How much glucose (sugar) do you have in your muscle building supplements cocktail? You may not have enough. If your formula includes the best supplement of all – HMB – then here is some odd research that you might want to know about.

What is Glucose?

Glucose is ordinary blood sugar. In the diet it comes from the breakdown of starch (a glucose polymer) and of table sugar (a disaccharide of glucose and fructose) and other disaccharides (e.g., maltose, lactose). Because it is standard blood sugar, muscle and other tissues have receptors for it, co-transporters that help get it into cells, and special enzymes for breaking it down throughout the body to harvest metabolic energy from it.

One of its actions seems to involve an interaction with L-leucine and probably other BCAAs for getting fuel into muscle tissue. It seems logical that HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate), which a metabolite of L-leucine and is the best of the muscle building supplements on the market, also has a potential role in fueling muscle cells.

With that brief background, you may understand why the recent research study that I cite below was directed at finding out more about the potentially interdependent roles of HMB and glucose in a combined supplement formula. Before I get started on that research, though, I recommend that you review my post on HMB formulas that can be boosted with creatine and L-arginine, here: Mix Your Own Bodybuilding Supplements Formula.

Note that the formula I describe there is based on solid research, and it also involves a boosting effect from glucose.

Odd Research

You may not realize how expensive it is to conduct a research study involving human subjects. Well, it is very expensive. That is why two consistent flaws characterize most human studies: 1) too few subjects; and, 2) they do not do dose-dependent evaluations (i.e., how much of what causes what … I hope that is at least a little clear). They use a small group of people and one dosage level of the treatment variable.

This is exactly what the following study did. I have highlighted, in bold blue italics, where the key details are regarding dosage. You are, of course, welcome to read the entire abstract from this journal article if you wish. That is why I duplicate it here:

75 Grams of Glucose!

That is a lot of glucose. If I weigh out a heaping teaspoon of glucose powder in my kitchen, it comes to 7.8 grams. Picture this: 75 grams is more than 9.5 teaspoons.

Furthermore, the ratio of glucose to HMB is 25:1. That is a lot of glucose.

You can see the results regarding the peak amount of HMB with and without glucose, and the time it remains in plasma (expressed as its half-life). This is all good.

It is just too much glucose. (Compare the amount here, 75 grams, with the amount of sugar in a 12 oz can of Coca Cola, which is about 45 grams – wow!)

I guess I have made myself clear about how astounded I am about the huge amount of glucose used in Study 2. Without dose-dependent evaluation, we have no idea whether that amount is necessary to elicit the reported results. It may be overkill and it may not.

I tend to think it is overkill, though. That is partly because similar studies using creatine, which also influences and is influenced by glucose when taken orally, show a beneficial ratio of about 5:1 (glucose to creatine). That is what I talk about and refer to in the post linked above (Mix Your Own Bodybuilding Supplements Formula and other links therein).

Ah, the oddities of scientific research!

By the way…

The best books that I know of for showing you how to stay fit with quick, simple, at-home workouts are the Lightning Speed Fitness Program by Roger Haeske and the Fit Over 40 for Women by Brett Yokley. Roger and Brett also throw in lots of bonus books on diet, exercise, and lifestyle when you purchase their books. Click on images below for details.

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All the best in natural health,

Dr. D

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