Early in my fitness career, carbs meant sugar, which it still does in many forms. It's good carbs v bad carbs. Simple sugars v complex carbohydrates. To get that extra energy boost during a workout, or for our forum, sustained energy for a bike ride, what form of energy is your "go-to" during a ride?
In one container, I have an isotonic electrolytic drink with the first four ingredients- Sugar, Dextrose, Fructose, and Maltodextrin. 18g carbs with 16g sugars, but I have to drink the whole bottle to get that serving.
Another "gel" that I carry has as the first two ingredients- Water and Maltodextrin 22g carbs with only 1g of total sugars. That's instant in two squeezes of the packet
In my head, I want to cut down on sugar, and I see maltodextrin as the best alternative.
Malto is a manufactured food additive with a high glycemic index (GI) and is used as a filler or thickener to increase the volume of food. It has four calories per gram and is easily digestible, just like sucrose. Some studies say that maltodextrin can help aerobic power during exercise and does not require as much water for digestion as some carbs do, so it's quick calories without becoming dehydrated.
There is also some evidence that maltodextrin can prevent colorectal cancer and tumor growth, positively affect overall digestion, and improve stool volume and consistency.
So, what's in your water bottle, and what's in you're back pocket during a ride? Sugar or Maltodextrin or Other?
Cutting down on added sugar is a good idea.
My ideal drink is natural fruit juice. It contains a lot of different nutrients to promote health.
However, in reality I usually buy the most natural drinks available in shops. Some are more ideal than others.
I drink some water too.
I have a simple rule. Cut down sodium and use a carb drink mix. You can add a little juice or flavor if you like.
I come from a bodybuilding background, where there's no such thing as bad carbs, only bad application of your carbs.
Simple carbs and complex carbs have different specs for their utility, and thus require different application to get the best out of them.
Simple carbs are sugars. They come in various forms, and are quick absorbing. They provide fast energy and help to stimulate quick insulin response—but they don't go far and can be incredibly taxing on the body. For example, table sugar is one molecule fructose and another glucose. The body can't use the fructose portion outright for energy, it has to convert it. This costs the body time and resources (metabolites) to do. Thus, wasting precious metabolites, and potentially forcing the body to compensate (via catabolism) through that time frame. Stimulating insulin release can be taxing on the body, if-and-when it depletes the insulin stores in the process (while the necessity for energy remains longstanding). The insulin rush will cause all the carbs to usher into your cells, but then your cells can't use it all at once, so it gets pushed out back into your bloodstream. The insulin is exhausted in this process (decomposes) and no longer available to usher the carbs back into your cells. You now have to wait until more insulin can be produced, and the body enters catabolism in the process while it waits (despite having bioavailable carbs). In addition to this, the molecules are used up very quickly and don't go very far, while your body's energy expensure can be immense while under intense performance. Thus, piling large amounts of simple sugars on is bad application, irresponsible towards the body, and will ultimately result in consequence.
Starches are complex carbs. They provide longstanding energy as vast chains of simple sugars. Complex carbs can also be taxing on the body when it comes to facilitating them. The vast chains rely on your natural digestive enzymes (amylayse) to cut them free, so the molecules can be used for energy. This takes time, and can exhaust those enzymes in the process. If you consume too much starch, the enzymes can get stuck on the chains, and then lost when they're pushed out of the small intestine and into the large intestine. This then leaves resources for the bacteria there to thrive on, produce toxins, steal iron, and compromise your overall integrity. Given the latency in the digestive process of complex carbs, you have to give your metabolism some lead to make that energy available to you. And so, complex carbs don't work well in situations where you need immediate energy. They can still be consumed to back up you up for a longer haul, but you also can't be certain how much of those complex carbs your body remains capable of facilitating (based on your remaining amylase stores). Where once again, it is a bad application of complex carbs, and irresponsible towards the body, to just pile on large amounts of them recklessly.
It's all about balance. And providing your body the proper balance between simple and complex carbs to get the most (and best) energy cascade for the performance at hand.
ReapThaWhirlwind, your response is very interesting and the information in it is new to me. Please elaborate on this subject!
I usually eat chocolate during a ride and from what you say it may be doing more harm than good over time. Should I be eating grapes or something like that? On short rides of 45 miles or less I only drink water. On long rides over 45 miles I currently eat a chocolate bar, and drink water. Sometimes I will bring oatmeal cookies and a chocolate bar. More information please.
Assume I will find more guidance on maltodexrin on body building forums, will it apply equally to an endurance sport vs. a lifting sport?
Chocolate is not bad. But you would want to treat it like simple sugars. It's great as an accessory. One of the best things about chocolate is that it contains a lot of iron. Iron is very important for creating heme-iron―which is what shuttle oxygen in the body.
Nitric oxide is of course also important. Many of my supplements contain betaine in them to help boost NO—but I also take Force Factor Total Beets. Eating lots of mushrooms and onions is also a very good way to boost nitrates and testosterone naturally in the body.
Once you start getting into more supplements, you will definitely see and feel the difference. Today I took a scoop of AllMax Amino Cuts, a scoop of Beyond Raw Burn MF [Orange Magma] non-stim formula; two Finaflex Pure Stamina; and a scoop of Total Beets. Of course I have more supplements I could have tapped into, but didn't.
On that note, loading traditional creatine monohydrate will boost your performance and endurance tremendously all by itself.
Hey, where do I find this type of information, particularly on what supplements to combine to get "X" results?
Answer to my own question: Triathlon forums. Lots and lots of info in easy to understand language along with some tested guidelines on usage. This will be fun to play with in the upcoming season.
Good point. I trust big labs as about as far as I can throw a politician, which is why I ask how or where you get the info from. Experimentation starts this spring.
FWIW, the doc recommended 500mg of Ibuprofen a few years back, it ate me up something bad. Replaced it with heat and a big teaspoon of turmeric every day and all issues are gone. Got my wife onboard with the turmeric and it helps with her arthritis in a dramatic way. She comes from a nursing family and believes docs are gods, and pills cure ills, so you know it wasn't easy to convince her to give it a try. Now she is a believer.
Over the last few months I've been playing around with what's in my water bottle. I know I did not want all the sugar from like inervit or Gatorade. Sticking with SIS maltodextrine for the energy gels. I've been riding with electrolytes by key nutrition and a beet powder product. Getting a little tired of the sweet taste, even though there is no sugar. I decided to replace the beets with L-citrulline. It just might be better than the beets to gain that edge by increasing my nitric oxide supply. The tart citrus flavor balances out the electrolyte mix. Last two rides were awesome. Psychological? Maybe, but anyway I had some good strong long rides.
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