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50 Strength and Conditioning Journal February 2002
© National Strength & Conditioning Association
Volume 24, Number 1, pages 50–51
NUTRITION NOTES
Honey: An Alternative Sports Gel
Richard B. Kreider, PhD, FACSM, EPC;
Christopher J. Rasmussen, CSCS; Stacy L. Lancaster, CSCS;
Chad Kerksick, CSCS; and Michael Greenwood, CSCS*D
Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory
Department of Human Movement Sciences and Education
The University of Memphis Ann C. Grandjean
Column Editor
IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT INGEST-
ing carbohydrates prior to and
during endurance exercise can im-
prove performance capacity. The
primary means of enhancing car-
bohydrate availability prior to ex-
ercise has been by ingesting car-
bohydrate-rich snacks, whereas
the ingestion of sports drinks (glu-
cose/electrolyte solutions) has
been shown to enhance carbohy-
drate availability during exercise.
Ingesting carbohydrates and pro-
tein within 2 hours following exer-
cise (e.g., 1.5 g/kg carbohydrate
and 0.5 g/kg protein) has been re-
ported to increase glycogen resyn-
thesis and protein synthesis, pro-
mote a more optimal anabolic
hormonal environment, and im-
prove immune function. Theoreti-
cally, optimizing availability of car-
bohydrates prior to and during
exercise as well as following exer-
cise can help optimize exercise per-
formance and recovery, which lead
to greater training adaptations (5).
Although these may seem
rather simple recommendations,
different types and forms of car-
bohydrates have varying affects on
the delivery of carbohydrates to
the muscle and anabolic hor-
mones. In this regard, the type
and form of carbohydrate ingested
may affect the digestion rate, glu-
cose release in the blood, and in-
sulin response.
Over the last few years, re-
searchers in the Exercise and
Sport Nutrition Lab at the Univer-
sity of Memphis have been evalu-
ating the effects of ingesting vari-
ous types of carbohydrate gels
prior to and during exercise on ex-
ercise capacity, as well as the ef-
fects of different types of carbohy-
drate/protein powders following
exercise on recovery (2–6). The ra-
tionale has been to try to deter-
mine the optimal type of carbohy-
drate to ingest prior to, during,
and/or following resistance and
endurance exercise. An additional
goal was to determine whether
honey (in gel and powder form)
can serve as a natural and less ex-
pensive source of carbohydrates.
Our most recent study evalu-
ated the effects of ingesting honey
on blood glucose, insulin, and cy-
cling performance prior to and
during endurance cycling. Our ra-
tionale was based on results of our
initial study in this series (3, 6),
which found that the carbohydrate
profile and glycemic index re-
sponse of honey was nearly identi-
cal to that of a popular sports gel.
Moreover, contrary to anecdotal
myth, we found honey did not pro-
mote physical or psychological
signs of hypoglycemia in fasted
subjects (3, 5), during resistance
training (1), or following resistance
training (1, 2). In this study, 9 well-
trained male cyclists performed
three 40-mile time trials on their
own racing bicycle attached to a
computerized race simulator. Each
race was separated by 1 week.
Subjects were asked to prepare for
each time trial as they would for a
competitive race and to follow sim-
ilar dietary intake the day before
each time trial. In a double-blind,
randomized, and counterbalanced
manner, subjects ingested 15 g of
a noncaloric flavored gel placebo, a
dextrose gel, or honey with 250 mL
of water prior to and every 10 miles
during each time trial. The placebo
and carbohydrate gels were pack-
aged in generic foil packets for
double-blind administration.
Blood samples were taken prior to
and every 10 miles during the race.
In addition, power output, split
times, heart rate, and ratings of
February 2002 Strength and Conditioning Journal 51
perceived exertion were deter-
mined throughout the time trials.
Subjects were paid based on their
performance during each time trial
in order to encourage their best ef-
fort.
Results revealed that the sub-
jects tolerated the gels well with no
complaints of symptoms of hypo-
glycemia or gastrointestinal upset.
Total time to perform the time tri-
als (placebo 131.3 ± 3.6 minutes,
dextrose 128.3 ± 3.8 minutes, and
honey 128.8 ± 3.5 minutes; P=
0.02) was significantly faster when
subjects ingested the dextrose and
honey gels compared with the
placebo. Average power (placebo
164 ± 11 W, dextrose 175 ± 13 W,
and honey 174 ± 12 W; P= 0.002)
was also significantly higher when
subjects ingested the carbohy-
drate gels during exercise. Addi-
tionally, mean heart rate (placebo
171 ± 6 b/min, dextrose 178 ± 7
b/min, and honey 177 ± 5 b/min;
P= 0.08) and glucose (placebo 5.4
±0.2 mmol/L, dextrose 5.8 ± 0.3
mmol/L, and honey 6.0 ± 0.4
mmol/L; P= 0.10) values tended
to be higher in the groups ingest-
ing carbohydrates during the time
trials. No significant differences
were observed in insulin (placebo
5.3 ± 0.3 mIU/mL, dextrose 5.1 ±
0.2 mIU/mL, and honey 6.0 ± 0.8
mIU/mL; P= 0.29). These findings
indicate that ingesting dextrose
and honey gels during endurance
cycling can improve performance
presumably by enhancing carbo-
hydrate availability and work out-
put. Moreover, honey can serve as
an effective and less expensive
source of carbohydrate gel. ▲
■References
1. Earnest, C., R. Kreider, J.
Lundberg, C. Rasmussen, P.
Cowan, M. Greenwood, and A.
Almada. Effects of pre-exercise
carbohydrate feedings on glu-
cose and insulin responses
during and following resis-
tance exercise. J. Strength
Cond. Res. 14:361. 2000.
2. Kreider, R., J. Lundberg, C.
Rasmussen, P. Cowan, M.
Greenwood, C. Earnest, and
A. Almada. Effects of ingesting
protein with various forms of
carbohydrate following resis-
tance-exercise on substrate
availability and markers of ca-
tabolism. J. Strength Cond.
Res. 14:366. 2000.
3. Kreider, R., C. Rasmussen, J.
Lundberg, P. Cowan, M.
Greenwood, C. Earnest, and
A. Almada. Effects of ingesting
carbohydrate gels on glucose,
insulin and perception of hy-
poglycemia. FASEB J. 14:
A490. 2000.
4. Lancaster, S, R.B. Kreider, C.
Rasmussen, C. Kerksick, M.
Greenwood, P. Milnor, A.L. Al-
mada, and C.P. Earnest. Ef-
fects of honey supplementa-
tion on glucose, insulin and
endurance cycling perfor-
mance. FASEB J. 15:LB315.
2001.
5. Leutholtz, B., and R.B. Krei-
der. Optimizing nutrition for
exercise and sport. In: Nutri-
tion Health. T. Wilson and N.J.
Temple, eds. Totowa, NJ: Hu-
mana Press, 2001. pp. 207–
235.
6. Rasmussen, C., R. Kreider, J.
Lundberg, P. Cowan, M.
Greenwood, C. Earnest, and
A. Almada. Analysis of the
glycemic index and insulin re-
sponse index of various carbo-
hydrate gels. FASEB J. 14:
A489. 2000.
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