Energy Drinks/Gels for Sensitive Stomachs

Billy Whizz

I know there are frequent "What's in your bottle"-type threads on here but I thought I'd start a seperate thread to see if there is anyone out there who experiences stomach distress from several brands of energy drinks/gels.

I've tried High5, SIS, Powerbar and Enervit at different times during the past two years but still experience stomach problems during races when drinking only ~500ml and taking just 1 or 2 gels. Training isn't a problem where I'd just take water and accept the fatigue that comes from inadequate refuelling but for 3+ hour races it's quite a problem.

I have a couple of samples of Torq on the way which I hear is easy on the stomach so fingers crossed but if it doesn't...

Do you get distress from all but one brand of drink and did it take a while to find it?
Any experience of making your own homemade energy brews?
All "natural" (apart from Torq "organic") drinks that you've come across?

ROK ON

Clif Shot Bloks are gels in the form of a sweet type jelly. Tasty and do the job for me. I gag on any of the gels that I have tried.
6 per pack, and very easy to eat on the go.
http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks/

Raam

When I'm bothered I make my own drink: water+salt+glucose+my.favourite.fruit.drink.at.the.time.

Billy Whizz

Those Clif shots look worth a try alright, cheers. A had a few packets of Powerbar ride shots before which also cause problems though .

Raam - is the fruit juice "squash"? Where do you get the glucose?

Raam

Ribena, Robinsons, whatever takes your fancy really.

Glucose: by Shamrock in the baking aisle in Dunnes

Lumen

The homemade approach is good; you might try experimenting with using different types of sugar (glucose, dextrose, fructose) to find out which sort disagrees with your stomach.

I'm not sure using large quantities of glucose (enough for it to be a worthwhile fuel) is a great idea due to insulin response to simple sugars.

I tend to avoid energy drinks just because I'm clumsy and the spillages are really sticky. Fig rolls up the jersey works for me.

cdaly_

It's also worth noting that many of these energy drinks contain aspartame (which I thought you wouldn't need as you'd be using any sugar there would be in the drink)...

Billy Whizz

There must be something in those commerical energy drinks that's causing problems alright.

I've done a fair bit of googling and I'm going to try making my own. Cheers.

ROK ON

Billy Whizz wrote: »

There must be something in those commerical energy drinks that's causing problems alright.

I've done a fair bit of googling and I'm going to try making my own. Cheers.

Its a pretty common complaint that they cause wind and bloating.

Lumen

Billy, hope you don't mind me resurrecting this thread.

I'm experimenting with gel-like products for next months RAI.

I haven't really used gels much, but yesterday did about 170km/7hrs on gels and water alone (about 16 High5 gels, maybe 370g of carbs in total). The packet says 3 an hour, I was using a little less as it was a social sportive. No gastointestinal distress and no power dropoff - I only slowed due to pain.

The main inconvenience was sticky hands because my bottle leaked, but it was nice to be able to cycle with empty pockets and 9 hours of energy on board. A better bottle would sort this out.

Gels are a rip-off, so I'm going to make my own. Most energy gels (certainly the High5 ones) seem to be mostly maltodextrin with some fructose and flavouring.

After a bit of searching, it seems that the bodybuilders are at the cutting edge of putting crazy sh1t into their bodies. There is a lot of shilling on their forums, but some wheat amongst the chaff.

In general:

- Anything with fructose is to be avoided, because it'll kill you. It's basically canned death.

- High G.I. stuff (most sugars) are good for glycogen replacement, but a bit dodgy during exercise unless dosed very carefully due to blood sugar spikes and troughs. Also there's the diabetes risk. And the tooth decay.

- Low G.I. stuff is less spikey and probably healthier but takes more digestive effort, and not as good for fast recovery. Also, can be difficult to mix and tastes chalky.

Some boardsies recommended myprotein.co.uk, and their carb products range from very sugary stuff through to very starchy stuff.

My casually informed summary of their products are:

- Instant Oats, Activated Barley. Too much like food.
- Dextrose. Cheap, simple. Probably too high GI for during exercise.
- Maltodextrin. Cheap, high(ish) G.I. Widely used in energy gels. .
- Waxy Maize Starch. Low(ish) G.I. but probably too floury.
- Vitargo Pure. Very expensive, soluble but mixes thick. High-GI but no sugar. Don't really see the advantage over sugars.
- Palatinose. Japanese sugar substitute. Good for teeth, but metabolises to fructose (+glucose), which is a worry.
- Fructose. Scary.

