I've been a member of ST Tribe since 2005. Don't post very frequently, so two cents about me. 49 years old. 178 pounds. Been doing endurance events 25+ years. 7x IM, 40+ marathons, etc. Willing to try almost anything new from nutrition to clothing to equipment. Recently fueled entire 70.3 event on wasp extract just to give you an idea (nasty). I've used UCAN before, but haven't in the past year. So I jumped at the chance of testing out various new flavors and products. Got a nice package with maybe 10 UCAN packets and a few bars in mail at end of July, along with a shaker. Box is almost gone as of today.

If not familiar with UCAN, you need to go to their website and study how the formula was developed and the science behind the super starch. I won't repeat it all here, but I've read a lot by Bob Seebohar on using fats as fuels and like his thoughts and he is a UCAN fan. Also have tried to get into Keto (eating higher fats than proteins and carbs), and UCAN apparently won't throw you out of Keto if you are there.

With UCAN, a bottle of water filled with one packet of UCAN is only 160 calories or so. If you come from a mindset that you need 270-300 calories an hour on the bike, then the lower calorie content of UCAN can cause some doubt as to whether it will get the job done.

During the test phase, I tried the cocoa and orange drink mixes to fuel rides. I found both flavors pleasant enough and neither caused any stomach issues. The super starch is a bit chalky when you put in the bottle, so you have to really shake up generously and constantly (it will cake up in your bottle). If you put one of these bottles on your bike and swim first, then I found that the starch did need a good shaking before my first sip on the bike. This product tastes better cold, but even when it is warmed up from sitting out during the swim, it was OK. UCAN warm is much more tolerable to drink than other sugar-based drinks under similar conditions. I fueled a couple of longer rides by putting in two pouches into a bottle and drinking about an hour before my ride. Then about one hour into the ride I begin sipping on another bottle that had 1 packet of UCAN each hour. This process of only using UCAN with the 160 calories kept me feeling satisfied, and not full or bloated. Overall, the lower calorie content did not bother me during the ride, and I found the super starch provided me with a steady burn of energy. You can do 5-6 hours of riding with this product and not get overly tired of the flavor or get sugar-gut. Did not try these during a run.

Upon finishing a few rides I tried the vanilla cream with protein as my post-ride recovery. This product was entirely new to me. Unlike some protein formulas, the UCAN didn't leave my stomach feeling out of sorts. Other heavy proteins seem to hurt my stomach some, but this was great. I would use this protein product again in the future.

The bars are odd to say the least. If you are old enough to remember Space Food Sticks, which were popular in the 60s and 70s, these bars reminded me of them. They are small, easy to fit in a bento box, and seem to be a little spongy. They will not melt because they don't have any coating to them, which is good. I found the coffee bean to be slightly better than the cinnamon. Both bars taste a bit manufactured to me in terms of flavor, but they did the job during rides. Both kept me feeling fueled, without the sugary taste of other bars. Plus, these aren't so tasty that I was tempted to eat them when not cycling.

Overall, I'm a fan of UCAN. I like the less sugar approach. I like less calories. I like the science behind the product. For now, I'm putting my wasp extract days behind me and will reach for UCAN in the future.

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http://jmassieblog.blogspot.com

tl;dr
I’m a convert! The product is as advertised. I was able to sustain good energy levels during workouts at a reduced caloric intake. Outside of workouts, it helped control my appetite and energy levels. I’m looking forward to integrating the product into both everyday life and training for longer races.

Trial:
UCAN supplied testers with:
-8 packets drink mix (2 flavors); 110 calories, 27 g carbs; 0g protein
-4 protein packet drink mix (1 flavor); 200 calories; 33g carbs, 13g protein
-6 snack bars (2 flavors); 170 calories, 26g carbs; 4g protein

Workouts
Unfortunately, a back injury kept me out of major run or bike workouts for most of this year. I took this injury time focus on swimming, my weakest discipline by far, but it also means I was burning less calories than usual. The timing of this UCAN sponsored two-week trial aligned nicely with a local 2-mile rough water swim event in the Pacific Ocean. The swim event is different than an Ironman swim since wetsuits are not allowed (and it's obviously shorter).

General directions suggest both pre-workout and during fueling, but since most of my workouts were an hour or less, I generally took UCAN as a pre-workout snack.

Based on advice from one of their sponsored athletes, I didn’t distinguish between the drink mix or snack bars. I took them for calories and consumed the appropriate amount pre-workout (i.e. I used just the drink mix for the shorter workouts (30-45 min) and used the snack bar (more calories) for hour workouts). Personally, I have a tiny preference for the snack bars because I feel like the mental cue of chewing on food signals my brain that I’m full but I feel like this is more a psychological item for me than anything else. For both the drink and the snack bar, they were easy to consume and digest, I didn’t notice anything better or worse than my previous nutrition.

For the protein packet mix, I used them as post-workout fuel (though I normally like to get 25+ grams after an hour workout).

Finally, I feel like I should mention the product provided us had no electrolytes. For most of my work outs, I relied on water, but I also didn't have any long or high intensity sessions. I think you'll want to supplement UCAN with whatever electrolyte drink you use, and factoring in their calories as well.

Results:
My swim workouts felt great. I never felt low on energy. Most workouts ranged from 30-90 minutes and were at mostly endurance pace workouts but a few interval ones thrown in. In full transparency, previously, I probably would have just had a banana for these types of workouts. The big difference was that I didn’t get that insatiable hungry a few hours after the workout. Again, I wasn’t doing even close to the volume that I usually do, but I normally eat a bit more on swim days. I felt full and satisfied through busy work days with healthy portioned lunch and an afternoon fruit. Usually I’d go through a huge lunch and a few afternoon snacks.

