The trick is to brush your teeth just before having all that sugar (and at the end too, obviously) since you’re partly clearing the bacteria which are going then grow on the teeth. Obviously for a race its hard to control the timing, but for a long ride it can help
Dr Tommy teamed up with local age group legend Dave Matheson ( Challenge Penticton and Ultraman Canada Champ) for a couple of Kona builds and did regular 7-9 hr rides , sometimes finishing at their respective condo’s at Apex Alpine Ski Hill. One go to stop was Subway in Osoyoos to grab a foot long or two. Real food is the real deal more often than people think.
(Im guessing a lot of people here dont know who ST’s fittest dentist is) 
Meh on real food. It’s fine but you are generally not going to be relying on it for races. Have your gut ready for the sugar solutions you’ll encounter on course. It’s also both more convenient and cheaper than anything else out there, including Haribos.
Once you are used to it for long rides it’s no problem doing similarly on century and longer rides. Also has the big benefit on those long rides on not stimulating you to do a #2 on the toilet which is actually kinda a big deal in a lot of these events since the portapotties are really gross.
Trader Joes Scandinavian Swimmers are quite tasty and effective and I like the texture more than Haribo…
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My first Ironman was easy paced around 12hrs and I actually did carry a toothbrush and used it twice. Hah
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Also try the TJs fruit licorice. Three are equivalent to a gel (24g carbs, 110kcal), so they are easy to measure out (kinda like chews). They also hold up in the heat.
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The only reason gels can have such high premiums over homemade bulk is the convenient format. Plenty of gel makers are printing money by just undercutting maurten, but without the big marketing spend they remain fringe
It’s also that most people don’t know the magic sauce. Not that it isn’t hard to learn but the industry does well in hiding behind a false complexity.
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Hydrogel!!!
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you don’t need to spend any fortune learning anything: you either tolerate them or not; so, just one test is sufficient
Not sure if this is right. I’ve been told to “train my gut” I don’t know how many times. Also I feel like I’ve tolerated products better when I’d had them a number of times during training.
I’ve found that my gut has been sufficiently trained by eating amazing meals, followed by desert, and then sitting around for 30 minutes recognizing I’m going to sleep terrible unless I get on the bike trainer or go for a run so I do that.
The only issue with going on the bike trainer after following the amazing meal & desert protocol is I end up burping a lot, which the entire family gets to “enjoy” through the walls. Going on a run afterwards can occasionally yield spectacular results in the other direction, so don’t run too far or make sure it’s an area with plenty of trees.
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for me: same direction, different state of matter
I think you have that backwards, it’s 1:08 glucose to fructose. Otherwise, their packaging is wrong as it lists glucose on the ingredient list ahead of fructose. Besides, no one else is using more fructose than glucose and if Maurtens had some reason to do so, they’d be marketing the hell out of it.
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Yep you’re right - I’m reading it backwards. They still have more fructose vs everyone, so its still worth it to compensate though if you’re using other brands for training, and then switch during races
I have a theory that gut training is just about killing off your microbiome with lethal amounts of simple sugars, so your intestines become purely mechanical…
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