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Vegan IM nutrition
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Hi!

I have my first IM in a few months time and I'm starting to look at my nutrition. I'm looking for advice on what to eat on the bike and run.

I've been primarily been eating dates on my long bike rides. Specifically, I've been eating 5-6 large Medjool dates (66~ calories per date per hour), with my longest ride being 4.5 hours. After about the 4 hour mark I start getting gut rot. And I'm afraid that having to run a marathon after the bike that I may end up with severe stomach pain.

I've already tried numerous different gels, which also cause gut rot.

Please don't derail this thread merely for the fact that I'm vegan.

Having all of that said, what are vegan athletes eating to fuel through an IM?

Thank you.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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What are you currently using for hydration?

Racing, I use First Endurance EFS and/or Gatorade Endurance (on course) for liquid calories and add in a few gels to target about 60g carbs per hour total. Depending on race pace/effort, can also add in a Picky Bar or similar for more solid/“real” food. IIRC, GU/Clif/Hammer probably some others, all vegan.

In training I tend to eat a lot more actual food during indoor rides, especially aerobic stuff, as all that stuff gets expensive. Fruit, bagels, whatever I have around. Save the simple carbs for harder efforts.

My stomach tends to handle most anything without major issue. YMMV.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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I just sent you a PM.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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Please define "gut rot"... I know some vegans like to bring up mythical theory that meat causes gut to rot.. really it's the stomach bacteria rotting the meat. Almost all gels are vegan anyways.. maybe some animal based one's with amino acids. And I guess if you are religious vegan , avoid honey based gels
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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Curious, what is a "religious vegan" mean? I know from your previous threads/posts that vegans and veganism rubs you the wrong way.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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Not a vegan but mostly plant based so take with a grain of salt. First of all dates also have fiber, that could be why they are bothering your GI tract. You could try pairing them with some nut butter for some more calories (because one an hour isn't many calories) but they still have fiber.
I am ramping up my training for a half and eventually a full later this year, so I eat lots of wholegrains, beans etc. You will definitely need a lot of extra calories so keep that in mind, always a good idea if you can prep a few things in advance. I made a huge batch of quinoa salad a couple days ago that has lots of vegetables and nuts in it so great recovery meal just waiting in my refrigerator. Have good snacks around ( nuts, etc). I also try to plan ahead for healthy pre made lunches to take to work. We go through a couple jars of nut butter a week.
For what it's worth, I am on the light side so I will eat junk like Pop tarts etc on long rides to switch it up and to make sure I get enough calories ( I realize there are healthy ways to do this, but..) kinda sounds like you just need to experiment.
Is it possible you just aren't getting enough fuel on the long rides/runs?
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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I have never done a full Ironman but for very long rides (4-5 hours) for food I use a mix of gels and dates. Dates in the second part when I get a little "tired" of the gels. For gels I found that Huma gels (made with chia seeds, I'm not affiliated) is a brand that, so far, has never bothered my stomach differently from other brands. I use the plus type that contains electrolytes, some including caffeine. They are vegan obviously and they claim only with natural ingredients.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
Please define "gut rot"... I know some vegans like to bring up mythical theory that meat causes gut to rot.. really it's the stomach bacteria rotting the meat. Almost all gels are vegan anyways.. maybe some animal based one's with amino acids. And I guess if you are religious vegan , avoid honey based gels

I'd love to hear about the sooper accurate, peta funded, scientific basis for this "gut rot" as well, as it may make me change my meat eating ways!!!
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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I've done a PB&J sandwich on a long ride, which I think should be considered vegan.

I also fuel primarily with dates and chocolate covered almonds, but my longest training ride will be 3.5hrs-4hrs.

Anything longer (fun), I'm usually stopping for lunch.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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70Trigirl wrote:
Curious, what is a "religious vegan" mean? I know from your previous threads/posts that vegans and veganism rubs you the wrong way.

Religious vegan is one who doesn't eat foods sourced from animal labor - honey from bees. But honey, is not an animal so technically vegan
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
70Trigirl wrote:
Curious, what is a "religious vegan" mean? I know from your previous threads/posts that vegans and veganism rubs you the wrong way.


Religious vegan is one who doesn't eat foods sourced from animal labor - honey from bees. But honey, is not an animal so technically vegan

Actually you mean ethical vegan. Many ethical vegans are not religious (going to church, reading the bible, believing in a God, following Christianity, Islam, or whatever...).

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [jonmhicks] [ In reply to ]
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I'm using water.

I will look into First Endurance EFS.

