Allergic to Gu

[ny biker]

I just discovered that Gu contains sea salt. I'm allergic to sea salt.

I can't eat solid food on most bike rides -- my stomach will not tolerate it. And I don't have room to pack regular food anyway. I barely have room for the Gu packets sometimes on long rides.

Gu vanilla and Gu Roctane vanilla orange have worked well for me in terms of taste (not too sweet) and consistency, and they provide sufficient calories and electrolytes, even on really hot days.

I tried Hammer gels once and they were gross. Years ago I tried Power gels and they were too thick. Clif shots are too sweet.

This sucks.

Pretty soon everything will be made with sea salt.

[gnat23]

Hrm! I've never heard about someone being allergic to a specific kind of salt before. What sort of reactions are you having?

And what about liquid nutrition outside the Gel category? Double-strength sports drink, mebbe?

-- gnat!

[ny biker]

I need the calories from the gels, since I can't really eat food.

Gu chomps don't have sea salt in them. I'm not wild about them because they stick to my teeth, but I think I could deal with them.

Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I've researched the ingredients of some other products. Clif shots are out because they also have sea salt, but Power gels and Honeystinger don't.

Today I tried Power gels in two flavors -- vanilla and tangerine. Fortunately they've made changes to the product so now it's actually thinner than Gu. The vanilla was okay but very sweet. The tangerine tasted too much like chemicals. I'll probably try a couple of other flavors to see if there are any that are okay. The good thing is that it has tons of sodium -- 200 mg, which is twice the amount in Roctane.

I forgot to put the Honeystinger in my bike bag today so I will try it on my next ride. I bought the "gold" flavor, which I guess is just honey flavor.

The sea salt allergy is related to my shellfish allergy, I think. The worst reaction I've had was from Newman's Own pepperoni pizza. They use sea salt to cure the pepperoni so I think it was pretty concentrated. I broke out in hives.

I don't think I've had any reaction to the Gu, although I do tend to be congested after bike rides so that might be related to the sea salt. But I want to avoid even small amounts because I think repeated exposure to an allergen causes the reactions to get more severe over time.

I have an appointment with my allergist to talk to him about it.

The weird thing is that sea salt is commonly used in foods in order to reduce the sodium content. I don't understand why they would use it in Gu.

[indysteel]

Have you considered making your own "gel"? I've seen at least one recipe with honey, blackstrap molasses, and table salt. I'm sure there are other possibilities.

[Eden]

But I want to avoid even small amounts because I think repeated exposure to an allergen causes the reactions to get more severe over time.

Actually isn't it just the opposite - that's what allergy shots are all about - they are controlled small exposures to your allergen that gradually increase - they lessen your bodies immune response to the allergen.

[ultraviolet]

Have you tried Accel Gel? I just glanced at the ingredient list, and while it does list salt, there's no mention of sea salt (at least not on the packets I have in the cupboard).

[bluebug32]

Hammer has a lot of new flavors now. Not sure which ones you've tried? Can you just do sports drinks instead? You could carry some additional powder and mix your own.