There are two workouts worth mentioning that standout:
-2-hour social ride: not intense at all and really my first ride after months off the bike. But with just UCAN bar as pre-fuel and a bar on the bike, I felt pretty strong through out the ride. What I am impressed with the most is feeling really strong towards the end with an energy spike, when I can usually feel my energy starting to dip.
-2-hour swim workout: I wanted to peak for the swim with a long, slow-burn endurance session. I pre-fueled with more than usual with 2 UCAN snack bars and a Cliff bar gel. I had backup nutrition for during but never felt like I needed. I had sustained energy the entire session!

Also, I’ll mention a non-workout related day when I had work-related travel day. I used a UCAN bar as a mid-day snack and it was able to get me through a long-afternoon that went through dinner. By the time I got home, I was more tried than hungry and ended up skipping dinner. Using UCAN as a dietary supplement or meal replacement could have some merit but I’d have to experiment with this more.

Taste:
I’ll add this section because I know it’s what most people will ask but I’m not the best person to gauge this. I am flavor agnostic. I have a pretty strong stomach and all nutrition is the same to me (see note below). I don’t eat UCAN (or any other sports nutrition) for the taste, I take this stuff like medicine because that’s what it is to me, it’s fuel for my workout. I wouldn’t say any flavor tasted particular good or bad, but I would honestly say that about anything.

2 things worth pointing out:
-I noticed is a rather starchy consistency to the drink. It stuck for a minute or two after drinking, but goes away pretty quickly. It’s hard to say if I would have noticed this if I weren’t particularly trying to pay attention for purposes of this review. I would say it was neither pleasant or not, I just noticed it.
-I am rather sensitive to substitute sugar (e.g. Splenda, aspartame, etc…). I have zero sweet tooth and just don’t eat a lot of sugar in general so if I come across something with fake sugar in it (like Diet Coke), I can usually notice. The drink mix seemed to have this and sure enough it contains Stevia extract.

Conclusion:
I liked it and will look to integrate it as part of my future workout nutrition. I felt I was able to get the same, if not more energy, out of my workouts with a far less caloric intake. My two-week trial was less than ideal as I wasn’t doing my full length workouts, but I would like to test it out as I go back into long-distance triathlons. I also like the way it feels during non-workout days. With a level energy levels that keep my appetite in check, I think this would be a great snack when I’m trying to lean out my winter pounds. I would encourage anyone to give the product a try on their shorter workouts to see how they feel.

Background:
I’m a middle of the pack Ironman (4x) athlete, in between I dabble in shorter races and standalone marathons. Trying to avoid the dreaded bonk, I’ve always been aware of my nutrition, carefully planning out training and race day nutrition in terms of calories, carbs, electrolytes, etc… I am cautious so I am probably at the high end of caloric intake but I’ve got a fairly solid stomach, lucky to avoid major shut-down, gut-rot, issues. Also fairly lucky that my stomach can take almost anything, I am not particular about brands or products so I take whatever is offered on-course or on sale. It’s always just been about calories, grams of carbs, and ounces of fluids for me.

I had a chance to try the UCAN products for the last three weeks or so in my final lead up toward 70.3 Worlds. They sent three flavors of Drink Mix and two flavors of bars.

I used these products through my day to day training and some short trail running races.

I generally find myself to have a difficulty with fueling in the morning. I tend to do my workouts quite early in the morning and usually am working out with in 15 minutes of waking up at 4:30 or 5:00. I am time crunched in the mornings so I don't have a lot of time to eat and especially to digest. Generally I don't have a bit issue with digestion in general, bloat, cramping or any of those things. I don't love having a lot of food in my stomach when I work out though. My issue is being a heavy sweater, I need volume and electrolytes primarily. At 95kg or so, I tend to need a good bit of calorie as well.

Typically I fuel my workouts with a banana or something like that and maybe some sort of grain in the morning. During workouts I tend to use electrolyte and sugar like Skratch or more typically, my own blend of Infinit. Those products rarely give me trouble if ever, although the Skratch is low in electrolyte for me usually in a workout.

First up: UCAN Snack Bars

These were a bit of a surprise for me. Unlike the other reviews, these are clearly my preferred product. They go down very easily in the morning and sat well in my stomach with no digestion time.

Both flavors, Coffee and Cinnamon were quite good. Neither could be called gourmet food, but they were pleasant. I don't know if there is any actual caffeine in the coffee flavor, but it seemed to be more uplifting to me. Maybe it's just that mental component of thinking it was somehow really coffee early in the morning.


These seemed to fuel my workouts when I had them better than many other foods that I have had in the morning. They are not a big source of calories at 170kcal per bar, but it is definitely something to plan the rest of my breakfast around. I would love if these were 100 calories or so each. I often split a bar in half, using one half each day before my morning workout.


These certainly are convenient, but for me at least, could be more so at 1/2 bar sizes just to provide a little morning kick pre workout.


Second: UCAN Drink Mix


These were what I was really interested headed into the this test. I used these both for pre workout (all flavors) and post workout (especially the Vanilla with Protein).

The flavors were a mixed thing for me. Orange wasn't bad with a mild chalkiness from the starch. Sort of like Endurox r4 with a fruit flavor.
The Cocoa flavor was probably my favorite. I somehow have come to expect liquid fuels to be a vanilla or chocolate flavor. Again some starchy grittiness.
The vanilla was a bit harder for me. I really just had to chug this one down. The flavor isn't really bad, but somehow the chalkiness really shines through on this flavor. Maybe it is the extra protein in this formula. Somewhere under the vanilla flavor is something that almost tastes like mint and that just didn't sit well with my tastebuds.