So basically there isn't anything better/more practical than maltodextrin, which is presumably why thats most of what's in the gels. So ordered 5kg of that plus 1kg of whey isolate (good for recovery and maybe a bit on the bike if I can stomach it). Came to about €30. The maltodextrin works out about 7c per gel sachet equivalent - bargain!

Will post back with results when I've used this stuff.

Happy to be corrected by the better informed!

Lumen

Oh yeah, and in response to your original question, try avoiding anything with fructose in it, and anything which digests to fructose.

You may be intolerant.

Might be worth trying maltodextrin in water, in this.

Nietzschean

Might be a bit silly, but whats wrong with fructose?

Lumen

Nietzschean wrote: »

Might be a bit silly, but whats wrong with fructose?

In no particular order: liver disease, heart disease, cancer, strokes, gout. Maybe I missed some stuff.

Some or all of that may be nonsense. Or not. Google any one of those terms with "fructose".

It's probably great for diabetics until they die of everything else.

Nietzschean

cursory google seems to imply that its only an issue with silly levels of them? given its a large component of fruit sugars its shouldn't be too bad in moderation. if your trying to build good gel's you'll probably want to mix your sugars anyway?

Lumen

Nietzschean wrote: »

given its a large component of fruit sugars its shouldn't be too bad in moderation.

I got the impression that fruit doesn't contain much sugar, and that the fibre moderates the effects.

I did read one study that indicated fructose "trained" the liver, like with geese and fois gras. But they don't live very long.

With respect to quantities, I suspect that the safe amount is less than would be useful on regular long cycles. Given that it's not necessary, I think it's better to be safe.

Or I could be overreacting.

ROK ON

Just some recent insights.
Day 1 Tour de Munster: 2 pkts of Clif Shot Bloks, 2 Clif Bars, 7 0r 8 0.5L bottles with either High 5 or diluted Luc Sport. 175km
Day 2: Same as day 1. 190km.
Felt great both days.
Day 3. Bad stomach pains in morning. The runs. Nauseous. Very little breakfast. Runs several times during the day. No energy. Felt as if I was dying very very slowly. I think that I simply massively overdid it on th energy food intake on the previous two days, and the system simply shut down.
Day 4: Water. Granola bar. Felt great. 130km however, but very warm relative to other days. Didnt cramp, didnt feel particularly low on energy despite 650km in the legs.

I have a lot of gels and bars that I will not ever be able to face them again. If Lumen, NOT or RAAM want to experiment with them then let me know.

Oh, btw, I tasted a Honey sting cherry gel. Gorgeous.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

Day 3. Bad stomach pains in morning. The runs. Nauseous. Very little breakfast. Runs several times during the day. No energy. Felt as if I was dying very very slowly. I think that I simply massively overdid it on th energy food intake on the previous two days, and the system simply shut down.

OK, that's easily testable. I just need to spend a week eating nothing but energy gels.

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

OK, that's easily testable. I just need to spend a week eating nothing but energy gels.

I should say that I ate a normal breakfast on the firsttwo mornings, as well as sandwich lunch, scone and a normal dinner.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

I should say that I ate a normal breakfast on the firsttwo mornings, as well as sandwich lunch, scone and a normal dinner.

Munster water? Fructose in the energy products? A dodgy dinner?

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

Munster water? Fructose in the energy products? A dodgy dinner?

I have decided it was the gels or luc sport, so that is what it must be. proof is simply unnecessary;)

(All the cyclists filled bidons and ate dinner at same place, so I would in fairness rule that out, as no one else suffered).

FrankGrimes

I use Roctane endurance gels: supposed to have a much slower energy release than normal energy gels and that's certainly been my experience. I bring a few normal energy gels for use if I'm fecked or if needed on a major hill or push, but don't need them on most spins as the Roctane does the trick (though I go for a sambo whenever available).

