Honey in sports nutrition. Honey in bodybuilding. What are the beneficial properties of honey for bodybuilding?

Honey and sports are two very important components of excellent health. The biological nature of honey and its complex chemical composition determines a huge number of its beneficial properties - bactericidal, dietary and medicinal. It has been used by many peoples since ancient times. The ancient Chinese, for example, used honey to heal internal organs, increase strength, burn fat, strengthen the will, preserve youth, and even believed that it could prolong life.

About the benefits of honey in sports

Old Russian handwritten medical books described this product, which was part of many recipes. Now the therapeutic effect of honey has been studied more deeply and we can rightfully say that it is one of the most active natural medicines used in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. Honey achieves its therapeutic effect from its high content of sugar, minerals, microelements, vitamins, enzymes, and biologically active substances. Honey tones, strengthens and restores the body's strength and is very useful for diseases of the heart, kidneys and stomach.

Regular consumption of honey(up to a month or more) will lead to normalization of the functioning of many body systems, normalize blood composition, and increase hemoglobin. Athletes who do not know how to build muscles should not forget about this important product, as its positive effect on the body has been proven in cases of severe exhaustion and fatigue.

Honey is a concentrated and highly nutritious product. It contains a large amount of energy, which is generated during the breakdown of fructose and glucose. One hundred grams of honey supplies an adult with 10% of the daily energy requirement; and also partly in copper, zinc, potassium, manganese, iron, cobalt; V vitamins B (pantothenic acid), WITH, B6 And biotin. Honey contains three hundred different substances, of which 65 to 80 percent are carbohydrates, 20 percent water and 7 to 15 percent other substances. Very high and its nutritional value is just under 1400 J/100 grams of product. That is, in terms of this indicator, it is in no way inferior to bread (from wheat), lamb, beef, fish, liver, etc.

The advantage of honey in sports is that it is very quickly and almost completely (about 98%) absorbed by the body. It is very well preserved and does not mold even when favorable conditions exist for the development of various microorganisms. Is there any benefit to bodybuilding representatives in this famous product? The answer to this question is not so simple. The body directly converts at least forty percent of the sugar and fructose it contains into fat. In addition, honey contains a huge number of enzymes, one of which is responsible for the process of processing fructose into various types of sugar. Although, if you look from the other side, it is a source of a huge amount of vitamins and about thirty essential microelements.

Undoubtedly, honey, this unique product, is an excellent natural source of vitality. Sports experts advise against using it if you are starting “grinding” training - a stage of preparation in which you need to diet to get rid of excess fat. But at the stage of intensive weight gain, they should not be neglected. You should completely eliminate table sugar from your diet and replace it with honey, as it contains antioxidants. It is advisable to use honey with tea. And although tea is also rich in antioxidants, research in this area suggests that it is drinking tea along with honey that has superior effects on the human body. Scientists divided people into two groups and gave one of them tea with sugar, and the other with honey. As a result, representatives of the second group experienced a significant increase in the level of antioxidants.

It must be kept in mind that the darker the honey, the higher the amount of antioxidants it contains. that is, the higher its usefulness. Dark honey even contains antioxidants that are found only in garlic and spinach. The use of honey is possible immediately after finishing a workout, since our liver takes fructose from it in order to create a supply of glycogen in the body. At the same time, glycogen costs are replenished very quickly. At the stage of pure strength training, honey can be eaten in almost unlimited quantities, which partially compensates for the huge energy costs. Some sources recommend consuming honey immediately before starting a training session, calling it a quick "carbohydrate." It is also indicated that by taking honey and protein supplements, we can speed up muscle recovery processes and stabilize glucose during heavy physical activity.

There are many types of honey, including acacia, clover, honeydew, meadow and others. All of them, to one degree or another, when used wisely, have a positive effect on the body.

Sports science has long known that “fast” carbohydrates are not particularly beneficial for a bodybuilder, or for humans in general. What to do? Should I drink tea without sugar? There is an option - use instead of sugar honey. Honey includes many useful substances and antioxidants. Although tea also contains antioxidants, experiments by scientists have shown that it is the combination tea with honey has an antioxidant effect on the body. The researchers gave one group of people tea with sugar, the second - tea with honey. As a result, blood tests showed that the level of antioxidants increased only in the second group.

