Do you need the sweet sports drinks for energy?

[teawoman]

Another thing to consider - when you are glycogen depleated (or starting to be), you don't get the same reaction from ingesting pure sugar that you do when you are just hungry. Even those who low carb (by choice, not because they have too) can eat simpler sugars when riding hard without adversely affecting blood sugar. Basically, your body uses it so quickly that your insulin does not have to 'rise' to accomodate it.

If you want to read more about this, The Paleo Diet for Athletes explains it much better than I can!

Oh good! I was hoping someone would say something like that. Gatorade really works well for me on long rides. There's no technical health reason that I am going low sugar except that I discovered experimentally that it works for me for losing weight and side benefits include lessening food cravings and amazing general overall well being (less anxiety being a big one).

Not that I'm paying attention only to what I want to hear.

[Becky]

A couple of lower-sugar options for sports drinks:

Ultima Replenisher- uses stevia (all natural) as a sweetener, so very few carbs but all of the electrolytes. I tried it, but probably won't buy it again due to the taste.

Vitalyte- the stuff formerly known as Gookinaid, and then Hydralyte ERG. My favorite sports drink out there. 10 grams of carbs per 8-oz. serving, and all the electrolytes. The citrus flavor is clear, and very lightly sweetened- nothing like gatorade or similar! It's also very gentle on sensitive stomachs- no cramping or queasiness here.

Camelbak Elixir tabs- These are carb-free and artificially sweetened, but pretty tasty. A word of warning- due to the effervesence, do not put the lids on your bottles for at least 20 minutes! It will make a mess (but at least it's not a sticky mess )

Of these 3 that I've tried, I prefer the Vitalyte, although I'll periodically pick up some Elixir if I need the electrolytes but can't handle the carbs, e.g. post-ride.

Hope this helps!

[alpinerabbit]

But Becky,

sweetness that has no use is pointless on the bike, don't you think? So I would skip anything artifically sweetened.

I'll go with water and gels, bars and dried fruit kinda thing. On long rides we take a break anyway and will have a sandwich, pastry or such, and coffee. Always lots of sugar.

But for liquid I prefer water, the rest turns out to be sticky.

And some of the sports drinks (I believe it's the fructose) have had delayed, negative effects on my digestion (I would describe it as jet propulsion... ... you guess)

[Becky]

But Becky,

sweetness that has no use is pointless on the bike, don't you think? So I would skip anything artifically sweetened.

I totally agree, which is why I don't use Elixir on the bike, and why I prefer the Vitalyte However, I know people who do use Elixir while riding- to each his or her own.

[ny biker]

I'm confused. The point of sports drinks and gels is that you are burning carbs while you ride so you need to replenish them. Anything that is "carb free" fails to do that. So you run low on glycogen and you bonk.

You can get carbs from other sources, like pretzels, fruit, etc., if your stomach can tolerate them. (Unfortunately mine usually can't, especially during hot summer rides.) One benefit from sports drinks and gels over actual food is that the drinks/gels are formulated to be processed quickly by your digestive system so your body gets the benefits more quickly.

Another benefit from sports drinks and gels is electrolyte replacement. But electrolyte replacement alone won't be enough to get through a long ride, you still need the carbs.

FWIW, I know someone who makes his own sports drink. I don't know the full recipe but orange juice and salt are the two ingredients I remember him mentioning.

[teawoman]

I'm confused. The point of sports drinks and gels is that you are burning carbs while you ride so you need to replenish them. Anything that is "carb free" fails to do that. So you run low on glycogen and you bonk.

You can get carbs from other sources, like pretzels, fruit, etc., if your stomach can tolerate them. (Unfortunately mine usually can't, especially during hot summer rides.) One benefit from sports drinks and gels over actual food is that the drinks/gels are formulated to be processed quickly by your digestive system so your body gets the benefits more quickly.

Yeah, I'm not looking for carb free, I'm asking whether a lower sugar drink will give me the same energy benefits as one like gatorade--or if I can just eat a) carbs that are more complex and b) an electrolyte tab in water, thus staying away from the super sweet drinks altogether. Dried fruit is out for me because I'm allergic to the sulfites (and they seem to be even in the ones that claim to have no preservatives).

Sorry for the confusion.

[alpinerabbit]

Yeah, I'm not looking for carb free, I'm asking whether a lower sugar drink will give me the same energy benefits as one like gatorade--or if I can just eat more complex carbs plus an electrolyte tab in water and stay away from the super sweet drinks.

yes? of course, if you can stomach it!

Have a banana!

have some pretzels and even lose the electrolyte tab!

[aicabsolut]

And some of the sports drinks (I believe it's the fructose) have had delayed, negative effects on my digestion (I would describe it as jet propulsion... ... you guess)

Fructose is not an ideal sugar to have during exercise. It can cause cramps, is harder to break down by the body (convert to glycogen), and it can sometimes slow stomach emptying. So industrial Gatorade with HFCS is not as good as other sports drinks/supplements that have more glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrin.

I see low sugar sports drinks and I think, "What's the point?"

[teawoman]

So industrial Gatorade with HFCS is not as good as other sports drinks/supplements that have more glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrin.

I see low sugar sports drinks and I think, "What's the point?"

This sort of info is also what I am after. So what are the better ones?

[aicabsolut]

I think Accelerade uses mostly maltodextrin and dextrose, which is easily converted to glycogen by the body. Clif uses brown rice syrup and similar sugars, which is about 50% soluble carb: glucose (quick to digest) and maltose (an hour or so). You pretty much just have to read the ingredients list. I tend to go more by taste, but I think you'd do fine with those brands or Hammer, Gu, etc.

[Natural Beauty]

It was suggested that our family try coconut water instead of sports drinks. I haven't tried it yet. But, this gal pal is one amazing athlete so I'm going to try it this weekend. hee hee maybe then I'll look like her too.

[KnottedYet]

I like coconut water. It has lots of fat in it, so it gives me nice steady energy. Not too sweet, nicely salty.

Toasted coconut water is a yummy change if you get tired of the regular.

I get both in cans about the size of pop cans.

[Brandy]

Good answers here so far. I think it's hard for women to transition out of the mindset that sugars/carbs are bad and into the mindset that they're necessary for athletic performance.

On the bike I typically stay liquid unless I'd doing a double century. I use Accelerade (great because it also contains protein), Accel Gels and recently I have been using Carbo Pro/Carbo Pro 1200. CP1200 is good for when I'm over the sweet taste of Accelerade. The flavor is pretty mild.

[Jiffer]

Dh and I drink Cytomax Lite. Used to use regular Cytomax, but we both like the lighter taste of the Lite. It has the electrolytes and all that. Dh has been through a lot of different brands and done a lot of research, so I just do what he does. You should try it. We buy it sometimes at The Vitamin Shoppe, but they don't always have it in stock, so my husband bought it online last time. We like Raspberry Iced Tea. I'm not a tea person at all, and I like it. I'm also not a diet soda person at ALL because of the aftertaste, and this doesn't have that either. They use CytoCarb Lite to sweeten. It's "CytoSport's Unique Low-Glycemic Indexed Combination Of Pure Crystalline Fructose". 80 calories per scoop, one to one and a half per sports bottle.