Considering the mix of maltodextrin, fructose and salt about 181 + 475 +50 ml are needed to obtain a isotonic solution for the given serving size of beta fuel. This is 706 ml of water.
As it seems they make use of some variability in the osmolality of blood: 280-330mOsm/kg. Reminds me of the theoretical bike weights. Or fuel consumption in the marketing brochures of car brands.
In the end you can use any competitor product with a 2:1 mix of malto and fructuose and dilute it with less water. You obtain the same product.
That’s interesting and I’m going to give it a go, thanks for taking the time to explain. Like I said I’ve potentially fallen for their marketing and I’ll be very happy if I find I can tolerate higher concentrations of a cheaper product!
I’m prone to GI issues if I use anything too concentrated, I even went as far as having a number of test run by a gastroenterologist in years gone by.
Long story short I tried out beta fuel on a 4 hour ride over the weekend and had no gut issues.
I must add though that I was taking in about 250ml/hour and drinking electrolyte and then water in another bottle, not sipping one then the other.
I wanted to see if it sits with me okay before trying it for harder efforts.
I’m into longer races, keeping the volume low is key for me. I see here only a marketing bubble. What really helps and is even cheaper is to replace maltodextrin with Vitargo S2. Even larger carb molecules reducing the water requirement. However, once through the stomach its just as easily split up as maltodextrin. A simple mix of 2:1 with fructose (even though I use slightly less fructose).
But in the end it’s a trial and error thing, whatever works for your GI.
USAC license holders get 20% off all the time and just in the short time I’ve been using it, they have offered 25, 30, 35, 40 and even 45% off specials. If you time it right, you can get a reasonable price.
I’m all for “the same thing” for less money. I save it for 2.5+ hr rides, but, if you know of something as good for less $, Post it up.
I personally have no desire to “roll your own” nutrition drink. Maybe marketing is why I’m missing some other product, but from what I’ve seen, Maurten and Beta Fuel are the only commercially available solutions for a premixed nutrition/hydration drink in this category of high carb drinks.
If there’s other drink mix powders out there that are largely similar in delivery/effect, but at a lower price, I’d love to hear about them. But I don’t want to mix my own from the raw ingredients.
Uh yeah.
*CarboRocket 333
*Infinit Go Far
Try those. I love the 333 and use it for my longer road and marathon xc races.
To be fair, I haven’t tried any of the Maurteen or SIS stuff. I was encouraged to try CarboRocket a few years ago and haven’t looked back.
I have used Beta Fuel for rides over 3 hours. After listening to the TR podcast, I have paid more attention to fueling rides better, I am not sure if it is the Beta fuel or being more disciplined but, I have felt stronger on longer rides.
I have had no GI issues using Beta Fuel and I do like the SIS brand and the quality of the products (sucker for the marketing I guess!). I have found Beta Fuel a bit more tricky to mix up, it can get a bit lumpy but half a bottle of water with the powder and vigorous shaking does work.
I find a Caffeine gel for the last hour really helps on longer >4 hour rides.
It is still sugar and will spike your blood glucose like any other product. I have tried it and measured my blood glucose. I got almost the exact same number from Maurteen, Beta and a standard SIS gel at the same time points after ingestion. Marketing.
I have started making my own mix with exactly the same ratios 2:1 Maltodextrin:fructose and add a bit of electrolytes to cover off the hydration. all the components are cheap individually so seems little point in shelling out on the pre-mix sachets. you can then also measure out the exact amount of carbs you want for a session and always have the right ratio.
That’s a flawed test. Beta fuel (and others) contain fructose. At rest in the fed state, fructose is typically converted to fat in the liver. When fasted, or when exercising it is converted to glucose.
I have tried using SiS products because they’re Informed Sport certified (for lack of banned substances) however I’m going back to Torq for bars and gels as they are simply far more palatable and at least as effective, and I won’t be tested anyway. I’m not sure about Beta Fuel. Torq Energy seems to work fine. It’s got the same glucose:fructose mix, just less concentrated.
I regularly mix Beta Fuel with 25oz of water and see no issues. I find the taste pleasant and I have less concern getting in enough fluids on hotter days. I haven’t noticed an effect on absorbing the carbs, but note that I am a smaller rider (130lbs) and need less calories than your average cyclist anyway. I imagine if you are a big guy, you might have issues with too much fluid to get in the required calories.
I found myself sick-burping when using Beta Fuel during indoor rides. Switching to TORQ not only resolved the issue, but also allowed me to increase hourly carb intake.
A lot of these companies sell trial packets, so it would be well worth trying a few to find what suits you personally.
What’s the reason that beta-fuel is only recommended for rides/endurance exercise over 2.5hrs? Is it to do with the composition of maltodextrin:fructose, or just the sheer amount of carbs per serving?
I make my own now, but used to use Maurten (and still do when I travel). Maurten also recommends small bottles, and I even wrote them to ask. I live where it’s very hot and humid, and i don’t have room on my bike for more than two bottles, so I need as much water as possible. They said that Maurten is only formulated for the smaller amount of water, but after talking to several people I decided that’s silly. I could use a small bottle of Maurten and then drink a few ounces of plain water and boom, it’s all the same mix in your stomach. I went to large bottles with zero issue.