All of them worked from 8-16 ounces of water with them. Lower dilutions were harder to get into solution. Using a shaker bottle is a must and even then you need to give it a few swirls along the way to keep it all in solution.

The flavors are all definitely on the non-sweet side, so if you don't like sugary sports drinks, this will be perfect for you. I am not a fan of overly sweet drinks and my Infinit formulas are lower on sugars, lower on flavor and higher on salts.

I definitely would use this as a pre race fuel or pre workout fuel, especially for longer sessions. How well does super starch work compared to a regular food that I might use? Versus an oatmeal or banana? It is all subjective honestly. I can say I definitely did not bonk or have any high/low effects while I was using it and UCAN did seem to provide an even sugar throughout.


During an event, I would probably not use this as a primary fuel due to its somewhat low calorie density and very low electrolytes. I could mix in some salt caps or add my own salt to the mix, but I don't really like having to figure out total volumes and osmolality and what not or spend time experimenting with my mixes when I have products that do that already. If these came in high salt varieties, I might be open to using them more during a competition, although I do think the starch texture would be something that I would not like mid-race (and, as before, I am really not someone bothered much by texture and flavor of most products--this would just be more than I would like in a race). I know the UCAN argument is the steady sugar means you need less overall, but I have a calorie, electolyte and volume plan that works for me and changing that would be work. That said, I think there is real science behind the Super Starch and it is something (especially in bar form) that I am considering adding into my daily routine for work/life that would provide more even calories with less insulin spikes necessary. I think this could be a real benefit.


Post workout I think the recovery effects could be of benefit with a prolonged sugar source available. I wasn't crazy about the Vanilla Protein flavor, but I am going to buy some of the UCAN Chocolate Protein formula (on my dime) to try. It doesn't hit the typical 4:1 ration of carb/protein that is often discussed, but Super Starch doesn't seem to play by the typical rules. I do wish their was more protein, however. At just 7 grams of protein (per serving of 110 cal serving, I would be shooting for three or so servings to get protein goals. I could supplement with more protein rich food or smoothie ingredients to boost this further and still keep some of that long lasting sugar benefit.


Did I workout better while I was on this product? It would be hard to quantify without a lot of back and forth testing. I do think the bars were a nice addition to the morning routine. A bottle of the drink mix before my long rides seemed to provide more long lasting reliable energy to the point I plan to keep using that as well. During workout, I would be less inclined to use a this due to texture and need to supplement considerably more salts. I like an all in one option. I don't do the rolling buffet thing on the bike. As a recovery product, I will need to find a way to supplement the protein in the UCAN protein products.


In the end, I think this is a good pre fuel with a preference for the bars over the liquid. I will work with adding this to my post workout routine to get more recovery on less sugar and insulin spike. Definitely a win for anyone who needs long lasting calories and doesn't like sugary drinks or foods.

August was a busy month for me, with three races scheduled. I used UCAN as my primary fuel for all races and training and was impressed with the results.

Building up to my races I used UCAN powder on longer training ride, generally taking it on the bike. I also used the UCAN bars before some of my shorter runs.

As a fat adapted athlete, I’ve tried some other products in the past that I’ve not been happy with, or have been left feeling gross. With UCAN I always felt a steady stream of energy.

The first race was IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder. Based on my experience in training I prepared a UCAN drink to use before the race and another to consume on the bike. I was concerned that this might not be enough to get me though, but it was. I also brought a UCAN bar along with me on the run, but didn’t eat it as I didn’t feel I needed it on race day.

Along with the UCAN, I mixed in some essential amino acids and a substance called Fat Fibre, which is a powdered MCT oil, for some extra fat calories.

70.3 Boulder was a success, my first IROMAN branded half, and I was able to finish under 5 hours! Besides the two bottles of UCAN the only thing I took in on the course was water.

I really like the sustained energy I feel from the UCAN, it’s easy to prepare any my system takes it well. I enjoy the flavors they have as well. Tropical Orange tastes like a Orange Julius. I admit it does have a slightly chalky texture, but not something that really bothers me at all.

For my next race, USAT Age Group National Championship Olympic distance, I used the same UCAN mixture. This time the Coco Delight flavor. It reminded me of a not so sweet version of Ovaltine. Just took it one packet of that before the race.

I had great results and an amazing run! Consistent energy thought and a great surge at the end. The last mile I had some competition and I needed to surge at the end.

My last race was a local Olympic distance triathlon. Again I used the mixture of UCAN, amino acids and Fat Fibre before the race. It really is just the right amount of fuel to get me through. I’m finding one packet last me about 2-3 hours.

This race was also a success and I ended up on the podium!

I really enjoy the UCAN snack bars as well, the cinnamon is my favorite flavor, but loving the coffee too. I’ve had them with me in the races, but haven’t felt the need for them. I like taking them when I have afternoon workouts. I usually eat one on my way.

UCAN has become my favorite fuel for racing and training. It’s easy to use, I enjoy the taste, and the consistent energy helps me perform at my best.

Background: 31 year old male that switched to a LCHF/Keto diet a little over a year ago. I sometimes cheat but I have found a very low carb diet works pretty well for me as a former fatty. I have been searching for liquid nutrition as everything seems to have so much sugar. Upcoming race is IMLOU. No hope to KQ.

Part 1: UCAN Drink Mix.
I used the product every bike ride that would be over 2 hours in length. For under 2 hours, I always just use water. On the run, I only drink water. I would occasionally fill a water bottle up with the drink mix and drink it during a long swim as I suffer from hunger on long swims.

