Go bananas and ditch the sports drinks during exercise

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.

For decades, athletes and their advisers have believed and studies have confirmed that eating or drinking carbohydrates during prolonged exertion can enable someone to continue for longer or at higher intensities and recover more quickly than if he or she does not eat during the workout.

The carbohydrates rapidly fuel muscles, lessening some of the physiological stress of working out and prompting less inflammation afterwards.

The most digestible form of carbohydrates is sugar, whether glucose, fructose (fruit sugar) or sucrose, and for athletes, it frequently comes from sports drinks.

But sports drinks can contain flavourings and chemicals that some people may wish to avoid.

So a few years ago, researchers at the North Carolina Research Campus of Appalachian State University in Kannapolis, began studying fruit as a healthier alternative to sports drinks during exercise.

Most fruit, including bananas, are sugary and high in fructose. But they also contain other natural substances that might have an impact on sport performance and recovery, the researchers speculated.

In an 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. They also developed lower levels of inflammation in their bodies afterwards.

But that study left many questions unanswered, particularly about whether and how the carbohydrates might be aiding athletes’ recovery.

So for the new experiment, which was published last month in PLOS One, the researchers used more sophisticated techniques to track molecular changes inside cyclists’ bodies.

They asked 20 competitive cyclists, male and female, to complete a gruelling, 75km 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 250ml of a sports drink or half a banana every 30 minutes.

The scientists drew blood before the workout, immediately after and at several additional points, stretching out to 45 hours later.

They then checked their blood for markers of inflammation and levels of hundreds of molecules, known as metabolites that can change during and after exertion and signify how much stress the body feels.

As they had expected, 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 had carbohydrates during their rides, whether those calories had come from a bottle or a banana.

But there were differences in the activity of some genes. In particular, the scientists found that the riders’ blood cells produced less of a genetic precursor of an enzyme known as COX-2 if they had eaten bananas during their workout. This effect was not seen if they had drunk the sports drink or only water. The COX-2 enzyme prompts the production of prostaglandins, which, in turn, intensify inflammation.

David Nieman, the director of the human performance lab at Appalachian State University and the study’s lead author, said anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen work by inhibiting COX-2, but, until now, researchers had not considered that bananas might perform comparably.

For exercisers who might prefer a natural alternative to sports drinks, “bananas look pretty good”, he said.