When I combine regular gatorade with maltodextrin to make my homebrew fuel, I feel fine but still crave some salt. But if I use gatorade endurance I start to feel sick after just an hour of use. The endurance formula is higher in a bunch of different electrolytes, so I’m curious as to what might be the specific culprit. The sodium or the potassium? Or something else? I feel like I want to up the electrolytes in my homebrew but don’t want to add whatever is making me pukey. I have trouble believing it’s the sodium since I’m only taking in maybe 550 mg per hour… but is that possibly too much? Any ideas?
I don’t know, but the same thing happens to me. Just can’t use it.
Answer: The Gatorade Endurance.
…Instead: Use Infinit, if going long, use a gel flask with powder & put carry extra powder & add water. If in an Ironman race, reload in your special needs bags.
Sugar
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It’s the total osmolality(osmolarity?) of the solution that’s causing your issues. Gatorade/Gatorade Endurance is a very high concentration solution (everything in total- sugar, sodium, other electrolytes, etc.) that requires your body to either move water into the gut to dilute it or to try to get it out of the system as quickly as possible (vomit, diarrhea). A lower concentration solution such as Nuun, Skratch, Tailwind, etc., exist in a narrow spectrum (3-6% solution) that is almost entirely passively absorbed without the body needing to make any adusjtments for absorption. For some individuals, yeah, a single ingredient such as maltodextrin can be the culprit regardless of the concentration of the solution, but usually it isn’t that
I don’t know, but the same thing happens to me. Just can’t use it.
I can’t use it either.
I can use powdered Gatorade mixed normal or strong with no issues at all. If I drink Gatorade Endurance during a race I’ll feel bloated and sick to my stomach.
Fructose.
Not uncommon for folks to have GI distress due to fructose in spite of many companies combining it with dextrose and maltodextrin to increase exogenous CHO absorption rates.
By adding the maltodextrin you are effectively diluting the ratio of fructose vs. maltodextrin (as this is already present in the ingredients) making the CHO “cocktail” more tolerable for your gut.
I think fructose nails it. Looking at the ingredients list, Endurance Gatorade has fructose while regular Gatorade doesn’t. Thanks!
Thanks for posting this. I usually mix maltodextrin with Powerade and don’t have issues. Gatorade Endurance always tastes weird to me. It created a major GI issue at my last IM and will never use it again.
It’s the total osmolality(osmolarity?) of the solution that’s causing your issues. Gatorade/Gatorade Endurance is a very high concentration solution (everything in total- sugar, sodium, other electrolytes, etc.) that requires your body to either move water into the gut to dilute it or to try to get it out of the system as quickly as possible (vomit, diarrhea). A lower concentration solution such as Nuun, Skratch, Tailwind, etc., exist in a narrow spectrum (3-6% solution) that is almost entirely passively absorbed without the body needing to make any adusjtments for absorption. For some individuals, yeah, a single ingredient such as maltodextrin can be the culprit regardless of the concentration of the solution, but usually it isn’t that
I switched to Nuun a few years ago and it has worked for me, no issues at all. I had similar problems the few times I tried Gatorade Endurance where it did not sit well, and switched away from Gatorade altogether given the sugars in it. Also, its easy to carry the Nuun containers in a bike jersey pocket.
I was going to suggest the same thing as David TD.
Thanks for posting this. I usually mix maltodextrin with Powerade and don’t have issues. Gatorade Endurance always tastes weird to me. It created a major GI issue at my last IM and will never use it again.
No problem! This fructose issue explains a lot of why I have some hit or miss races and training days. I was beginning to suspect it, but was actually mistaken thinking Endurance didn’t have fructose and Regular did have it. I assumed that since it’s a known problem, they wouldn’t put that crap in the higher end product.
My issue wasn’t related to the osmolality of the electrolytes. When I would use Endurance to test it against Regular, I was using only half as much to keep the electrolyte amounts equal since Endurance has about double.
My biggest symptom would be incredibly sharp gut pain after stopping a workout or race and drinking plain water. Like something had been indigestible and stuck and angry, and now with that things had relaxed, it could start unleashing furious revenge on my guts. That would then be followed by constant gas for the rest of the day, probably from the poor digestion of the fructose that was finally getting processed. I’ve had drives home from races where I’m in the passenger seat in pretty significant gut pain for quite a while my wife drives because I can’t sit up straight.