The Tropical Orange was a pretty good flavor. The first time I tried it was with warmer water as it was sitting on my bike in the 100+ degree heat. It was palatable but not delicious when the contents get scalding hot. One thing I really enjoyed doing though was finishing all but a quarter of a water bottle of the orange and fill it up with ice cold water. Then I would add the cocoa delight and boom! That was delicious. I was hesitant on the chocolate flavor initially due to it being weird to me to eat chocolate while exercising. Another thing I found out that was really good for either the orange or the chocolate was to make the bottle hours before riding and put it in the freezer. Being in SLC and we have had the hottest summer on record, it made for a tasty treat. The colder the drink mix was the easier it would be on the stomach. The vanilla cream was used in post workouts for me and I would drink it would unsweetened coconut milk for a delicious recovery shake. I really enjoyed the flavor of that as it tasted just like a vanilla milkshake.

On days were I was riding at ironman effort, I noticed no issues with digestibility. Every week I perform a training TT and on occasion I would burp some of the drink up. When I am performed this training block, I am riding around 90% FTP for 1.5. The burping would only occur when I was riding harder than FTP on a flatter section trying to make up time. No other issues. I really enjoyed the drink while swimming. I sometimes struggle with energy levels on swims, but when I took UCAN I felt I could complete the workout without any hunger pains or fatigue. As I became more fit while on the trial, I really enjoyed how easy it was drinking out of a bottle as opposed to what I used to do for LCHF which was eat solid food. The UCAN holds way better in a bottle than meat and cheese would in a bento box in the heat lol.

2. UCAN Snack Bars
I was so happy to try these out. I have been looking for a bar to make my life easier. I would take them on the bike on longer rides as well as before track workouts as I go to the track after work in the heat of the day. Normally when I get home I am hungry so these bars were PERFECT for pre workout snack.

The cinnamon bars tasted initially to me like Cinnabon. I haven't had cinnamon rolls in years, but they were delicious. I opted to take the cinnamon ones before track instead of the coffee one as I was afraid of caffeine. I did not have any issues with the bars on super high intensity workouts. I have struggled eating 15-30 minutes before any sort of hard run and not spit a little bit up. I think I found that solid food. The coffee bars were generally used on the bike between bottles of the liquid UCAN. They went down just as easy as the cinnamon and tasted wonderful as well.

The texture of both bars was a little weird as it was just compressed ingredients, but they digested very easily. I am used to eating oat bars so I was thinking they would be something along that, but they aren't. They are small which is nice for fitting in the back of a jersey pocket. I felt stronger on the rides I would eat the bars instead of just relying on liquid nutrition. I was very surprised how much energy I felt eating the small bar. Also how satiated I felt after eating the bars was a very nice surprise.

TL;DR:
UCAN products work great! I used to use Scratch and they would give me side stitches. I switched to tail wind and last year during IM Canada my stomach went to hell. I don't have any worries with UCAN so far. If you freeze a bottle or use ice cold water, they are very smooth and palatable. I used UCAN for all long rides and ate a bar before all track workouts. I preferred the Chocolate with a splash of orange for the liquid side and the Cinnamon Swirl as I drink too much coffee during the day. I think I finally found my nutrition and look forward to trying other flavors. I will be buying a tub of the powder and bars as I continue to build for IMLOU.

A little background. Rowed as a lightweight in college, started cycling and running thereafter and started hitting tris in the past year and a half. A few olympics, a half IM and a full IM. Fueling for the half and full IMs was all liquid based with 2.5 and 5 servings of EFS Liquid Shot, respectively, as well as 1 and 2 bottles of EFS Pro electrolyte mix. Ended up on the course far longer than intended for the full and was bonking a decent amount onto the run while energy levels during the half were great. That said, I think that was more poor planning on my part than it was the content of the nutrition but I was looking to try something else. My stomach seems to play nicely with nearly anything but wanted to see what else my options were. In comes UCAN and this trial.
Each tester received 12 packets of UCAN drink mix, four each in: Tropical Orange, Cocoa Delite and Vanilla Cream. Also included were 6 UCAN snack bars in Cinnamon and Coffee Bean.
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Drink Mix:
General: All three of the flavors had a fairly chalky consistency. With most powders I’ve used, I’ve been content putting the requisite number of scoops in a standard bike bottle, shaking and being good to go. However, after trying this with my first packet, I decided it was easier to mix in the provided shaker bottle and then pour the solution into a bike bottle. The chalky consistency wasn’t unbearable, but I found shaking with the mixer bottle improved the effect. If we’re nitpicking, I found the shape of the single-serve packets obnoxious. If you tear the entirety of the perforated section off, the opening is too large to smoothly empty into a bottle. Obviously tearing half of the top off renders this “problem” fixed.
Flavor: The Orange tastes along the lines of a tangerine but more muted and not terribly tangy. The upside to this flavor is the lack of phlegm-like coating in your mouth compared to other fruit electrolyte powders I’ve used. The Cocoa flavor tasted manufactured, not unlike chocolate or cookies and cream whey protein powder. The Vanilla was also along these lines and was a bit thicker.
Function: I consumed the Orange and Cocoa in a variety of training scenarios and noticed no difference between the two so I’ll group them together. I consumed a bottle 30 minutes before the following types of workouts: 60min time trial swim, 90min swim, 1hr 75-80% trainer rides, 1hr trainer ride containing VO2 max work, 3hr outside ride with 30min run brick, and lastly an Olympic triathlon (2:20). Intensities were everywhere from low Z2 to touching into Z5. All were using one packet of mix with the exception of the brick in which I drank a serving 30 minutes prior to the ride and a bottle 90 minutes into the ride along with water throughout. I didn’t notice a strong difference in performance compared to the EFS I normally use. Energy levels were noticeably better than water during the vike VO2 max work as well as 50x50 swim workouts.
The “trust test” so to speak was the brick. I had two snack bars 90min prior to the ride, a serving of drink mix 30 minutes prior and then another serving 90 min into the ride. Total calorie intake was 600 (bars were 180 and then 110 calories per serving of Orange mix). The ride NP was 75% FTP and then the 30 minute run was at half marathon pace at 80deg F average temperature. I didn’t experience any GI stress nor any digestibility issues. My energy levels were surprisingly consistent though I acknowledge comparing things like perceived exertion are relative. The Olympic distance (Chicago Lifetime Tri) was fueled with a morning oatmeal with almond butter and two espressos, one snack bar prior to the swim and then a serving of Tropical Orange on the bike. I’d happily fuel in this manner again.
The Vanilla is marketed as a protein-added recovery drink and was used as such. I did not find it markedly different than any other recovery enhancing drink (Ultragen, GU Recovery).
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Snack Bars:
General: both the Cinnamon and Coffee Bean bars are fairly small and contain just shy of 200 calories. They’re sized in such a way that you could easily fit a few in a bento box and probably three or so in a tri pocket jersey. Pretty convenient.
Flavor: The Cinnamon reminds me of the sugary crust of a cinnamon pop-tart but less poignant. Certainly edible, though I much preferred the Coffee type. Both are fairly chewy and have the same chalky style as the drink mixes do. I assume it has to do with the same starch being used.
Function:
There’s some overlap between the drink mix section and my use of snack bars. I’d contentedly use them as a breakfast replacement. The downside ends up being marginal cost relative to making breakfast or something like a clif bar.
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Net, I haven’t ruled out the drink mix. I’ll probably switch back and forth between it and EFS Electrolyte mix for <3hr workouts. I’m towards the end of my season but will look to try using UCAN drink mix for the entirety of a race sim workout (7+hr) to see if I’m comfortable taking in so many fewer calories than compared to my normal race strategy.