Honey- natural mixture fructose And glucose, so it is digested differently than sugar. Thanks to fructose, honey raises blood sugar levels less. Although honey contains about 65 calories per tablespoon, it produces significantly less insulin compared to sugar.

And also, remember that what darker honey, the more antioxidants it contains, i.e. more useful. And dark honey even contains those types of antioxidants that have so far been found only in spinach And garlic.

Honey- this is the only type of "fast" carbohydrates, which you can eat right before your workout! Honey does not cause hypoglycemia. One study revealed another big advantage to us - reception honey along with protein supplements accelerates recovery, and also helps stabilize blood glucose levels when performing heavy strength training.

Honey nectar can be safely called a unique product, which contains the maximum power of nature, filling it with benefits, taste and medicinal properties. What’s amazing is that, despite the huge number of myths, honey is used in bodybuilding, sports, weight loss and even diabetes!

How is honey beneficial for athletes?

We can talk endlessly about the healing qualities of honey nectar: ​​it is used to treat and prevent many diseases. The benefits of honey also lie in its composition, rich in vitamins, minerals, micro- and macroelements, so honey nectar can be considered an excellent addition to the diet of people involved in professional and amateur sports.
Many people are interested in the question: is it harmful or beneficial to consume honey nectar during training? Thus, honey sweetness is a good source of energy, which gives strength for training, increasing strength indicators and increasing performance. With the help of honey nectar, you can speed up the process of recovery of the body after heavy physical exertion, normalize and improve metabolism, and increase immunity. Using it instead of sugar can also help you lose weight, and taking it with milk before bed will result in sound, restful and deep sleep.

Acceptable standards and how to take honey

Interesting fact! According to research results, when consuming 1 g of honey nectar per 1 kg of body, productivity increases by 15%, the body is in good shape, and a surge of strength and energy is felt.

For the best effect of honey nectar on the body, it is best to take it 1 hour before the start of training and approximately half an hour after it. The type in which the sweetness will be consumed depends on the preferences of the athlete. Many people simply eat it with a spoon, some add it to tea, protein drinks, milk, or simply dilute it in water. Avid sports fans, professional bodybuilders and athletes recommend eating honey nectar along with bee pollen, which has the ability to improve the beneficial properties of the product.

Of course, there are some restrictions on taking honey, which depend directly on the athlete’s diet. As a rule, the recommended rate is calculated according to the proportion of 1 gram of nectar per 1 kilogram of weight. However, the maximum daily dose should not exceed 200 grams of a sweet product.

Nutritionists and trainers are unanimous in the opinion that when cutting or on a diet, it is better to limit the consumption of honey. But for muscles, at the stage of mass gain, beekeeping products will be very helpful. Its peculiarity is that honey after training will be very useful both for the body as a whole and for the expected result. Fructose, which is contained in large quantities in honey, quickly fills glycogen costs, helping to recover.

Important to remember! Regardless of your diet and exercise schedule, water should always be present during and after training. You need to drink more than two liters of clean water per day.

Can bodybuilders and people actively involved in sports eat honey? Definitely yes! And then we will describe several good and very healthy recipes, using which you can introduce honey into your diet, having a positive effect on the body, achieving good weight gain, recovery and preparation and training. In fact, there are a huge number of recipes with honey nectar, of which the following are the most popular:

1. Honey-wine tincture with aloe. First you need to prepare the leaves of the plant: cut them, wrap them in a paper towel and put them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Then grind and squeeze out the juice. Add 150 grams of the resulting product to 250 grams of honey and 350 ml of red wine. It is recommended to take Cahors. Mix everything thoroughly and put it in a cool, dark place for a week. After this period, take the mixture half an hour before meals 3 times a day.
2. Morning porridge with honey nectar. As you know, athletes often have cereals and cereals for breakfast. Adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey will help diversify the taste. You can also eat honey with cottage cheese, bread and crackers.
3. Honey with garlic. The secret of this, at first glance, terrible combination is that both of these ingredients, interacting with each other, allow you to produce growth hormone to a greater extent, as well as increase testosterone levels by 2-3 times. To prepare the garlic mixture, 1 clove of garlic, grated on a fine grater or chopped in a blender, and 1 tablespoon of honey are enough. It is recommended to take it a few minutes before bedtime.
4. Ginger honey with dried fruits and cranberries. 200 grams of ginger root should be grated or in a blender, add 2 unpeeled lemons to the resulting pulp, continuing to grind in the blender. Then you can add figs and dried apricots, 100 grams of each ingredient and 1 cup of cranberries. Add 200 grams of honey to the resulting mass and mix well with a spoon until the honey nectar is completely and evenly distributed. You need to take this paste 1 teaspoon in the morning with tea or other drinks.
5. Honey-nut mixture. Such gruel will be an excellent source of energy, since nuts have high energy value. For this mixture you need to use 100 grams of almonds, cashews, pine nuts, 50 grams of anise seeds and 20 grams of black pepper grains. Next, grind everything and add 100 grams of honey of any kind.

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Secrets of eternal youth

Beekeeping products have long been famous for their amazing beneficial qualities, which in their properties cannot be compared with any other food products. In this regard, honey is often called liquid gold, a gift from nature. Below we will describe several interesting recipes that will help maintain youth and beauty for a longer time. What's the difference between them? Only in the ingredients, but the result will be stunning in any case!

The first option is a decoction of the herbs St. John's wort, chamomile, and immortelle. Each plant should be mixed together 100 grams. For the decoction itself, you only need 1 tablespoon of chopped herbal mixture and 500 ml of water. When the tea has steeped for 20 minutes, strain it and add 1 teaspoon of honey. It is recommended to drink this drink after dinner and breakfast.

The second option is a mixture of lemon juice, honey and oil. To prepare it, you will need to mix 100 ml of freshly squeezed juice with 200 grams of honey and 50 ml of olive oil. All that remains is to mix everything very thoroughly and take 1 teaspoon at a time.


The third option is honey water. To do this, just in the morning, on an empty stomach, drink a glass of water at room temperature, in which one teaspoon of honey is mixed. This drink starts metabolism, normalizes digestion, tones and restores the body. You can add a couple of slices of lemon to this water, which will only improve the effect.

Honey-orange cocktail

To boost your vivacity and energy in the morning, it is recommended to drink a tonic cocktail of 2-3 oranges with the addition of a sweet and healthy ingredient - honey. To prepare it, you need to squeeze the juice from ripe citrus fruits, stir 1 teaspoon of honey in 50 ml of water. Next, pour the freshly squeezed juice into the honey water and mix well.

Banana milkshake with honey

To prepare this cocktail, you need to take 1-2 bananas and chop them in any convenient way - cut into cubes, grind in a blender, grate or crush with a fork. Next, add 300 ml of milk and 1 tablespoon of honey to the resulting slurry. The resulting mixture must be mixed very well in a blender or use a mixer until smooth.

Honey-nut cocktail

To get a tasty and incredibly healthy cocktail of nuts, you need to thoroughly clean them and grind them in a blender. Next, the pulp needs to be diluted with the juice of two citrus fruits: orange or grapefruit. It is not recommended to do this with lemon, as it contains too much acid, which can harm the body. Add 50 grams of honey to the mixture and mix well.

Probably many of you didn’t know this, but before the Olympics, Greek athletes simply gorged themselves on honey. Athletes believed that honey “pumped up” them with endurance and strength for future successful performances.

This is not surprising. Scientists have proven that honey contains glucose and fructose, which help the liver produce large amounts of glycogen.

When engaging in intense training, maintaining optimal blood sugar levels plays a huge role. As you know, athletes with a large supply of glycogen and sugar get less tired and show better performance.

A teaspoon of this product contains 22 calories, while the same amount of sugar contains 15. But honey is thousands of times more valuable, since, thanks to the equal ratio of fructose and glucose, it “charges” the brain in a matter of minutes.