The reason most sports drinks have a mixture of sugars is that having more than 1 type of sugar has been shown to increase absorption/utilization/whatever you want to call it vs a single source like malto.
Gatorade may have a difference mix because of cost, but for most of the more botique or specialty brands it’s because of the above. I also read, maybe the Gatorade Endurance is different, that once upon a time Gatorade simply broke down their HFCS into 2 different sweeteners in the ingredient list so it didn’t say HFCS.
I think fructose nails it. Looking at the ingredients list, Endurance Gatorade has fructose while regular Gatorade doesn’t. Thanks!
Regular gatorade absolutely has fructose in the form of sucrose which is a 1:1 ratio of glucose:fructose. The body can process ~25-35g of fructose(and ~60g of glucose/maltodextrin) an hour without GI issues so calculate how much you are consuming in that time period and test to see if you can stomach that. People can vary slightly so figure out your number and dilute accordingly
I think fructose nails it. Looking at the ingredients list, Endurance Gatorade has fructose while regular Gatorade doesn’t. Thanks!
Regular gatorade absolutely has fructose in the form of sucrose which is a 1:1 ratio of glucose:fructose. The body can process ~25-35g of fructose(and ~60g of glucose/maltodextrin) an hour without GI issues so calculate how much you are consuming in that time period and test to see if you can stomach that. People can vary slightly so figure out your number and dilute accordingly
Not entirely true. People with fructose malabsorbtion can absorb sucrose (regular gatorade) just fine. It’s when there’s **additional **fructose added (like in gatorade endurance) then they have a problem.
https://www.livestrong.com/...ctose-malabsorption/
“Fructose is absorbed well in the presence of an equal amount of glucose (which is sucrose, like you said). Only foods that contain more fructose than glucose cause symptoms if you have fructose malabsorption. Avoid foods with excess fructose”
Gatorade Endurance specifically has extra fructose added. Says so on the label.
It is not the Gatorade at all.
It is the butter you put into your coffee!
I am only half joking. Your body is a lab for your podcast. Which is cool. I like hearing first hand about the things you try. But how sure are you is gatorade that is causing the problems. Shoot man, weren’t you carb-free just a few weeks ago?
I think fructose nails it. Looking at the ingredients list, Endurance Gatorade has fructose while regular Gatorade doesn’t. Thanks!
Regular gatorade absolutely has fructose in the form of sucrose which is a 1:1 ratio of glucose:fructose. The body can process ~25-35g of fructose(and ~60g of glucose/maltodextrin) an hour without GI issues so calculate how much you are consuming in that time period and test to see if you can stomach that. People can vary slightly so figure out your number and dilute accordingly
Not entirely true. People with fructose malabsorbtion can absorb sucrose (regular gatorade) just fine. It’s when there’s **additional **fructose added (like in gatorade endurance) then they have a problem.
https://www.livestrong.com/...ctose-malabsorption/
“Fructose is absorbed well in the presence of an equal amount of glucose (which is sucrose, like you said). Only foods that contain more fructose than glucose cause symptoms if you have fructose malabsorption. Avoid foods with excess fructose”
Gatorade Endurance specifically has extra fructose added. Says so on the label.
There is not more fructose in endurance, the first two ingredients are sugar(sucrose) and maltodextrin(glucose). Nutrition labels are listed in order of quantity
Naw, it’s not like that. You probably heard a short carb-fast to improve metabolism. Not related to a specific sugar like fructose. I’ve noticed fructose problems my whole life - never liked it and it gives me stomach aches in high doses. Makes sense that gatorade endurance would give me problems since they add extra.
Naw, it’s not like that. You probably heard a short carb-fast to improve metabolism. Not related to a specific sugar like fructose. I’ve noticed fructose problems my whole life - never liked it and it gives me stomach aches in high doses. Makes sense that gatorade endurance would give me problems since they add extra.
I have a chemical engineering PhD with a background in biochemistry/immunology and currently study type 1 diabetes, please explain to me in detail how the metabolism of glucose, fructose, and maltodextrin work
There is not more fructose in endurance, the first two ingredients are sugar(sucrose) and maltodextrin(glucose). Nutrition labels are listed in order of quantity
Incorrect. I’m looking at the containers for the powdered gatorades in my hands right now in my own pantry. Regular gatorade has no added fructose. Gatorade endurance does.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71E2NEixU4L._SL1500_.jpg
“Sugar, maltodextrin,** FRUCTOSE**,…”
Third ingredient.