If I may ask a few questions of those who tested...

Would you recommend either product as a "snack"? I travel quite a lot and even though UCan (both bars and drink mix) is somewhat expensive, it's cheaper than yet another airport meal and likely healthier. I'm a flight attendant, so I'm on my feet all day (read: not sitting my fat duff in a seat all day), and often at the end of the day when arriving at the hotel I'm tired and have low energy reserves which makes it difficult to get a workout in. I've been looking for something to help with this - perhaps sipping on some ucan on the aircraft during descent roughly an hour before getting to the hotel would help (and eating more in general - a constant challenge in my job). The idea of low-sugar/even-burn really appeals to me (and many, I imagine).

On longer/hotter workouts, did you combine the UCan drink with any electrolytes or salt tabs? If so, in a separate bottle or did you have luck combining something like Nuun/Skratch with UCan (I imagine this would be awful).

Thanks for any advice.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

UCAN would be ideal. I am self employed and my schedule can be very hectic with travel both locally and across the country. I use UCAN for snacks and meal replacements especially when I am on the road. I keep a few bars with me and a couple of single serve packs in my carry on and in my car. They always get me through in a pinch and with the slow release and consistent energy I rarely find myself struggling after a long day of travel.

Thanks, Robert

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Karen ST Concierge

I'm still working on my review, but can respond based on my results so far. I am pretty surprised at my energy levels after using it. While the bars are pretty dry or "chalky" and also small, they do tend to help me hold a pretty good energy flow. The drinks are similar in that the flavors to me are chalky and there's a bit of that artificial sweetener aftertaste, but once one gets used to that, it does seem to work well and provide a steady stream of energy. My coach has me on a very aerobic plan, so the products fit really well with the "fat burning" ideas and I have to say that while I have a pretty cast iron stomach, these cause no issues whatsoever. As far as electrolytes, I ALWAYS prefer to have them separate so I can dose as needed. There are some good products with electrolytes, but depending on environmental conditions, they often miss what you need. Carrying my own I know what I need and can use them as needed. In my testing I am trying to stay away from sugar products for fuel so as not to compromise the testing.The products are a bit expensive, but as you say, cheaper than some alternatives and while sometimes the taste of the medicine is not awesome, the end result is what counts. I'd definitely take a chance on them if I were you, and I'm hoping to use them a lot more. I hope this is helpful for you, and ask any more questions if you like...

