This is definitely an odd question but I found a big jug of tang in the bottom of my pantry and my order of heed is still on the way. I have gel, but it’s a bit expensive to eat only gels during workouts. Would it be harmful to have tang during rides? If not I’m this situation is it ever TANGible? (See what I did there?) Like maybe if you have a race in the middle of nowhere and you have only tang? Thanks for hearing me out. I’d love to hear anyone who has any thoughts on this
I used to drink hot Tang (hot Tang? Oh boy this…ummmm sounds kinda bad) back in the 70’s.
Is your Tang from the 70’s…gaahhhh I can’t do it. Lol, I’m sorry I’m still 12 really
giggles
I actually did drink hot Tang (snort)when I was younger…
I’m leaving, sorry again…
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Are we thinking of the same thing? I did a quick google of “hot tang” and it appears to be something different entirely. I have a jug of orange flavored drink mix that is about 97.629461824% sugar. (37g per 12oz serving to be exact)
Yes we are.
It was very popular in the 70’s. I believe the astronauts drank it…or they were in a commercial about drinking it.
Yes, heat up water, add in Tang…drink.
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this is the label on a canister of powdered tang via Amazon. Looks like a decent carb drink, similar to powdered gatorade. Even got some maltodextrin in there. Actually looks like you could make a decent diy carb drink starting with this
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24g per cap, 22 of which are sugar… OMG! Am I getting it right?
I used to drink that in summer back in the 80s when I was a kid. I’m glad I still keep my teeth. Well, most of them.
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They don’t tell you the breakdown of glucose to fructose, but since their only real goals are flavor and consistency, I’d throw out a SWAG that the breakdown is something like 1:2.
So you could add another 3 parts of maltodextrin powder (flavorless) if you wanted and get a nice 2:1 drink.
Edit: math was wrong. To get it to 2:1, use equal scoops of Tang and Maltodextrin. It won’t be exact because we don’t really know that Tang is 1:2, that’s just a guess, but it’s reasonably close.
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So would this be a legitimate fuel source or is all the crap gonna ruin you? Because I’m finding 1kg of maltodextrin to be about $17usd and I can get 2 kg tang at costco for a couple bucks. 4 kg with 1:1 tang to maltodextrin (to achieve the 2:1 ratio) would give you 114 30gservings for about $35 to $40. Compared to beta fuel which is the $45 for 15 larger servings. (About 40 30g servings) Heed is about $60 for 80 servings which is what I normally use, but I get it cheaper with shop discounts. Still tang is cheaper. So if any science people would like to chime in on the viability, that would be great, or if someone wants to give it a test. (I don’t recommend, but I’d be interested to hear the results)
Definitely won’t ruin you. The energy drink market is a bit of a racket. Gels, chews and bars I understand. Those are actually harder to make and package.
I don’t know what Tang’s electrolyte content is, but it’s probably on the light side and it wouldn’t hurt to add a small pinch of salt on a hot day.
I buy Maltodextrin in 8 lb tubs off of Amazon for $35. I haven’t yet committed to getting a 55 gallon drum, but for the right price I might consider it.
You’re killing me. I was literally laughing out loud when I read the google search. I’m trying to not get kicked off the forum so I will refrain from additional comments.
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I have used up a remainder of Tang just like you’re talking about. Works great. Add salt. Tastes great.
It may actually be more optimal than a lot of endurance sport beverages because it has closer to a 1:1 glucose:fructose sugar ratio than the endurance stuff which usually fall in the 4:1 to 2:1 range.
Aim for 1:1 not 2:1!
1:1 is too sweet for my tastes.
Increasing sodium concentration might help. Helps for me at least.
I recently biked a 56-mile race using Tang for fuel, but it made me sick. Analyzing it on Cronometer, I found 4.2 grams of fructose for every 18 grams of sucrose, giving a 1:1.46 glucose-to-fructose ratio. Typically, I use Saudi Arabian Tang, which has no added fructose, for training and racing without issues. I suspect the extra fructose in the American Tang caused my discomfort.
IF you can keep it down. Some of the Gatorade flavors are BLECH to me. Can’t do them. (Actually it’s possibly most of their flavors) They had a bar out a few years ago, and the freebie was all I needed. BARF!
But it’s not just Gatorade, I can’t handle GU stuff either, so it’s not just Tang. I see it like mainlining Sunny D. Just Say NO! There is so much ‘junque’ out there that claims to be ‘all that’, and that we remember from being kids (I’m old, okay! I remember the Space Food Sticks!) and it was crap back then, and chances are it’s even more crap today.
My wife is stunned to watch tv shows from the 60’s to the 80’s, and is amazed at how skinny the actors all look. That was before food companies figured out that including tons of sugars will sell their crap. (I dropped a popular ‘whole grain’ tortilla chip vendor when I found out the included HUGE amounts of sugar! YUCK…