Liquid nutrition

[John L Hughes]

Responding to the comments below:

In my ultra racing days I used liquid nutrition. I used it when I did RAAM, won the 508 twice and set the course record at BMB. I used it for one simple reason.  It was easy to drink a bottle every hour.  

I've also used it on PBP and other 1200Ks - I pack three servings in a drop back - 2 for "dinner" and 1 for "breakfast" - convenient.  

However, there are no double blind tests showing that commercials sports drinks, gels, bars etc. have any performance advantage over real food. 

Sports nutrition is a multi-billion dollar business. Consult Advanced Sports Nutrition, Cutting Edge Cycling, The Cyclists Food Guide, or Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes - none of the authors say that any form of sports nutrition produces better performance than what you can buy in the grocery store.

If product X actually had an ergonomic benefit, then every pro in the peloton would be using it - unless it contained banned substances.

Many of my clients and I make our own electrolyte replacement drink which has more of the electrolytes you need, tastes better and costs far less than the commercial stuff.  Here's the recipe:

http://www.coach-hughes.com/resources/homemade_cycling_nutrition.html

You can get all the ingredients for the above in many minimarts.I also used to carry maltodextrin on longer brevets and added it to a caffeinated beverage for extra kick.

That said, we're each an experiment of one and if the XYZ drink / bar / gel works for you - bon appetite!

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Cheers,
John Hughes

Training & Nutrition Articles
www.coach-hughes.com
PO Box 18028
Boulder, CO 80308-1028

Liquid foods can keep you going like the Energizer bunny. You should certainly try them. At some point your stomach may rebel and you will want some real food.   Hammer products are widely available, so those are easy to try. I myself don't do so well with the soy-derived protein in them. Spiz works better for me. It contains whey protein and ostensibly no lactose so you ought to be ok with it.   The manufacturers claim drinking their products exclusively provides all the hydration you need. I'm not so sure. I prefer to carry a bottle of water as well, if for no other reason than to rinse my mouth out. Same for electrolytes. This season I discovered S!Caps work pretty well for me.   Liquid food products are basically maltodextrins (sugar) with magic proprietary ingredients added. They will ferment in warm weather. I only mix one bottle at a time. For a long leg between supply stops I carry more water and use it to mix more Spiz as necessary.   Doing 200k on liquid food should be pretty easy. Carrying enough powder for 300-400k starts to get heavy, requires luggage space and is expensive. There is a greater risk of getting sick of the stuff. I usually plan to get about half my calories from Spiz and the rest from real food. YMMV.   Bill   On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 10:39 AM, Don Funke <bozemanch...@gmail.com> wrote:

ripva...@gmail.com: Aug 31 02:48PM -0700  Perpetuum does not work for me and eating the stuff at minimarts does not  work for me I mostly use maltodextrin and have no problem carrying it on 600k rides.   200-250 cals per hour. Cheap and works. I avoid fuctose (many drinks have fructose)   On Monday, August 31, 2015 at 1:39:09 PM UTC-4, Don Funke wrote:

Lynne Fitz <fitz...@comcast.net>: Sep 01 07:54AM -0700  Perpetuem has no electrolytes; you'll have to get those some other way.

[Don Funke]

I am thinking of using drinks and gels simply because of food sensitivities, no dairy and no gluten. I would love to eat "real food" however there is almost nothing at most controls that is palatable for me. 

[Tim C.]

John, 

Your recipes are interesting and useful.  Thanks for posting them.  They appear to be easily improvised upon, too.

Best,

Tim C. 

New York, NY