Of course, all this applies to real honey, and not purchased in a supermarket. If you play sports, I advise you to buy honey directly from the producers. In this case, you will have a guarantee that you are using a high-quality product, without impurities.

By the way, drinking just one teaspoon of honey before bed will support your brain activity. After all, brain activity does not stop during sleep and requires constant recharge for proper functioning.

The fructose present in honey is stored in the human liver as the body's energy reserves and nourishes the athlete's brain at night. Thanks to this, your sleep is healthy and sound, and when you wake up, you will feel light and cheerful.

For many years, honey has been used as a prophylactic against weakened immunity. It is definitely worth taking for symptoms such as fatigue, allergies and colds.

The vitamins, microelements, amino acids and bioflavonoids present in honey effectively support the immune system. Believe me, just a few spoons of honey a day and your sleep will be sound and healthy, which will also strengthen your immune system.

Many athletes use honey as an excellent diuretic that removes excess water from tissues and joints. This property of honey is especially useful for athletes participating in various competitions.

By the way, I am ready to help my readers from Russia and recommend where they can buy honey in Moscow from the manufacturer. That's all for today. Read!

It has long been proven that honey and sport are two interrelated components, the combination of which guarantees excellent health to the athlete!

The biological structure of honey, as well as its complex composition, is determined by a huge number of beneficial properties. They can be divided into three groups:

• Bactericidal
• Dietary
• Medicinal.

Even now, some people believe that honey can not only preserve youth, but also prolong a person’s life. However, its constant use will definitely not harm your health!

Honey is not only a sweet treat, but also a valuable source of carbohydrates that are easily absorbed by the body. Honey breaks down quite easily and enters the organic system evenly.

Even in ancient China, honey was used to improve the health of human internal organs, increase strength, strengthen willpower, as well as burn subcutaneous fat and preserve youth.

All this helps maintain blood glucose levels. If we consider the situation with sugar, then everything is somewhat different. It is transported into the body in peculiar “jerks”, portions.

Therefore, there can be no talk of a constant glucose level.

Fluctuations in glucose levels in the body can cause feelings of fatigue, hunger and strong cravings for sweets.

Alternatively, consuming honey or other complex carbohydrates will help.

As for enhanced training programs, the body needs to receive a sufficient amount of carbohydrates. Honey is an excellent helper in solving this problem, as it helps increase energy reserves and endurance of muscle tissue.

If you consume honey shortly “before” a workout and immediately “after” along with protein foods, it will help to better absorb protein and will also have an effect on the rapid restoration of damaged muscle fibers.

What is the daily intake of honey? How much should you take “before” and “after” workouts?

As you already know, each organism has its own unique characteristics. For some, the ideal period for taking honey before training is 2 hours, while others need to take it 20-30 minutes before starting physical exercise.

P.S. Replace sugar with honey in your diet and you will significantly reduce the number of calories you consume.

Interesting facts:

1. One tsp. Drinking honey shortly before bed will help effectively support brain activity. It is known that the brain works even during sleep, therefore, it needs constant energy supply for normal functioning.

2. Even in ancient times, Hippocrates used honey as the main element in the treatment of complex wounds and various infections. This leads to another property of honey: toning the immune system, which promotes rapid healing of wounds.

3. Honey contains a number of vitamins, various microelements and essential amino acids, which have a great impact on the human immune system. Just 1-2 tablespoons of honey a day - healthy sleep and long health are guaranteed!

