Bananas in my PWO shake.

[Dennis_82]

I've started putting 3 large bananas, in 20 ounces of water, with one scoop of whey protein. I used to go with 1 large banana, 1 cup of oats and 1 scoop whey protein.

I heard mixed opinions on bananas consumed PWO and also did a search before I posted this and couldn't derive a good answer to my question. So my question is would my new shake be better then my old shake? How good are bananas PWO? I know they contain around double the amount of dextrose per gram compared to other fruits. So would this be a good insulin spike? Thanks.

[Deadhead96]

Bananas are good. I eat atleast 5 everyday.

[Jules Verne]

Bananas are low GI, they are not going to spike insulin. Good to eat with oats, nice and slowly digesting.

[Dennis_82]

How wouldn't they spike insulin they are 40%+ dextrose?

[Deadhead96]

Originally Posted by Dennis_82

How wouldn't they spike insulin they are 40%+ dextrose?

They are excellent post workout. Good fast absorbing carbs and energy. I reccomend you increase you banana consumption.

[Dolfan_714]

I use banana in my PWO shake, and they are just fine.

But I would go back to your old shake though, and add another scoop of whey, unless the one scoop you use is 40 grms of protein.

[Dennis_82]

Originally Posted by Dolfan_714

I use banana in my PWO shake, and they are just fine.

But I would go back to your old shake though, and add another scoop of whey, unless the one scoop you use is 40 grms of protein.

no it's actually only 23grams, but all together it ends up being 36 grams of protein, I get 12 from oats and 1 from banana.

[Haywood Jablome]

I would through in a non-fructose carb source in the mix as well.

[Dolfan_714]

Originally Posted by Dennis_82

no it's actually only 23grams, but all together it ends up being 36 grams of protein, I get 12 from oats and 1 from banana.

I thought your new shake was just 3 banana and the whey?

if your keeping the oats in, then I would add 1/3 scoop more of whey.

or maybe I'm just not understanding what your doing right now.

[Jules Verne]

Originally Posted by Dennis_82

How wouldn't they spike insulin they are 40%+ dextrose?

Perhaps the fibre? 2.6g/100g fruit is higher than celery (although that's mostly water). They are not calorie/carb dense anyway, so for 100g you are only getting 5g dex, but even so they generally rate low on the GI (<55-60), although they are higher GI than other fruit like apples and oranges.

Even so, as I said the glycemic load is going to be low unless you eat 10 at a time or something.

[Dennis_82]

Originally Posted by Dolfan_714

I thought your new shake was just 3 banana and the whey?

if your keeping the oats in, then I would add 1/3 more of whey.

or maybe I'm just not understanding what your doing right now.

Heh no no, cause you said to go back to my old shake and add a scoop of whey. My old shake had 36 grams of protein, and 97 grams of carbs.

[Dennis_82]

Originally Posted by Jules Verne

Perhaps the fibre? 2.6g/100g fruit is higher than celery (although that's mostly water). They are not calorie/carb dense anyway, so for 100g you are only getting 5g dex, but even so they generally rate low on the GI (<55-60), although they are higher GI than other fruit like apples and oranges.

Even so, as I said the glycemic load is going to be low unless you eat 10 at a time or something.

Actually if I recall correctly bananas are very calorie dense. I think once again almost double compared to other fruits such as strawberries and apples.

[Dolfan_714]

Originally Posted by Dennis_82

Heh no no, cause you said to go back to my old shake and add a scoop of whey. My old shake had 36 grams of protein, and 97 grams of carbs.

your right, I was confusing myself. my bad...

Why not try something like.

1/2 cup of oats
1 1/2 banana
1 1/2 scoops whey

if I had to take a stab that would be like 60 carbs 45 pro


I guess the bottom line, I'm trying to get at is, use banana and oats. phew, why did that seem hard for me to do?

[Haywood Jablome]

Originally Posted by Dolfan_714

your right, I was confusing myself. my bad...

Why not try something like.

1/2 cup of oats
1 1/2 banana
1 1/2 scoops whey

if I had to take a stab that would be like 60 carbs 45 pro


I guess the bottom line, I'm trying to get at is, use banana and oats. phew, why did that seem hard for me to do?

If its working for you, keep using it.

[Dolfan_714]

Originally Posted by Jules Verne

Perhaps the fibre? 2.6g/100g fruit is higher than celery (although that's mostly water). They are not calorie/carb dense anyway, so for 100g you are only getting 5g dex, but even so they generally rate low on the GI (<55-60), although they are higher GI than other fruit like apples and oranges.

Even so, as I said the glycemic load is going to be low unless you eat 10 at a time or something.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=272067

PWO

okay, so to be practical, simple examples are: 1/2-1 cup dry oats + 30-50g dex (OR) 1/2 cup dry oats + 40g dex + 1 banana. these are just 2 examples out of many possibilities. i see nothing wrong with using high-moderate to high-GI carbs other than dex/malto, as long as the average GI of the combo is near or greater than 70. nitpicky theoretics aside, anything 65 or above on the GI scale (like the thinly rolled plain oats which people mistakenly think is in the low GI category) will likely have very similar real-world effectiveness as higher-GI choices. but remember, this is a discussion of optima, thus, we are scrutinizing the minutia and elucidating what might provide the edge.

