Is fruit before bed a good thing?

[TrainingGirl]

Another insulin question as I try to understand it. I was reading an interview with David Boreanaz in Men's Fitness. He stated his trainer has him eat fruit at the end of the night to spike his insulin level and aid in burning fat. But before going to bed?

[Lost Dog]

Weird. If you wanted a spike, fruit's not a good way to get one. Fructose doesn't spike insulin like many other sugars.

As to the rationale, I've never heard that before.

Maybe he does nighttime workouts, so the trainer wants him to get some C (and P, hopefully...) before bed.

There's always the chance that the "client" here doesn't really understand what he's doing and why.

[Canadian_Bacon]

that makes no sense, insulin inhibits the release of fat from cells b/c it signals to your body that glucose is available to be used as energy; Glucose being our primary fuel source.

[RipStone]

Yea, carbs before bed are ok if they fit into your daily carb allotment. But when you eat fruit before bed, the frutosce is more likely to be stored as fat. I forgot the science behind it all(sorry).

[TrainingGirl]

So I'm not crazy then in thinking it doesn't make sense. They didn't really go into much detail on the rest of his diet and workout regimen. I just didn't know if I was missing something and maybe it could be beneficial.

[OldGuy]

In the grand scheme of things does it matter if you have an apple before bed?

I don't think so.

[BamaDave]

Originally posted by OldGuy:
In the grand scheme of things does it matter if you have an apple before bed?

I don't think so.

I don't think so either. How much fat are you going to store from an 80 calorie apple?? Enjoy!

[Terry Monk]

OK, but flip it around, how much fat is going to be "burned" by an apple? I agree with Bacon and RipStone, there's got to be a better way to spike his insulin levels than an apple simply due to the fructose being stored as fat. Now, granted it's not going to do a whole lot of harm but this just seems counterproductive to the whole idea. Seems strange to be getting this info from a trainer. However, we don't know the whole situation or much about the client.

[OldGuy]

From Berardi:

With that said, I don't think fructose is a big problem at all. After all, it's slowly absorbed (because it goes to the liver first and requires a longer processing time) and doesn't cause a BIG insulin release (there is an insulin response though). Therefore, a piece of fruit with a P+F meal is probably okay (just like some veggies with a P+F meal is also okay).

Maybe the fruit fits into his training plan.

[RipStone]

Originally posted by OldGuy:
From Berardi:

quote:

---

With that said, I don't think fructose is a big problem at all. After all, it's slowly absorbed (because it goes to the liver first and requires a longer processing time) and doesn't cause a BIG insulin release (there is an insulin response though). Therefore, a piece of fruit with a P+F meal is probably okay (just like some veggies with a P+F meal is also okay).

Maybe the fruit fits into his training plan. [/quote]....but with your last meal of the day your glycogen stores are probabaly full or pretty close to full and I believe frutocse is stored as fat more easily vs. other complex carbs which digest slowly and turn into glucose(oats, etc).

[GqArtguy]

Originally posted by RipStone:
....but with your last meal of the day your glycogen stores are probabaly full or pretty close to full and I believe frutocse is stored as fat more easily vs. other complex carbs which digest slowly and turn into glucose(oats, etc).

Depends on your training and the rest of your diet. Im curious as to why you believe fructose is stored as fat more easily than other carbs.

Im with bacon, oldguy, and dave.

[cappuccino]

hehe, I have this problem. My glucose drops overnight (get somewhat hypoglcyemic), and then spikes in the wee hours of the morning. See Somoygi phenomenon. If I go to bed with low bg, I wake up with it sky high. So, I need that apple(some carbs) before bed. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Now what affect this has on fat loss, I dunno.

Just makes me believe the advice on having a snack before bed.

[TrainingGirl]

Originally posted by GqArtguy:

quote:

---

Originally posted by RipStone:
....but with your last meal of the day your glycogen stores are probabaly full or pretty close to full and I believe frutocse is stored as fat more easily vs. other complex carbs which digest slowly and turn into glucose(oats, etc).

Depends on your training and the rest of your diet. Im curious as to why you believe fructose is stored as fat more easily than other carbs.

Im with bacon, oldguy, and dave. [/quote]That's where I think maybe the problem lies within the article. Well, not with the article...but with me picking it apart. They did not go into his training and diet in detail and I pulled that line from the article without knowing the rest of the story. So maybe good for him, but not for everyone? I wasn't particularly asking for my own eating habits, I was just trying to understand the reasoning behind him saying spiking his insulin level at bedtime would increase his fat loss.