In the October 1955 issue of the magazine, an article by Lloyd Percival of the Sports College in Canada gave very good coverage of the national use of honey by rural people. I would like to cite here a fairly large excerpt from this article, because in our time, sports are given great attention in schools and colleges, and coaches of sports teams are constantly looking for ways to allow experienced athletes and beginners to maintain their body in a state of strength, endurance, energy. Since 1951, at the Sports College, systematic experiments have been carried out to determine the importance of honey in the nutrition of athletes. Previously, honey interested us as a product that is a source of energy, but no special study of its effect on the body was carried out. Out of habit, we used it as a health food due to its widespread use. With research into products that energize the body, stimulate recovery after vigorous exercise, and help keep the body active during intense physical activity, there has been a keen interest in identifying foods and beverages that could be most effectively used for these purposes. At the same time, we were most interested in the question: which product is the ideal energy food? We were interested in finding a product or combination of products that would provide the body the most quickly and with the largest amount of necessary energy, without causing various harmful side effects on the body. For this purpose, a series of studies were organized.
We have also launched a campaign to collect information related to similar studies conducted by other authors. As a result, we are now able to score widely used food and drink sources of energy, such as honey - 9; glucose - 7; corn syrup - 7: dark sugar - 6; white refined sugar - 4. When evaluating energy products, the following factors are taken into account:
1. Measurable response (physical properties). 2. Digestibility. 3. Chemical reaction (acidity, etc.). 4. The athlete’s general tolerance to a specific product. 5. Calorie intake. 6. Taste (according to the tasting scale). 7. Variety of uses. 8. Cost-effective. 9. Main components.
An analysis of the results of our product testing shows that: 1) honey, as far as can be objectively assessed, is an ideal energy product needed as a charge before heavy physical activity on the body, to maintain the body’s tension during the period of greatest activity; to quickly restore energy after a period of extreme stress; 2) honey, due to its high calorie content, even in small doses, can be a source of energy; 3) athletes love it very much for its taste; 4) on average, each athlete may consume more honey than any other energy food or drink tested; 5) the popularity of honey is also explained by the fact that it can be used in different forms and in combination with other foods and drinks; 6) honey is a pure, natural product, likely free of bacteria and irritants.
As a result, we recommend honey:

• 1) as exercise before performing heavy physical activity;
• 2) for consumption during the period of greatest activity of the body;
• 3) for use during the rest period, when the body is exhausted after performing heavy physical activity;
• 4) for daily consumption, especially at breakfast, to meet the body’s daily energy needs; 5) as a regular sweetener and for spreading on bread;
• 6) in combination with such dishes as fruit salad, curdled milk, drachena, rice pudding, etc.;
• 7) for baking various confectionery products;
• 8) for preparing kapdi;
• 9) instead of other commonly known types of sweeteners.

Endurance: A test of endurance athletes showed that the greatest effect was obtained by taking two tablespoons of honey 30 minutes before the start of the competition. In any case, when honey was excluded from the diet, a clear decrease in the level of activity of athletes was observed, namely: when running short distances (a 500-yard sprint with a five-minute break between runs); when running long distances at a speed of 1 mile in 6 minutes; in repeated swims on 100-yard lanes, with a ten-minute break between swims. Note: when feeding with honey during competitions, athletes showed higher performance.
Restoration of strength: when receiving honey after heavy physical activity, athletes quickly regained strength and were soon able to continue training.
Note: in this regard, we recommend the use of honey by athletes participating in sports competitions and sports games that require great physical activity and stress. Our studies have shown that when consuming honey, students learn the educational material better, since honey helps restore the energy expended during classes.
Reinforcement Honey: Athletes who took honey between periods of hockey, basketball and football games and between runs on the track or field reported feeling more energized and less tired at the end of competition.
Athletes who had to play two games in two days reported that after consuming honey to replenish expended energy after the first game and before the start of the second, they felt better during the second game.
When athletes who had to train or participate in sports after school or work ate honey with their second breakfast (lunch) and did not eat again after lunch, they did not report experiencing the usual decrease in energy during exercise. on the body.
Weight problems: Consumption of honey (12 to 16 teaspoons throughout the day with meals or at night) helped prevent weight loss as a result of strenuous work, intense physical activity over an extended period. Athletes who were on a reduced-calorie diet, after consuming a teaspoon of honey after meals, felt full, honey also contributed to better absorption of food, and helped maintain a feeling of strength and energy.
General conclusions: According to findings from a massive four-year trial of the effects of honey on college athletes, honey is an ideal energy product for promoting recovery after strenuous physical activity. We can recommend it to everyone who plays sports and everyone who wants to be active and productive throughout the day.