I tired 60g malto / 30g fructose / nuun tablet for electrolytes and felt it worked very well over the last couple of weeks. Much cheaper than the Maurten 320 I was using before and could tolerate 1 bottle an hour just as well.
I weigh out 4 bottles worth of the malto and fructose into a 1 liter glass jar and then top up with water from the kettle until I had 1000g of concentrated mix. A little shaky-shake and everything dissolves well and I can store it in the fridge for a week. When it comes time to ride, easy to weigh out 250g into the bike bottle, top off with cold water and drop in a nuun tablet. 2 liters of concentrate will last me the week. It starts clear but turns cloudy after a couple of days, not sure that matters.
Flavor-wise, sweeter than I prefer, but good enough. The nuun citrus fruit flavor tastes like orange creamsicle, in a good way.
Beta fuel is an energy drink. It’s not a hydration drink. You are correct with your analysis. If you want to have good hydration with beta fuel, you’ll need to also drink an appropriate amount of water along with your bottle of beta fuel.
Energy drinks only care about osmolarity in the stomach because glucose transporters in small intestine are active transporters. Hydration drinks care about both stomach and small intestines because water transporters in SI are passive and require the correct osmolarity.
@chrisbowiehill, good discussion on osmolarity. In a separate thread, @Turboenterprise posted a spreadsheet to estimate osmolarity. 1/2 cup (60g) maltodextrin, 2.5 tbps (30g) fructose, and a Nuun tab (300mg sodium) in 24oz (750ml) of water is slightly hypertonic at 309 mOsmol/L (>295).
In the couple of centuries (5+ hours) I’ve done using a custom mix from Infinit Nutrition with an osmolarity at 277, I definitely craved pure water by the end of the ride. I imagine it would be the same with the homemade mix above, especially if it is (slightly) hypertonic. I haven’t had any issues (GI, dehydration, etc) for even my longest training rides (max 2.5 hours so far) but I always have at least one bottle of pure water in addition to mix.
Up until this year I’ve mainly used skratch hydration drink, favoring hydration over fueling. I would still do rides pushing close to 400cal per hour, but would match with the appropriate amount of water to keep osmolarity in the intestines in check.
This year I’ve started experimenting with the beta fuel type energy drinks. For testing purposes just using the energy drink as specified (which ignores hydration to a point). I did an 8hr ride drinking 1 23oz bottle of flow formula drink mix (similar to beta fuel) per hour. Everything was fine until about hour 4. I started noticing stomach cramping. I’ve pushed 400 cals per hour many times before without issue, so I knew what the problem was. Next water source I downed 2 bottles of water and cramping went away. Below is the spreadsheet for what I was taking:
If its so cheap to make how much we don’t see more companies making these high carb drinks? You’d think if someone came in with the same same product for the same price as a normal drink it would sell a ton.
I feel like in shorter sessions <2.5hr I used to be able to get away with very high concentrations of High 5 Energy Source and smash a load of SIS gels on top, taking on loads of energy. But I guess over 150mins I’m starting out hydrated so my body has enough fluid to buffer the carb load.
A tougher 3hr session such as 2x20mins sweet spot, then 4x3mins at 120% then 50mins 80-85%, on a warmer day, hydration became an issue. Equally a typical 4hr ride of generally mid z2 with 60mins of sweet spot sprinkled in, hydration is definitely a problem. As @cwiggum mentioned the guts start to go. Energy can’t be considered in isolation and hydration has to be factored, for me anyway.
Part of what has led me down trying to get my head round all of this is, as I mentioned I ‘used’ to be able to tolerate high concentrations but as of late I think I’ve broken something! The day after taking even a 5-6% solution my guts ache. It’s really bizarre. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a fructose malabsorption thing. Did I break my GLUT5??? I really hope not
But again, on the commercial point, if Maurten/Beta Fuel are just more of the same, why isn’t everyone offering it?
The BCAAs arrived and I used them in my mix the last two days. I used the recommended serving size of 2/3 tsp (2000mg) yesterday and the flavor (earthy soapy) was noticeable and, honestly, a bit unpleasant. This morning I used 1/4 tsp with no noticeable flavor. Today’s workout was an endurance ride so I’ll report back on whether the BCAAs help with RPE.
I’m just spitballing here, but has your regular diet had any changes. I’m wondering if gut micro biome could have something to do with it. Taking in all the sugars we do on the bike day in and out could negatively effect your biome. But if your off the bike diet is good, then it could maybe keep your gut in check
I’ve had this thought before and been down that rabbit hole too. For sure all these drinks are highly acidic and foster a less than ‘healthy’ gut biome. I generally have a pretty decent diet. I’m vegetarian, but also lactose and casein intolerant so not far off plant based. I do take a lot of eggs down and can tolerate whey isolate.
I don’t believe my diet has changed but I haven’t been tracking it closely. My suspicion is that it’s general gut fatigue. From what I’ve read as cyclist we put our gut under enormous pressure all the time by loading it up with nutrients, then pedalling really hard which draws all the blood away from the organ.
I have some 50:50 malto:dextrose powder due shortly. Plan is to use a light mix of that, 50g per 700ml, along with solid food, namely Endurance Energy Bar - Will Girling
With a bit less refined fructose and a few more complex fructans hopefully things will come good again
Another point of interest for me on Beta Fuel is actually the pH. They suggest it’s neutral. I’m intrigued to know how they’ve achieved this too.
Just added Juicee orange to a 750ml bottle of water and 60g maltodextrin, tasted like lucozade sport as far as I could tell. £7 for a 2.2kg bag. Bargain
Do you have any info on why malto/fructo would be acidic? My understanding is that they don’t change pH levels. Some iso/salt additives can be acidic but sugar shouldn’t be?
I’ve had a look around https://www.bulkpowders.co.nz but can’t seem to find any fructose to buy in bulk unless it’s labeled something else. This site also sells to Australia, so maybe some of the Aussies here have bought fructose through the site or another one maybe?
I just bought some malto from them (Au site) but didn’t notice fructose on there. I got some from a health food shop (where I used to get my malto from too, but they had to order it in so I just skipped the middle man).
if gut micro biome could have something to do with it. Taking in all the sugars we do on the bike day in and out could negatively effect your biome. But if your off the bike diet is good, then it could maybe keep your gut in check 