I've never tried the product you mention... but, it's been my experience that calories in large amounts doesn't really tell the whole story. sometimes you can get "to much" calories. "To much" in the sense that the concetration level of the product can sometimes cause more problems than they solve.

(IMHO) The mix of water and liquid carbs. is a important part of the calorie consumption equation as total carbs. provided by a product (...you might remember the big osmolity NG debate earlier in the year).

That's my .02 cents worth... but, I would be interested in see the detail ingredients. Most of the GU like products contain acid preservatives which I am allergic to... causes acid reflux.

FWIW Joe Moya

Yup I've used it... twice, and won't bother again for two reasons: one, it was so sweet I couldn't stand it; and two, it's really runny - more like water than gu - so it's a pain in the neck to open and use on the bike, I ended up spilling a good bit of my first one. Plus, gu is to entertaining to choke down after the third or fouth or so... I'm back to using gu.

I've used it before. I carry it as a "last resort" on long rides for when I've lost my appetite for bars and gu's. This stuff has the viscosity of water, and a mild (IMO) sweet flavor. Very easy to swallow, even when you've gotten sick of gu's. The biggest problem for me was that if you're not careful you can accidentally swallow the whole pack in one shot. I did this a couple of times and it really messed with my stomach. You have to drink 1/2 a packet with a LOT of water to dilute it. If you drink the whole packet, you would have to drink a shitload of water to keep it from upsetting the sugar concentration in your stomach. I still use them occassionally. Definitely try them in training first, but I think they have their place in IM nutrition.

Here in Italy you get Enervitene in supermarkets so it's a lot easier and cheaper to get than GUs, Powergel, etc... I've used it many times both in training sessions and in races and the results were somewhat mixed. I't great when you run a marathon and you don't wanna stop at the last aid stations, but as far as tris as concerned now I only use it either toward the end of long rides or toward the end of long races (as a substitute for coke). Enervitene gives you a surge in energy right away but sometimes you almost bonk if you don't get some complex carbo too. Make sure you drink plenty of water and I too agree that it's not that easy to open when you're on the bike, especially given the littering penalties you guys have over there.

I tried it and thought it tasted like cough medicine. One way around the messy packaging is to dump it into a gel flask.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

It's pure fructose which will rip up your stomach if you are not carefull. If you have a sensitive stomach steer clear of super concentrated fructose drinks, unless you like walking with stomach cramps. Complex carb drinks like Carbo Pro are far superior in my opinion.

I used it with success in a half ironman last year. I mixed it in with the water in my Jetstream, so the taste isn't quite as strong. And you get the calories along with your nutrition. I tried drinking it straight in training, and it was a bit much (not to mention VERY sticky when you hit a bump right after you get the packet open!).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Contrary to what is shown on the Bikesport website, one packet of Enervitene does not have 480 calories, it has 240 calories. The packaging information is so confusing, I emailed the Enervit people asking how many calories it had. When I got no response, I called them. The guy on the phone said that one packet is 240 calories.

Funny thing was, I could figure out a way to interpret the calorie info on the packaging to say that one packet has 480 calories, and I could figure out a way to interpret the info to say that it had 120 calories/packet. But I could not figure out how to manipulate their numbers to explain 240 calories/packet. Go figure.

I used it a couple of times last year but not really enough to report any kind of results.

I believe a packet is 480 calories but each packet contains 2 "servings" of 240cal each. Not sure on that now...maybe I'll scrounge around to see if I have a leftover packet laying about.

OT

This is what the package says:

Serving Size 2 packs (4 fl oz/120 ml); Servings per container 10; Calories 240

One 'cheer pack' is 2 fl oz, and it says '1 cheer pack = 2 doses'. A box (container?) has 5 cheer packs. So if it's 10 servings per container, one serving is 1 fl oz. Which would be 480 calories per cheer pack if the 240 calories is for one 'dose'.

But it says the serving size for the 240 calories is 2 packs (4 fl oz), which would mean one cheer pack has 120 calories.

That's why I called them, and the guy on the Enervit phone line said that one cheer pack (i.e., 2 doses) is 240 calories. He didn't really seem all that concerned when I mentioned that no interpretation of the nutritional information on their packaging would lead to this conclusion. Whatever.