Hello,
I’ve been using straight maltodextrin** **on my long rides and runs. I’ve heard that you would get more/better absorption if you mix the maltodextrin with something like gatorade.
My question is: Do I mix the maltodextrin with the gatorade at full strength or do I mix the gatorade at a lower concentration?
Thanks!
Gall
I did one ride with only malto when I first started using it. The taste was subtle but gross and I felt like I was forcing it down the whole time. No problems since I started mixing in a little gatorade, but honestly, I don’t think its doing anything but cover the taste.
Currently, I mix in just enough gatorade powder to cover up the flavor of the malto. Its actually a teaspoon or even less for an entire bottle. I guess my bottles have 350-400 calories each.
As for absorption, I’m not really sure how you would measure that. Are you feeling bloated, like things aren’t moving through you? Maybe back down on the concentration of malto.
Here is a better suggestion. Mix your malto in a full bottle of water with 1 or 2 nuun tablets. 1 vs 2 will depend on how strong you would like the flavor, how many electrolytes you want, etc. 2 tablets of lemon lime nuun with about 5-600cals of malto in water tastes pretty close to mountain dew in my opinion, and its very easy on the stomach. There are no absorbtion problems at HIM itensities. Anything shorter/more intense wont be needing cals so i cant answer that part 
The problem with the full strength gatorade is the water may become supersaturated and then your malto won’t dissolve and you will have white chunks floating around. So I would suggest some experimenting with cutting back the rade powder to prevent this from happening. Taste ain’t too bad.
I am planning to try something by mixing a ratio of malto and dex into the bottle and blending some strawberries in for flavor. If only the Magic Bullet had a bike bottle attachment.
Hello,
I’ve been using straight maltodextrin** **on my long rides and runs. I’ve heard that you would get more/better absorption if you mix the maltodextrin with something like gatorade.
My question is: Do I mix the maltodextrin with the gatorade at full strength or do I mix the gatorade at a lower concentration?
Thanks!
Gall
I mix malto with fructose, since research has shown you get greater use of exogenous carbs if fructose is in the mix (which I think it is with Gatorade, either as fructose or from sucrose). I use crystal light lemon flavor, and some salt and potassium to give it some taste other than just pure sweetness. I mix it pretty strong (probably somewhere around 500-600 kcal per 24 ounce bottle) and everything seems to dissolve well as long as I do it the night before or earlier. Reminds me of Extran which I don’t think we can get in the states any longer.
JUst get InfiniT and adjust your own flavor and relative percentage of maltodextrin.
How are you getting your electrolytes? I generally use a 400cal bottle of malto with 2 NUUN tablets - that will last me about an hour and a half, give or take. I know that jonnyo likes to splash a little Gatorade in his bottle for flavour, but I think his calorie mix is about the same as mine - he relies on salt tablets for electrolytes, however.
I don’t know about mixing Gatorade in for electrolyte balancing (I’d think it hard to get enough for most people), and am not aware of any advantages to using Gatorade as a supplementary fuel source to the malto.
JUst get InfiniT and adjust your own flavor and relative percentage of maltodextrin.
I’m with doc. I don’t know, you might have some reason you don’t want to use Infinit, but it would accomplish your needs and take care of digestibility issues at the same time w/o having to mix up a concoction. I’m not really sure if it’s any more expensive than a malto/gatorade combo. I know a lot of stuff gets hyped around here that might not deserve it, but it really is a quality product.
Whichever you need to accomplish your taste consideration.
I use Gatorade bottles (non mix) with CarboPro blend as needed for the particular ride.
JUst get InfiniT and adjust your own flavor and relative percentage of maltodextrin.
I’m with doc. I don’t know, you might have some reason you don’t want to use Infinit, but it would accomplish your needs and take care of digestibility issues at the same time w/o having to mix up a concoction. I’m not really sure if it’s any more expensive than a malto/gatorade combo. I know a lot of stuff gets hyped around here that might not deserve it, but it really is a quality product.
Nothing wrong with infinit. Just that you can get a tub of gatorade mix from walmart for $5, and a 12lb bag of malto for $20 and have enough fuel to last most of the season.
OP: I start with how many calories I want in the bottle, then substitute enough gatorade for flavor.