When I first saw that Generation UCAN was included as one of the products in the ST Nutrition Taste Test I was excited. Since early-June, I have been participating in an online course on metabolic efficiency training (MET) lead by Dina Griffin, one of the eNRG Performance’s sport dietitians. And since Generation UCAN is touted as being complimentary to MET, I was very interested to try it and see how it works for me.
Athletic Background: I have been participating in triathlons and endurance events since 2002. I am a solid middle of the pack athlete. I have completed triathlons up to Ironman (X4), ultra runs including 2 100 mile finishes and swim marathons (up to 10k). I am definitely slow and steady type athlete.
For this taste test, I was training for the Swim to the Moon 10K OWS and a HIM. I was averaging 13-15 hours a week including 20,000 yards swimming, 5-6 hours bike and 4 hours running. I completed the 10K swim during the training and used UCAN as fuel (more on that later).
Nutritional Background: I have horrible gut issues. Not just during training but on a day-to-day basis. I seem to cycle between just moderate inconvenience to flares where even getting to work can be challenging. I have very few consecutive days where I can honestly say I have had no stomach issues.
Daily Nutrition – I guess I would call my diet a whole-foods based diet. I eat very few processed foods and eat mainly meats, foods, and veggies with very limited dairy (full fat greek yogurt) and grains (rice). Since 2010, I have experimented on and off with an MET based diet but never felt like I had a good handle on how to periodize my diet with training so I would struggle during long training weeks and get frustrated. However, the online course I took with Dina Griffin helped me get a better handle on MET concepts and it is now working well for me. Both in terms of training (energy/recovery) and a reduction in GI issues.
Training/Race Nutrition- I have used just about every combination of products in the last 15 years – course nutrition of Gatorade and gels, all liquids (infinit, tailwind, efs, carbo pro), bars (picky bars), “real” food (rice cakes, dates, etc) and more. Trial and error has taught me than an all liquid fueling strategy seems to work best. I used tailwind in 2016 but it failed me during races so I switched back to infinit for 2017 with some new custom blends. The infinit seemed to be working ok with only minor bloating during my early season races but am always on the lookout for something that might give me no problems at all which I why I tried the UCAN. I guess I should also note that I did try UCAN in 2010 and thought it tasted horrible. I couldn’t tell you how well it worked for me back then as I couldn’t get enough down due to the taste/texture.
We were given two products – drink mix and bars – with various flavors of each. I’ll review each product independently. We also had the opportunity to chat with Matt Bach, sponsored athlete and Pro Triathlete. I took advantage of this and spoke with Matt via email on how he uses the products in his training/racing, why he started using UCAN, and his favorite flavors.
UCAN DRINK MIX
Product Use: The drink mixes comes in two options: with protein and without protein. For the taste test, we were provided with the orange and cocoa delite flavors that do not have protein and vanilla cream that does. The protein mix is not a protein powder (as it only has 7 g of protein).

The directions suggested drinking 1 serving 30-60 minutes pre-workout, 1 packet every 90 minutes during training, and to use the protein version post workout. For the most part, I tried to follow these instructions. If I wasn’t going to eat a meal/snack close to the start or end of my workouts, I would use the UCAN. For workouts over 2 hours or so, I would then use 1 packet every 90 minutes during training. The main difference between UCAN and the other liquid fuel options is that UCAN is that its recommended to consumed at one time (similar to a gel) and not over time (like infinit). I was worried about having 10-12 ounces of fuel hit my stomach all at once but it seemed to work out fine. No cramping, bloating or GI issues.

For hydration during workouts, I used water or water with electrolytes (Right Stuff or UCAN Hydrate) depending on temperature and the workout. I tend to stay away from “fizzy” electrolytes due to my GI issues.

Flavors: Of the three flavors, the orange was my favorite. I also really liked the cocoa delite but I didn’t like it as much during my workouts mainly as I prefer tart over sweet during exercise. I ended up using pre-workout. The vanilla cream was horrible and I didn’t like it at all. It had a funny after taste that got worse the more I drank. I actually had a hard time getting through a whole serving and usually ended up dumping a few ounces in the sink.

I also wanted to note that the texture of the UCAN is a bit different than other products I have used. It is “thicker”. Think the consistency of skim/2% milk. It isn’t horrible but it does take a bit to get used to as it coats your mouth a bit.

Digestibility: I thought the digestibility was amazing. I had no cramping, bloating or bathroom emergencies while using the products. After consuming, I would burb a few times but I think this was related to quickly drinking the product in 1 setting and not sipping over time.

Convenience: The product is a more challenging to mix than say infinit or scratch. You really do need to use a blender bottle to get the product to mix into the water. I could never get a smooth mix with just hand shaking. It is also very, very fine so it does blow all over the place if you try to pour it outside.

In terms of use during exercise, the jury is still out but this is related to me trying to figure out how to carry the product on long rides and runs. With infinit it was easy – mix bottles and go as fuel as hydration was combined. By switching towards a liquid fuel and needing to have separate hydration, I need more bottles than I can carry (especially on long training rides where I don’t have an option to refuel). With infinit I can carry 3 hours of hydration/fuel but with UCAN I have 2 hours of hydration and 3+ hours of fuel (as it can be concentrated). I haven’t tried a gel flask yet but it is something I am considering so that I can go back to 3 hours of hydration on the bike.

Perceived Energy: I felt that my energy was more consistent during workouts causing them to feel a bit easier. This was especially apparent over my long swims. I was able to maintain my 100 pace even in later parts of 6000+ yard workouts. Some of this could have been related to fitness gains but I did notice that the 100s didn’t feel as easy later in the workouts fueled with other products. And while I was worried that only using UCAN on intervals, I would feel like I did when I used gels – energy swings up/down but that didn’t happen. My energy was very stable and consistent throughout the 90 minutes between feedings.

And in workouts where I used it as a snack, I felt like I had more consistent energy than I did when I had a real food snack such as nuts, avocado and red pepper.

Workout Intensity: For workouts where used UCAN before and during, I did feel like I could sustain a higher intensity that usual. I typically ate my normal pre-workout meal but added a cocoa delite UCAN about 30-45 minutes prior. It could be the UCAN or just the extra calories. I think it is a combination of both the extra carbs and the carb type.

Perceived Effort: I covered this under perceived energy above.


Recovery: I would say that I didn’t notice any noticeable change in recovery. I don’t typically use a recovery product as I usually eat directly after workouts. And as I mentioned, I had a hard time drinking the vanilla so I never actually drank a full serving.


Other Comments: I did use the UCAN powder as my race fuel for my 10K open water swim. I drank 1 packet of cocoa delite about 30-40 minutes prior to the start (about 1 hour after breakfast) and 2 scoops of orange at the 3.1 mile mark (which was about 90 minutes into my race). It worked well and I felt strong throughout. I also didn’t get hungry which is common for me in long swims.

