern with the consumption of refined sugar must come together with the investment in physical activities. In other words, “just dieting” or “just training” is no use: ideally, the two things go together.