Ok, I’m calling bs on the Gatorade. What size Gatorade container can you get for $5 that lasts anywhere near an entire year? I have yet to see one that lasts that long(of course where I am it’s really hot). I buy a really big container at WalMart, Costco, or Sam’s for about $9-$10, but I still go through ~4 a year. Also, one large container of Infinit does last me an entire year as I only use it for long course racing and a few key workouts.
I’ve mixed malto with a different sports drink for my long rides. I mixed the malto at high concentrations to give me high-calorie water bottles to use as food/calories by taking small sips on a regular basis. Then I’d have plain water in another bottle for hydration.
where are you buying this maltodextrin? Any idea of the grade? Carbo pro claims different grades.
Ok, I’m calling bs on the Gatorade. What size Gatorade container can you get for $5 that lasts anywhere near an entire year? I have yet to see one that lasts that long(of course where I am it’s really hot). I buy a really big container at WalMart, Costco, or Sam’s for about $9-$10, but I still go through ~4 a year. Also, one large container of Infinit does last me an entire year as I only use it for long course racing and a few key workouts.
You’re right. Amazon has the big tub for $8: http://www.amazon.com/Gatorade-Orange-Instant-51oz-Gallon/dp/B0016PF0KS
You can get carbo gain for $19 here: http://www.amazon.com/Carbo-Gain-12-lb-Powder/dp/B000NYI3B6
A little bit of gatorade goes a LONG way when you’re using the malto. If I’m making a 500 calorie bottle, just a tiny scoop of gatorade gives it all the flavor I want - remember the malto has some sweetness too. How long it lasts depends on how you train. I only go long in the last 6-8 weeks before a long race, and I only take in calories when I’m going long. Otherwise my workouts are around an hour in length, and I just use water.
where are you buying this maltodextrin? Any idea of the grade? Carbo pro claims different grades.
See above. I’ve heard about different grades too, talked to a guy at a brew shop though and he said he’d never heard of it.
Bodybuilding places / GNC will carry it too, usually under the “bulking up” section.
Ok, I’m calling bs on the Gatorade. What size Gatorade container can you get for $5 that lasts anywhere near an entire year?
I have one of the $9 containers of gatorade you mentioned and it looks like its going to last me the entire season… If you only use enough to cover the flavor of the malto, you don’t need much at all.
Are you still eating powerbars on the bike if your taking in all these calories from the malto?
Any idea of the grade? Carbo pro claims different grades.
http://www.sugar.org/consumers/sweet_by_nature.asp?id=277
While the singular term “maltodextrin” is permitted in an ingredient statement, the term “maltodextrin” can be applied to any starch hydrolysis product that contains fewer than 20 dextrose (glucose) units linked together. This means that the term “maltodextrin” stands for a family of products, not a single distinct ingredient.
As far as I, and anyone I’ve talked to about this subject has been able to determine, the guys at CarboPro are the only ones who have any idea what their so-called “better grade” maltodextrin means. Yes, there are several different end-products that can be called maltodextrin, and because the term refers to a scale or grouping, I suppose it would be possible to extrapolate that into some sort of a gradient rating. It’s tempting to think (as an example) that <Maltrin’s> M180 is a “better grade” maltodextrin than their M040 product with it’s relatively high 16.5-19.5 DE rating compared to M40’s 4-7 DE rating. But is it really better for what we need? I don’t really know.
**
Let’s compound the confusion by adding to all this the fact that almost no-one from whom you’d buy maltodextrin would have the slightest clue what you’re talking about if you asked what the DE value of the maltodextrin they sell might happen to be. There appears to be a strong disconnect between the chemists who produce the stuff, and the bakers/manufacturers/brewers/resellers who actually use (or just sell) the stuff. If you buy CarboPro, Infinit or any other commercially available sports drink, you get whatever they use and have determined to be “the best” for them and their business needs - meaning that it might not necessarily be what their nutritional team has determined to be optimal for athletic performance, but the best balance of cost, availability, ability blend, store, etc. You just don’t know…
Ultimately this will boil down to a simplifying statement (not unlike my somewhat futile search for “the best (bicycle) grease ever”…): Buy something that’s easily available to you, and that you feel comfortable with. If it’s CarboPro, cool. If it’s Infinit, that’s good stuff too. If you like to frequent u-brew type establishments (or the Las Cruces Pool & Spa Store) for your matodextrin, that works great. Just make sure you test it out in training…