Raw Honey vs. Maple Syrup vs. SIS Gels - Equivalent?

Nutrition
21

I read in “Cyclist” magazine that 6 jelly babies, consumed over the space of one hour provide the same benefit as one energy gel per hour. Infinitely more tasty and significantly cheaper!

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22

I have and I’m a fan of all of the odd-ball GU flavors (Toasted Marshmallow, Campfire S’Mores, Maple Bacon, Birthday Cake, etc) . I thought the GU French Toast was a bit too sweet even for this uber sweet tooth guy :smiley:

I am becoming a big fan of Untapped Pure Maple Syrup packets.

All the best,
Steve

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23

I like the Untapped “gels” but being that it’s pure maple syrup it’d be a lot cheaper to get a reusable flask/soft flask and a 32oz jug of pure maple syrup from the store, at least here in the US. That’s not cheap compared to fake syrup but it’s still quite a bit better than the price I see for the Untapped gels.

I’d have to experiment with putting some caffeine in if you’re a fan of that one. But I bet a shot of espresso would work just fine added to the flask.

And you should have a jug of maple syrup on hand at home anyway, it’s delicious.

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24

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Measured out maple syrup shots for a sweet spot ride. The mini mugs are cut with water to see if it goes down easier mid workout. 22g of fast acting carbs, $0.30USD per serving

EDIT: The watered down shots were the way to go. About equal parts of syrup to water. Didn’t require an immediate chaser like pure syrup did and was faster to drink.

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25

I’m trying honey & salt in my bottles (SS workouts).
Seems to be working.

Will be trying different combos in a soft flask next.

Is there such a thing as savoury carbs?!

26

I read the research a few years which analysed honey sold in the US and found that most of it wasn’t even honey.

Good idea to buy straight from the keeper.

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27

You have to read this. Not all carbs are made equal, not even honey and maple syrup.

28

How does it taste? Sounds akin to salted caramel? Do you get the sweet and salty still?

29

I love the salt in honey. Tastes great. Getting it to mix properly is a different story. I find warning the honey works well

30

For savoury carbs this is where rice cakes come in. I made another post on how to make them step by step.

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31

  1. Salt & honey bottle — tastes fine. Less overkill than some of the commercial carb drinks. But it’s still sweet. I’m finding I’ll use a honey bottle and a citrus flavoured carb bottle just to cut the sugar. I would however like to get the whole glucose:sucrose thing down.

  2. Rice cakes — I want to give these a try…but just for.a 2hr trainer ride??

32

Any recipe (as in amount of honey/salt/water? :slightly_smiling_face:

33

I use for outdoor rides mainly, allows me to get more calories on-board, high in carb, doesn’t dry you out like a bar would. Can be tailored specifically to what your taste pallet, GI, and calorie requirements are.
If I was doing a trainer ride of 2hrs I’d likely just stick to honey, but maybe I guess you could take one like 45min-1hr in.

34

Honey causes more GI distress than maple syrup. They are not the same. Stacy Sims, as in the article I’ve posted earlier, has written a lot about this.

35

I just started messing around with it so experiment with your own ratios:

Water – 1 regular bottle
Honey – 2 tablespoons
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon(?)

re: honey & GI distress – I don’t suffer from it really, but after a while too much of the sweet stuff, in whatever form, causes taste distress. Will give the Sims article a read.

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36

I was not able to find anywhere in the two articles you posted that referenced honey causing more GI stress than syrup. Can you copy/paste that here? Or are you inferring that based on Sims commentary?

37

43:45

When it comes to these matters, I trust Stacy Sims blindly. I don’t know anyone who’s more competent in this area.

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38

I may try this. What measurements are you using?

39

I make large batches of gel.

  • 300g maltodextrin
  • 6tbsp syrup. maple, honey, whatever you like
  • little bit of salt
  • 15oz water

Mix that up and boil until you get a final volume around 15oz. It’s helpful if you mark 15oz on your pot before adding ingredients so you know when to stop boiling. I throw that in the fridge and portion it out into a reusable gel container before rides.

1 Like
40

@nathan does this technique work for Threshold rides, Vo2Max and for the Weekend TR Plan rides? I may try Maple syrup as it seems to be healthier in comparison to the gels.