In summary, I would call my taste test with UCAN a success and have purchased some additional quantiles of the orange and cocoa delite. I hope to begin to integrate it more into my training and see if this will be the solution to my GI distress.

UCAN SNACK BARS
Product Use: We were provided with 2 flavors of bars as part of the taste test- cinnamon swirl and coffee bean. Prior to the taste test, I happened to order a trial back when they were on sale so I also had peach passion.

UCAN’s guidance on the bars is to use them pre/post workout. I typically used them between workouts on long training days (8000+yard swim followed by 2-3 hours on the bike). For these workouts, I usually had a short drive from the pool to where I biked so I ate one along the way. I also did a few workouts where they were my afternoon snack prior to a 90+ minute evening workout.

Flavors: The coffee bean was excellent. The cinnamon roll was horrible. It was very bitter and I couldn’t finish it. The peach is also awesome and tastes just like a peach. The texture of the bars is very different to other bars that I have had in the past (picky, rx, cliff, bonk breakers, etc). My best comparison is that it has the texture of dry-ish raw cookie dough. Overall, I like both the coffee bean and peach bars.
Digestibility: Similar to the drink mix, I had no GI issues with the bars.
Convenience: As easy to use as any bar on the market.
Perceived Energy/Effort: Similar with the drink mix, my energy was good and consistent even over 5-6 hour bricks.
Workout Intensity: Most of the workouts that I fueled with the bars were easy to moderate based rides so I never tried them out at intensity. And at the easy/moderate efforts, the product worked amazingly. I was surprised at how good I felt at the end of a 3 hour swim/3 hour ride brick.
Recovery: No noticeable change.
Comments: Not sure if I will continue to use these regularly in my training/racing but it is more to do with my preferences than the product. I don’t like to chew during workouts and with my stomach issues, I always just feel “safer” with liquids over solids.

Thanks for the rec...I'll give it a go, and if I think of it, I'll let you know how it goes!

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Thanks for the rec...I'll give it a go, and if I think of it, I'll let you know how it goes!

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Hmm...maybe a blender (not blender BOTTLE) would do the trick with ice and water?

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

A blender does work as I used it when making concentrated bottles for long rides but a blender bottle is a lot more convenient. And its one less thing to clean when you just drink the UCAN from the blender bottle :)

While I love my blender, the blender bottle works much better for mixing the powder. The blender adds so much air that it becomes mostly foam.....then the product settles to the bottom while you wait to be able to drink it. UCAN tends to even foam a bit in the blender bottle.

I love the UCAN products. Been waiting for the peach passion snack bar to come back in. I hope it has not been discontinued!

I just wanted to mention that UCAN's peach protein bars are literally my favorite protein bar in existence but please don't order them. They've been sold out chronically this year and I'd really like to get my hands on a box :)

That would explain why they haven't yet shown up on the shelves where I shop. At first, the bottleneck was with the cinnamon bars and now, it's the protein bars. Ah, the joy and pain of being a successful start up...

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DFL > DNF > DNS

I also was very pleased to see UCAN in the mix for testing, and replied immediately. I had become familiar with the product during work with Bob Sebohar in USAT Coaching Certification and have also followed it for a fair amount of time. I have to admit that I have been somewhat skeptical of the claims made, so this made a perfect opportunity to try it with little risk. In addition, my coach is of the Maffetone type aerobic training, so it fits quite well with that methodology.
Athletic Background: I'm a 34 year veteran of triathlon and through the years have also become a student of the sport. Having been blessed with having some of the best coaches in the sport I feel I have a pretty good understanding of training, nutrition and other nuances of the sport. I have been fortunate enough to be USAT AA, IM AG Podium and KQ, 70.3 podium and WCQ and ITU WC top 10, so although older I have had fair success.
I am training for an upcoming IM and also USAT 1/2IM Championships, so a decent volume of mostly longer, aerobic work.
Nutritional Background: I'm lucky to be able to tolerate quite a lot, and have experimented quite a bit with products going back to the old Pro-Optibol and G-Push days. It's a constant quest to find that perfect blend and I've found it changes often with time.
My daily nutrition is quite good, as we both like to cook a lot, do it well, and are fortunate in our area to have access to a lot of fresh ingredients.
Training/Race Nutrition- As stated above, I've used countless products through the years and have pretty much settled on all liquid as my first choice. I've also experimented with what tastes god cold and hot, as often races are in climates where the fluids used for fuels will become quite warm. One year in Kona we even had to turn in nutrition so early that at special needs the protein in drinks had spoiled and started to turn ball before we even got them. I tend to shy away from protein since then, opting for mostly carbs of various forms.
As the testing gave us both drinks and bars, as well as access to Matt Bach fro more info, I took advantage of that and had a few e-mails back and forth. That was quite helpful in getting more info and some ideas we both shared were very valuable.

UCAN DRINK MIX

Product Use: Supplied drinks were the UCAN Superstarch in Orange and Chocolate flavors and UCAN with Protein in Vanilla. My conversations with Matt included which hydration product to use with the Superstarch, as hydration mix was not included. So as not to compromise their use of fuels, I worked on using the hydration products with the least amount of sugars I could find (GU hydrate and Skratch) or water. I was meticulous on using as suggested, so often did a bar 30 min prior and 1 bottle of mix per 90 minutes following. The vanilla with Protein was used for recovery only, and after the longest durations so as not to deplete the supply I had.

At first the flavors bothered me with the chocolate tasting pretty watered down, and both had a chalky consistency as others have mentioned. The most objectionable issue to me was the artificial sugar type aftertaste, but as Matt suggested, I actually became used to it as it was not terrible as some I have tried in the past. In fact, as the "medicine" worked, I grew to like it as it was not as sweet as many drinks. I took it along in a belt mounted water bottle on runs longer then 1:30 and as prescribed, used 1 packet appx every 90 minutes and drinker by feel as I needed. On rides I used multiple bottles and both flavors to see if one or the other went down easier. Bothe were quite fine.