I love the idea of eating straight up fruit and bagels for trainer rides. Because you're right, the costs add up quick.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
Please define "gut rot"... I know some vegans like to bring up mythical theory that meat causes gut to rot.. really it's the stomach bacteria rotting the meat. Almost all gels are vegan anyways.. maybe some animal based one's with amino acids. And I guess if you are religious vegan , avoid honey based gels

It wasn't my intention to bring up any sorts of mythical theories into this thread.

I meant gut rot as GI distress.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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You should check-out the Base Performance bars at 'baseperformance.com'. These bars are the on course bars provided at all Ironman North America events. I think it is good practice to use the on course nutrition during your training, that way you don't have to carry all your own nutrition products for the event. It the past I used figs and dates as solids during long rides and events but I could only consume them in small quantities before I experienced GI distress. Once I switched to other fuels such as First Endurance, Base Hydro or Infinite Nutrition drinks with supplemental bars or gels I solved my GI distress issues. I understand that it is expensive to train with these products all the time but for longer training and racing sessions it sounds like you need to change something.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [driver_ian] [ In reply to ]
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driver_ian wrote:
You should check-out the Base Performance bars at 'baseperformance.com'. These bars are the on course bars provided at all Ironman North America events. I think it is good practice to use the on course nutrition during your training, that way you don't have to carry all your own nutrition products for the event. It the past I used figs and dates as solids during long rides and events but I could only consume them in small quantities before I experienced GI distress. Once I switched to other fuels such as First Endurance, Base Hydro or Infinite Nutrition drinks with supplemental bars or gels I solved my GI distress issues. I understand that it is expensive to train with these products all the time but for longer training and racing sessions it sounds like you need to change something.

Matt Miller of Base Performance replied to my email a couple years ago after I inquired about which products were vegan. Here is his response:

Base amino is duck feathers
Omega is fish oil
Bars have honey

That is all. Everything else zero animal.


Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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I have serious stomach sensitivities. There are a lot of Skratch products (skratchlabs.com) that are vegan and pull me through distance races without any gut issues. They have great electrolyte drinks (with or w/out caffeine), energy chews and bars. It sounds like you need to add an electrolyte and more calories at a minimum. There are also other completely liquid vegan products like Ucan where you don't eat anything else with exception of adding salt.
Last edited by: Trigirl357: Jun 19, 19 13:01
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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Only vegetarian but I take one cliffbar/ hour for the first 3 hrs and then switch to liquid where I put about 600 cal of powder in one bottle as concentrate for the additional time.

-shoki
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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Have you thought of Skratch Labs? Their hydration mixes are vegan friendly....https://www.skratchlabs.com/...?variant=42708341957 I use their products (whatever you can get in Europe) and I love them.

Tizzle

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [shoki] [ In reply to ]
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I thought (most) Clif Bars were vegan?
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [FastFor114.4] [ In reply to ]
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FastFor114.4 wrote:
I thought (most) Clif Bars were vegan?

Most Cliff bars if not all are vegan (I think there used to be one with honey or something else). The poster was saying he/she's vegetarian (not vegan). That's all.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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Dates are a great snack, but they are very high in fiber. Fiber is something that will definitely cause you stomach issues on race day. You want to eat low fiber the day before and the day of an Ironman.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [davejustdave] [ In reply to ]
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davejustdave wrote:
synthetic wrote:
Please define "gut rot"... I know some vegans like to bring up mythical theory that meat causes gut to rot.. really it's the stomach bacteria rotting the meat. Almost all gels are vegan anyways.. maybe some animal based one's with amino acids. And I guess if you are religious vegan , avoid honey based gels


I'd love to hear about the sooper accurate, peta funded, scientific basis for this "gut rot" as well, as it may make me change my meat eating ways!!!

I believe I heard a vegan explain "Gut Rot" is when your GI Tract is overwhelmed with "Toxins" due to having "blown out your adrenals".
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [70Trigirl] [ In reply to ]
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70Trigirl wrote:
Base amino is duck feathers

Yummm. And they think WE are crazy for not eating a steak.
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [Trigirl357] [ In reply to ]
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Trigirl357 wrote:
I have serious stomach sensitivities. There are a lot of Skratch products (skratchlabs.com) that are vegan and pull me through distance races without any gut issues. They have great electrolyte drinks (with or w/out caffeine), energy chews and bars. It sounds like you need to add an electrolyte and more calories at a minimum. There are also other completely liquid vegan products like Ucan where you don't eat anything else with exception of adding salt.
+1
The above has worked for me well.

"Discipline is the highest of all virtues. Only so may strength and desire be counterbalanced and the endeavors of man bear fruit."
Nikos Kazantzakis, The Rock Garden
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Re: Vegan IM nutrition [bbqdbanana] [ In reply to ]
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I believe SIS beta fuel is vegan. I hear that's pretty awesome stuff
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