[cubical]

I have read numerous posts on this. It has been shown that dextrose/hi GI carbs are not necessary and are maybe even worse that something like oats. High GI carbs have been shown to lead to too much fat gain to be worth the quick resuply of glycogen to the muscles. I put in 20g of dex and 1/3 cup of oats and i have no complaints. I could find the thread, but i really dont want to so take it for what its worth.

[HUGE_I_AM]

excellent for post workout? i disagree

bannas contain a lot of frutose (as does any fruit) which will replinsih your liver glycogen rather than your muscle glycogen

fruit is not optimal pwo imo

[ovidiu]

Originally Posted by HUGE_I_AM

excellent for post workout? i disagree

bannas contain a lot of frutose (as does any fruit) which will replinsih your liver glycogen rather than your muscle glycogen

fruit is not optimal pwo imo

Fructose
While glucose is preferentially rushed back into muscles in the post workout state, fructose has a tendency to work its way into replenishing liver glycogen stores. The liver, when called upon, acts as a "glucose pump," releasing glycogen for conversion into glucose to meet blood sugar needs. Fructose, therefore, should also be included in the post-workout drink.

http://philkaplan.com/thefitnesstrut...utrecovery.htm

[ovidiu]

another 1 from alan:

fructose only becomes a bad thing for postW purposes when the amount exceeds about 25% (a very conservative reflection of the proportion of glycogen stored in the liver) of your postworkout carbs. this is because for one, it can impinge upon insulin response, and secondly, your need to replenish liver glycogen as a result of bodybuilding training is relatively small. it's there, but it's small. you can only get 3-7g fructose from a typical fruit, but bananas yield closer to 10g fructose. so let's say you got appx 15g fructose from bananas in your shake. as long as your nonfructose carbs are 45g or more, you're fine.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...light=fructose

[massive member]

this is the one from alan i keep handy

1)glycogenesis in muscle is actually ENHANCED when small amounts of fructose are included in the postW mix. fructose facilitates the replenishment of liver glycogen, which in turn spares more of the non-fructose carbs for glycogen replenishment in skeletal muscle at a faster rate. this is because less of those nonfruc carbs are wasted in the less efficient series metabolic steps necessary to convert them to liver glycogen. furthermore, speed of glycogen replenishment is not that urgent of an issue compared to total macro amounts reached daily - especially for bodybuilding.

2) the typical fruit contains 4-7g fructose, bananas contain 10-12g. this is a small amount of fructose in both absolute terms and proportional terms relative to the total amount of carbs that should be consumed. thus, all the fructose fears can go kiss my ass. i personally don't know anyone who throws more than 1-2 fruit servings in their postW shake.

3) fruits contain identified & unidentified micronutrients that speed recovery by suppressing oxidation & cellular damage during a critical time.

[oddjob21]

the thing about having fructose and complex carbs pwo is, after a workout it is all about speed, fructose and complex carbs slow down digestion, if you were to have dextrose or maltodextrin along with your protein it would speed up the recovery rate and stop catabolism as fast as possible by spiking insulin, bananna s and oats will work but it is all about how fast and efficiently you can shuttle the nutrients back into your body, its the same with people asking about casein and other types of protein pwo, they will work of course but they are not as efficient as whey pwo

[Haywood Jablome]

Originally Posted by oddjob21

the thing about having fructose and complex carbs pwo is, after a workout it is all about speed, fructose and complex carbs slow down digestion, if you were to have dextrose or maltodextrin along with your protein it would speed up the recovery rate and stop catabolism as fast as possible by spiking insulin, bananna s and oats will work but it is all about how fast and efficiently you can shuttle the nutrients back into your body, its the same with people asking about casein and other types of protein pwo, they will work of course but they are not as efficient as whey pwo

you have some reading to do

[grndmstrflsch]

i have one extra large banana, scoop of whey, tsp creatine, and 36 oz water pwo every time i workout. i dont see any problems with it. i think if you have a really big banana, it will work fine for you if you enjoy it. its been working for me great.

[dodigago]

bananas have a lot of calories..I try to stay away when im cutting

[ovidiu]

Originally Posted by oddjob21

the thing about having fructose and complex carbs pwo is, after a workout it is all about speed, fructose and complex carbs slow down digestion, if you were to have dextrose or maltodextrin along with your protein it would speed up the recovery rate and stop catabolism as fast as possible by spiking insulin, bananna s and oats will work but it is all about how fast and efficiently you can shuttle the nutrients back into your body, its the same with people asking about casein and other types of protein pwo, they will work of course but they are not as efficient as whey pwo

this works well up to a point...

[melon]

Originally Posted by dodigago

bananas have a lot of calories..I try to stay away when im cutting

Yes, a snack sized mars bar has much less calories so is obviously the better option.

[John Matrix]

i eat me the shiat out of some bananas

[MuscleGainer]

Right now I'm using Cytogainer as my post workout shake because I want carbs that I can mix in a shaker bottle and Cytogainer includes complex carbs. Should I just get whey and gatorade powder next time?

[dodigago]

Originally Posted by melon

Yes, a snack sized mars bar has much less calories so is obviously the better option.

all jokes aside, some people eat 4-5 a day


thats 500ish calories just from bananas

[melon]

Originally Posted by dodigago

all jokes aside, some people eat 4-5 a day


thats 500ish calories just from bananas

So? What's your point? You have to get the calories from somewhere...