Digestibility: I was really amazed at how the product settled so well. Sometimes chocolate can be a but of an issue and I've found it to be the hardest to tolerate during runs. No issues whatsoever with this and as you see, I tried to make it work in what I felt was the worst scenarios.

Convenience: I always used the supplied shaker bottle to mix and it did work very well. I've had a lot of issues with products in the past that did not mix well and clumped to end up with fewer calories ingested as the clump of product was at the bottom of the bottle after workouts. Not so with UCAN, and while it is quite fine in powder and can fly when opened roughly, it really did well in becoming well mixed with the mixer ball in the bottle.
I'd like to try the more concentrated, gel type mix and may do that in the future, but the stuff is all gone! ;-) As far as hydration and electrolytes, I used different bottles on the bike, and in case of a race would use hands of water. I always carry salt tabs, as one never truly knows what is needed during a race, and having a premix is not my idea of the best solution. With my experience I tend to have a good feel for when such nutrients are needed. The only other thing I feel would be helpful would be a source with caffeine, as I feel it helps me quite a bit to maintain focus when becoming fatigued.

Perceived Energy: As stated before, I have been pretty skeptical and frankly was shocked at the consistent energy from both drinks and bars. One particular swim I really did not feel like doing and I struggled to the pool after having a UCAN bar. Dragging into the pool, I wa pretty shocked at how the workout just flowed and as it went on I felt even better. I really had little other than the bar to thanks for that, and water was the only other addition during the workout. I went home very favorable impressed and the workout even included a longer set as I felt so good.

Workout Intensity: While much of my workouts are at high end aerobic, I did not feel the sudden surge from UCAN, but a very steady ongoing energy that was quite uncle I've felt with other products. Due to this, I have been a bit slow in doing this review, as I wanted enough "data points" to ensure it was not as "one off" and skewed my perceptions.

Perceived Effort: While I monitor run and bike HR levels very closely in my training plan, it did seem that the effort was much easier after ingesting UCAN. The above swim mentioned obviously felt much easier as stated.

Recovery: I found the recovery drink to be ok, but as I usually work out late in the day, dinner is shortly afterwards, so I really could not say how much that affected recovery at this point. I'd love to do a longer trial in some earlier in there easy workouts to try and get a better handle on this.

Comments: I have to say that I did become a bit of a believer as the drinks really supplied a steady, consistent flow during longer workouts, especially some 2+ hour runs. The drinks actually became a serious consideration to carrying a belt water bottle during my IM to ensure no spikes, but consistency in energy. This trial has created a bit of a controversy with me, as I thought I had a good plan, but now I may change things up a bit.

UCAN SNACK BARS

Product Use and flavors: Having received the Coffee Bean and Cinnamon bars, those were the sample products. I found both to be pretty dry, almost powdery, and not very tasty. Again, the artificial sugary aftertaste was a bit of an issue for me, but when things work who can complain? I did not care for the Cinnamon as much as far as flavor. The bars are also pretty small so not a big deal to just use them and see the production from them. I became a fan of how they worked. Often taste is less important than the results and this is truly the case here. After seeing some of the comments I'd love to find some of those peach bars here to try!

Digestibility: Awesome, and while a drink (water) may be needed due to dryness, they had absolutely no affect on stomach, and truly eased any feelings of hunger.

Convenience: No issue. Small, so easy to eat, easy to conceal in a pocket and easy to open as some wrappers give me fits!

Perceived Energy/Effort: I found pre workout these stuck with me well and as stated, a steady stream of energy as opposed to a blast often given from other products.

Comments: I really did enjoy the results of the bars and have ordered some to use for the next few long weeks of training. I am also contemplating using them during an IM on the bike, as the stream of energy and breaking up a liquid routine may be good.


OVERALL THOUGHTS: I really want to thank STConcierge and UCAN for providing this great trial opportunity! As I'm moving back into IM after a few years doing shorter races, and advancing in age, I was wondering how my body would tolerate not only the training, but the race day nutrition. The product also seems to mix extremely well with my coaches' philosophy of a lot of high end aerobic training to access similar energy sources in the body that this product line targets. Although this was a pretty short trial, it was enough for me to completely change my opinion on the products, and have in fact purchased some to extend trails and future sues. I saw there was a post or two regarding the high cost of the products, but if one has to use less of it during training/racing, it stands to reason that the end cost is no higher than others and the end result may actually be a much better return on the dollars. As is always the case with training and nutrition, no one size fits all, but I would really encourage any of you interested in the product to give it a shot! I also think that anyone doing some longer aerobic efforts could truly see a very nice supply of energy with UCAN. I have yet to do a valid use for extremely hard efforts, so the jury is out for me for that, but I anticipate no lesser results than what I felt with long efforts. I also believe that this could be used as a VERY good race day breakfast product with the inherent aspects of UCAN and the extremely low chance of any gastric issues caused by it. That going to be my plan...... Hope this was helpful and if you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best. In the meantime, I've got the find some of those damn peach bars! ;-)

Space food sticks. THANK YOU! I knew these bars reminded me of something I had in my youth. You nailed it!

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gbassett.com

Don't forget the Tang. What the astronauts drink!

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Karen ST Concierge

so did most of the users - drink a serving during training in one shot or sip? I mix and sip like typical bottle mixed with product. Any tips for using would be awesome. 90% of my workouts are on bike within 15 min of waking in AM

Bueller