Make SIS BETA fuel yourself just a few pence per bottle

What products do you use?

My GI issues are totally workload dependent. If I’m zone 2 I can handle anything but if I’m pushing hard my stomach shuts off and I get gut pain. Drinking straight water stops it after 5-10 minutes. I know it’s somewhat normal but hoping to find the magic mix lol

I just use a 2:1 Malto:Fructose combo with an SIS tab for flavor and electrolytes.

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If 2:1 malto:fruc doesn’t work perfectly, try 1.5:1.

Also try sucrose. Maybe 4:1 sucrose:malto

If you’ve got a sensitive gut, use sodium citrate exclusively. No sodium chloride. No other electrolytes. Zero fat, fiber, or protein.

Stay under 10% solution for sure if GI issues crop up at higher work rates.

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Thank you for all your input! What do you mean when you say 10% solution?

Also, what’s everyone’s method for adding caffeine to drinks, emptying gel capsules into the drink? Does that change how they work/are absorbed in any way?

10% solution = 100g carbs per liter of fluid.

Most folks cut open caffeine capsules like Caffeine from Bulk Supps on Amazon .
(no affiliation)

If you have a business license you can use purebulk.com I think. I did. Not sure if it was the business license alone or the PhD in related field that I may or may not have made seem like I might be using the caffeine for research to be able to buy it. I think honestly it was just that I happened to have a business license becasue I think they’re a distributor for supp companies, I think.

Not at all.

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Bingo!

Completely agree.

Yeah, don’t do that! lol

Also lol. Hits close to home.

@redlude97 for president! Fantastic post.

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That says 1 tablespoon of sodium citrate has ~ 1000mg of sodium in it…is it really 1 tablespoon or is it 1 teaspoon instead?

Joe

OK I’m just going with 1 teaspoon unless corrected. So for my recipe, shooting for 100g in a 24 oz bottle (standard, tall water bottle), I’m going 10-20 grams of gatorade powder, 80-90 grams of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of sodium citrate. That’s one bottle, a second bottle has water and maybe (if it’s hot) another 1/2 teaspoon (?) of sodium citrate in it.

Does that sound right? (It’s been working pretty well so far)

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FYI: Sodium Citrate has about 1000mg sodium per tsp. Table salt is about 2000mg sodium per tsp. Definitely TEAspoon in both cases. NOT tablespoon.

Made that mistake exactly once. Noticed right after I poured it into my drink. Wasn’t about to waste 50 cents worth of sugar and Gatorade. Poor choice.

If adding another 1/2 tsp sodium citrate, put in same bottle as sugar. Not in water. It’s gross.

Yup!

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Awesome, thanks for double-checking my numbers. I’ma gonna make a tub of this stuff!

Joe

Just to be more explicit on the worse outcomes - we’re talking loose stools, diarrhea, and similar right?
Asking for a friend, he’s reported issues with this on very long rides.

Yes, and cramping. Can be pretty intensely painful cramping from top to bottom of the GI tract.

Let me know how it goes. I’ve never tried making my own mix for fear of not making it homogenous enough. I’ll be interested in your methods of mixing and how well it stays mixed, if it turns out well.

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I have been plowing through this thread and am almost ready to make my own drink.
Only question I have: what makes sodium citrate better than sodium chloride?
Is it to combat GI issues or is it better absorbed by the body? Or perhaps is it because of flavor?

There’s a post up above but the short answer is the chloride in sodium-chloride can lead to GI distress. Sodium-citrate does not have the same issue.

No specific issue with chloride ions in particular. It’s most number of molecules. Number of molecules is higher when using sodium chloride. Fewer molecules for the same amount of sodium when using sodium citrate. More “FYI” below:

Using sodium citrate in place of table salt allows your gut to tolerate more sodium consumption during training. Sodium citrate has 3 sodium molecules for every 1 citrate molecule. Sodium chloride has 1 sodium molecule for every 1 chloride molecule.

That means that for the same amount of sodium consumption, there will be a greater number of molecules ingested, if using table salt, rather than sodium citrate.

Osmolarity is the number of molecules per unit volume of solution. Our gastrointestinal tracts are sensitive to very high osmolarity solutions. During normal daily living, consumption of very high osmolar solutions (lots of molecules per liter) causes a laxative effect 20-60 minutes after consumption. During exercise, it causes gut cramping, THEN a laxative effect.

Sodium citrate allows for lower osmolarity of solution for the same amount of sodium.

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No specific issue with chloride ions in particular. It’s the number of molecules. Number of molecules is higher when using sodium chloride. Fewer molecules for the same amount of sodium when using sodium citrate. More “FYI” below:

Using sodium citrate in place of table salt allows your gut to tolerate more sodium consumption during training. Sodium citrate has 3 sodium molecules for every 1 citrate molecule. Sodium chloride has 1 sodium molecule for every 1 chloride molecule.

That means that for the same amount of sodium consumption, there will be a greater number of molecules ingested, if using table salt, rather than sodium citrate.

Osmolarity is the number of molecules per unit volume of solution. Our gastrointestinal tracts are sensitive to very high osmolarity solutions. During normal daily living, consumption of very high osmolar solutions (lots of molecules per liter) causes a laxative effect 20-60 minutes after consumption. During exercise, it causes gut cramping, THEN a laxative effect.

Sodium citrate allows for lower osmolarity of solution for the same amount of sodium.

I seem to have missed that post above, but thank you for the clear answer. Guess I’ll order some sodium citrate as well.

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so you’re saying I should put elemental sodium in my bottles for minimum molecules? :eyes: :firecracker:

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You may need a new water bottle.

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We need a forum rule that when discussing recipes, all measurements shall be expressed in clear units. Grams and Milliliters. No more “bottles”, “cups”, “pinches”, “wee bits” or “heapings”.

Ambiguous units is how you aim for Mars and hit Jupiter!! Come on people!!

Please take the above with a pinch of salt.

-Mark

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