I like the Overstims Red Tonic gels as they come in a tube so you don't get sticky hands and, as I discovered yesterday, they're handy for keeping in a wrist band (like the green one given out on the Orwell event yesterday) and means you can have one there for easy access and just take bits of it as needed on the way up the climb instead of all in one go.

Biggest learning for me recently though has been that when pushing hard I generally have to force the granola bars into me, so I often eat too little in the first 2 hours. From now on I'm gonna have a wholemeal bread sambo in the pocket and aim to get that into me in the first 2 hours.

Lumen

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I use Roctane endurance gels: supposed to have a much slower energy release than normal energy gels and that's certainly been my experience.

Blueberry Pomegranate Ingredients: Maltodextrin (Glucose Polymers), Filtered Water, Fructose, Roctane Amino Blend (Histidine, Leucine, Valine, Isoleucine), Ornithine Alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG), Sodium Citrate, Malic Acid, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Natural Pomegranate Flavor, Natural Berry Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Sea Salt, Caffeine, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate

So basically the usual maltodextrin/fructose mix with some protein, salt and caffeine.

There are a lot of claims on the product page, dunno how much is marketing and how much is proven.

I wonder whether there is really a difference between a basic cheap mix of sugars, proteins and salt and these more complicated products.

markcroninbsc

i usually just go with water in the bottle cause anythin else usually sickens me, and im never goin too fast or too far anyway

but the odd time ill order some hornet juice, it ships from new zeland but you usually get it about 5 days after orderin which isnt too bad and its not all that expensive either.

http://www.hornetjuice.com/

its absolutely great stuff! its the only stuff ive ever tried that you get a noticable effect from.

it does taste a bite ****e tho, but the way it works is you down half of it before you go. so i usually bring about 3/4 of a bottle of that with me and then a bottle of water aswell to wash it down a bit.

the second bottle of water is always a good idea i think with any of those drinks or gells.

lukester

ROK ON wrote: »

(All the cyclists filled bidons and ate dinner at same place, so I would in fairness rule that out, as no one else suffered).

Twice in the past few years I've had food poisoning and my wife, eating at the same establishment, in one case exactly the same meal, hasn't been stricken. Flies? Bacteria? I probably just need to HTFU.

I like the idea of homemade gels. kenmc's recent recipe appeals to me, i.e. honey, molasses, salt, especially as you can source organic variants of all of these. I used the high 5 gel flask on Sunday and it worked well, no stickiness or leaks. Once I've exhausted the current supply of gels I'll try some homemade concoctions.

Lumen

lukester wrote: »

kenmc's recent recipe appeals to me, i.e. honey, molasses, salt, especially as you can source organic variants of all of these.

Is your preference for organics based on concern for your own health or that of the environment?

lukester

Lumen wrote: »

Is your preference for organics based on concern for your own health or that of the environment?

Primarily the former, although happy that the latter might be the case. (With full awareness of how tenuous is the notion of produce being truly 'organic' anymore)

FrankGrimes

Lumen wrote: »

So basically the usual maltodextrin/fructose mix with some protein, salt and caffeine.

There are a lot of claims on the product page, dunno how much is marketing and how much is proven.

I wonder whether there is really a difference between a basic cheap mix of sugars, proteins and salt and these more complicated products.

Interesting...and that's the fructose stuff you reckon is bad news so should be avoided? Are those issues well substantiated?

I do notice a difference between Roctane and even the normal GU energy gel: with one I feel the rush straight away, whereas with Roctane I notice myself feeling a bit more energized a few minutes later, but less dramatic.

FrankGrimes

Just looking at the ingredients listed for Overstims Red Tonic (which I really do notice an instant energy surge from):

Glucose syrup, water, royal jelly, lemon juice, mint flavouring, aromatic plant extracts of: ginseng, guarana, angelica, fenugrec, cola, green mate and sea buckthorn, sodium, potassium and magnesium chloride, calcium and iron gluconate, vitamins C, B1 and B6.

Anything in there to be worried about?

smacl

Interesting. I just read the ingredients of the energy bars I use (torq pineapple+ginger) which list fructose syrup in the ingredients. Pity, 'cause they're damn tasty. High5 4:1 which I also use again lists fructose in the ingredients.

Guess I'll move back to homemade flapjacks and water before I'm totally fruct up