I have been doing some reading for HIM nutrition and have come across a couple of articles about people ditching big name brand gels for just good ol honey.
I am doing my first HIM this summer and was going to start playing with different fuel types. I was wondering if anyone has used honey for fuel and what does that look like? (gel bottle + honey) and what has been the outcome for you? (didn’t notice any performance difference, better, worse etc.) Should I stick the gels and just find ones that work?
I like the honey idea a little because one of my buddies has a bee farm and he can give me fresh local honey for next to nothing! Its only worth it if it works.
I use honey stinger products, they’re honey based. You’ll need to drink a little extra water both as I’ve read and in my experience to process it. However, it should work considering that’s all the original honey stinger gold gels are, at least I think that’s the case.
Honey has a lower glycemic index than most malto/furctose gels. If this works for you (and you like the taste) then you are set. Personally I want the high GI gels and the honey flavor is just not to my liking.
Buy a honey bear at the local grocery store and try it out on a ride (I know guys that have one in their jersey pocket for long rides).
I’ve used it during marathons. Used a flexible flask, mixed honey with some hot water and let it cool. Works a treat and the water makes it easier to handle / digest, play round with different concentrations.
Used to use in tri’s, quit for awhile and now use a lot for Ultra’s. Gels just way to expensive when training. I can mix to the consistency I want to carry lots of calories on trail ans wash with water. If you take in to much, and just it , you can have GI issues. I work well on Honey. If using gels I am a honey stinger guy. Here is a recipe. …but…mix water to consistency you want 100Ml Honey 1 1/3 Tbls Black Strap Molasses and 2 pinch of salt or more for taste
I used honey sometimes in bike races when I was in college and low on cash - it was available in our cafeterias. A few times I actually used little plastic packets, like a gel, but they were too sweet to work well except in really cold conditions.
Other times I mixed honey in water with a little salt as a sports drink.
All this was OK, but it so sweet to me I found it hard to mix the sports drink to have as much calories as I’d like.
You can neutralize the sweetness with lemon juice, which also provides some electrolytes. Add salt as needed.
I’ve only used this in training, on long runs, but it was successful. Will have to test it out on a long ride + run day to see if it works well enough for me to use in a race.
Thanks for all the info guys. I am certainly going to give it a go and see what how it works out.
I totally agree the expense of gels in just training, even buying the big bottles of gel, can be a bit on the high end. I am interested to see how this will all play out.
So how many of you guys actually use honey or have used honey in Triathlon races? Do you feel more of a energy boost from the the honey over Gels? why do you prefer honey over gels?
I’m heading to kfc right now and taking as many honey packets as the will give me. Booyaa! Saving money and going faster!!!
Dude, you will get about 20ml of honey per pack, be prepared to take a LOT on the road. I know this from bitter experience when I bought a box of 400 individual packs and miscalculated the energy available by a factor of ten…they are cheap & convenient though.
I have been doing some reading for HIM nutrition and have come across a couple of articles about people ditching big name brand gels for just good ol honey.
I am doing my first HIM this summer and was going to start playing with different fuel types. I was wondering if anyone has used honey for fuel and what does that look like? (gel bottle + honey) and what has been the outcome for you? (didn’t notice any performance difference, better, worse etc.) Should I stick the gels and just find ones that work?
I like the honey idea a little because one of my buddies has a bee farm and he can give me fresh local honey for next to nothing! Its only worth it if it works.
I get the trying to save money I’m pretty strapped myself at times. So my advice is don’t work on just one type of fuel. Use the honey, some real food like Allen Lim’s rice cake recipe (can’t recommend Feed Zone cookbooks enough), and of course do what smart triathletes do. Get used to what is going to be on course. Look into what will be on course and get used to that so you won’t have to carry anything.
I use honey stinger products, they’re honey based. You’ll need to drink a little extra water both as I’ve read and in my experience to process it. However, it should work considering that’s all the original honey stinger gold gels are, at least I think that’s the case.
I tried the honey stinger gold gels because I liked their waffles. Yuck! For me, their gels are just awful. Not only the taste but the texture which is less gel like and more just liquid. But everybody likes what they like. They’re just not for me.
You can neutralize the sweetness with lemon juice, which also provides some electrolytes. Add salt as needed.
I’ve only used this in training, on long runs, but it was successful. Will have to test it out on a long ride + run day to see if it works well enough for me to use in a race.
Have a suggested ratio on that? Sounds great, but I wouldn’t have a clue of how much of each to use and for it to still be palatable.
Not really, I mixed to taste. Meaning, I would take a sip, see if I liked it, added more (or not).
I was mixing into a First Endurance Liquid Shot flask (5oz/130ml). Probably about 2tbsp honey. That’s about 120cal + 30g carb. I always have a store bought bottle of lemon juice, so used that, basically a couple drops at a time until it tasted right. I used table salt vs sea salt since the crystals are smaller. Maybe a teaspoon of salt?
Put the honey in first, then the salt, and neutralize with the lemon.
