I was reading that the optimal “blend” for absorption is a drink with mix of Maltodextrin+Dextrose
I have a number of questions What is in Gatorade? Can you add the above two to Gatorade to strengthen the mix? How many calories can you pack in a bottle (750 mL) this way? Do any of you pack really concentrated bottles and then mix it up on course with Gatorade/water by taking sips from each bottle What are your sources of dextrose and maltodextrin and how much do you pay. I believe you can get the latter at the beer brewing places? Do you also add salt to your bottles? I typically add a teaspoon of table salt to a 750 mL bottle of gatorade to make sure I am getting enough in a half Ironman. In a full Ironman, where I have to take bottles off the course, I have to muck around with salt tabs.
So CarboPro uses Maltodextrin as do many gels. Eload uses Dextrose. My understanding is that if I mix eloand and gels I have a pretty good mix. Or I can mix eload and CarboPro. What other sources exist for Dextrose (Eload) and Maltodextrin (CarboPro). Eload is great, but I am looking for the raw materials in a cheap bulk form vs the paying the marketing markup to the “packaged nutrition” industry
Gatorade is too much sugar. In long races, too much sugar can upset your stomach and is not long acting. Sugar takes you up quickly and then drops you. I was on a research panel for Gatorade Endurance and we told them all they did was increase everything including the sugar – wrong.
I use Hammer products – long chain malodextrins. I can put up to 600 calories in a bottle on my IMs and halves. I will put 3 bottles on my bike and then just grab their water. Calories are not water (hydration). I also put their electrolyte powers in the bottle and tape their electrolyte pills to my top tube. (I sweat a lot.)
Liquids get to your stomach faster and you have less chance of stomach problems. Also when you take in food, your blood goes to the stomach to digest the food rather than to you legs.
I use HEED which has maltodextrin and xylitol…been using it for about 3 months and its soooo much easier on my stomach than gatorade.I just found gatorade too acidic after an hour or so but the HEED im good for (so far )as long as I can go.I take their e-caps as well if Im pushing it but thats because Im a sweaty dog…
Are you referring to th the article in Triathlete Mag that discussed a new study indicating that utilizing difficult sugar types was advantageous? I thought that sounded pretty interesting and seems intuitive enough.
I happen to use Accelerade and see it uses something called Trehalose which per Cargill is:
"…a multi-functional carbohydrate that provides energy with all the functional benefits of sucrose and about half its sweetness. Trehalose is GRAS as a multipurpose ingredient for use in food in general accordance with the current good manufacturing process.
Trehalose is a unique, naturally-occurring disaccharide containing two glucose molecules bound in an a,a-1,1 linkage. This structure results in a chemically stable, non-reducing sugar with many important functional characteristics. Trehalose is found in nature in hundreds of plants and animals. It provides a source of energy, and has been shown to be a primary factor in stabilizing organisms during times of freezing, drying and heating. Trehalose is consumed as part of a normal diet in mushrooms, honey, lobster, shrimp and foods produced using baker’s and brewer’s yeast.
I spent the summer of 2004 mixing my own sport drink with dextrose that I bought at the bulk food store, a little protein powder and salt. It worked great and cost way less than if I had been actually buying sport drinks. I didn’t experiment with trying to go with a heavy concentration though so I can’t give you any advice there. I didn’t take it to Hawaii with me since I thought taking a bag of white powder through customs might be a problem
No, actually I am doing a 100K XC ski race in 2 weeks that will take 6+ hours (actually hopefully sub 6). I have already planned out my nutrition which is pretty simple: 2L of Gatorade (6 scoops with 1 large teaspoon of salt per L), 4 Quaker Oats Trail Mix Bars, 2-4 gels and some coke off the course.
My buddy came by and we started a converstion on what was in different gels drinks and then we stumbled upon of all things, a body building website that talked about dextrose+malto being an optimal mix for gastric emptying. It occurred to me that when I used Eload (mainly dextrose) + gels (mainly malto) I had the best “stomach” performance in Ironmans.
I just want do it way more cheaply than spend $$$$$$ on designer nutrition when I can go to the beer making aisle and get the same stuff in bulk.
I want to retire early, so I hate spending what can be my potential retirement dollars on some other company’s marketing budget (even though I do marketing myself for a living…). Thus the search for low cost solutions.
Most of my long rides are a few bottles of gatorade made from powder and salt, a couple of bananas and a couple of bagels with peanut butter and jam. Works out to be cheaper than a few gels and real food tastes great. I hate spending $15 for a 6 hour training ride on designer nutrition…
Dev
Edit: For Long XC ski races, I can go with pretty solid food. I think it has to do with the fact that there is no jarring on the run, no crunched up aero position and generally much colder temps. But I would be tempted to go with a more liquid diet in the winter races too if it means less blood rushing to my stomach and away from the legs. Gels in the winter are typically a pain in the ass. They freeze and they are hard to deal with when you have gloves on and poles in your hands are you are going down a hill at 50 kph with an off camber turn at the bottom…
Allan…so just dextrose + salt and you become a 9:25 stud? Do I need a tricked out aero bike with ST approved aero position? Do I actually have to train?
