Bananas could replace sports drinks
A banana might reasonably replace sports drinks for those of us who rely on carbohydrates to fuel exercise and speed recovery, according to a new study comparing the cellular effects of carbohydrates consumed during sports.
It found that a banana, with its all-natural package, provides comparable or greater anti-inflammatory and other benefits for athletes than sports drinks.
Afew years ago, researchers at the North Carolina Research Campus of Appalachian State University in Kannapolis began to wonder about fruits as a healthier alternative to sports drinks during exercise.
In a preliminary experiment, published in 2012, the scientists found that cyclists performed better during a strenuous bike ride if they had either a banana or a sports drink compared to only water.
But that study had left many questions unanswered, particularly about whether and how the carbohydrates might be aiding athletes’ recovery. So for the new experiment, which was published in March in PLOS One, the researchers decided to use more sophisticated techniques to track molecular changes inside cyclists’ bodies.
The researchers asked 20 competitive cyclists, male and female, to complete a kilometre bike ride on several occasions at the campus performance lab. During one ride, they drank only water. In the others, they had water but also eight ounces of a sports drink or about half a banana every 30 minutes.
The scientists found that swallowing only water resulted in relatively high levels of inflammatory markers in the riders’ blood. These markers were much lower if the cyclists had consumed fruit or the sports drink.
The volunteers also showed less-stressed metabolite profiles if they had consumed carbohydrates during their rides, whether those calories had come from a bottle or a banana.