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#1
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Gel vs Cola
Hi all,
Over the weekend, I was doing some last minute net trawling to finalize my FrankenGu/AbbyGel homebrew recipe. One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. Yes, I remembered that you don't take anything on the 'net too seriously, because it in itself is untested... But then I remembered my 3-week haze of Tour watching. And how I kept seeing the riders reaching into their feedzone goodie bags, and drinking cans of Coke. I'm still gonna make some AbbyGel, because I can... But I am too ignorant to have an informed opinion on the whole Coke vs Gu idea. Anyone have any thoughts??? Cheers, Abby (what if you mixed AbbyGel INTO a can of Coke... Woohoo!!) |
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#2
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Gel vs Cola
On 31 Jul 2005 23:14:06 -0700, "Absent Husband"
wrote: Hi all, Over the weekend, I was doing some last minute net trawling to finalize my FrankenGu/AbbyGel homebrew recipe. One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. Yes, I remembered that you don't take anything on the 'net too seriously, because it in itself is untested... But then I remembered my 3-week haze of Tour watching. And how I kept seeing the riders reaching into their feedzone goodie bags, and drinking cans of Coke. It's **** sugar and hard to digest, but it *is* mostly sugar. |
#3
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Gel vs Cola
Absent Husband wrote:
One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. The problem is that you're dealing with Sucrose, rather than the more complex carbohydrates used in gels (normally Maltodextrin). Get some maltodextrin from a brewer (not you Carl, unless you've got it at The Right Price (TM)) or wherever and taste a bit - it should be like tasting flour - basically a bland powder. It takes a certain amount of time to release the glucose, which means you get a reaonable sustained boost. Sucrose is (IIRC) either a double Glucose duomer, or a Glucose/Fructose duomer. In either case, it's trivial to release the glucose, so you get the sugar rush, then crash. On a bike that can mean another type of crash, especially off road. You've also got that lovely carbonation and phosphoric acid to deal with - gels are normally pretty easy to digest, and easy on the stomach. While the sugar hit of a Coke will be quick and easy, the acids aren't going to be nice. The reason the Tour riders drink Coke is that Coke sponsors the Tour. They've also got plenty of more complex carbs to eat, so the sugar crash isn't such a risk - but it's caught a few people out. Witness Armstrong 2 years ago, and Vino this year. Whether that was a sugar rush masking the end of their energy, or they just ran out is a bit hard to tell, but I'm inclined toward the former given how often those guys push their bodies. Dave - who'd suggest roughly 25-75 glucose/maltodextrin, with a pinch of diet salt (potassium and sodium), a dash of citric acid, and vanilla essence. I'd have to double check, but I think it's 25 "ml" of glucose, 75 of maltodextrin and 50 of water to get a decent consistency. Stir/chuck in microwave/repeat. I use "ml" because you can get a reasonably accurate measure of a powder. I can check the ratios, but it was one of the ones posted in the thread a few weeks back Dave - whose homebrew Gu worked well at the Yarramundi 8hr |
#4
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Gel vs Cola
Absent Husband wrote:
One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. There is also the question of available water to enter the stomach to allow the substance to be absorbed. |
#5
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Gel vs Cola
In article .com,
"Random Data" wrote: The reason the Tour riders drink Coke is that Coke sponsors the Tour. There seems to be a bit more to it than that: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0204.htm -- Shane Stanley |
#6
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Gel vs Cola
"Random Data" wrote in message oups.com... Absent Husband wrote: One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. Sucrose is (IIRC) either a double Glucose duomer, or a Glucose/Fructose duomer. In either case, it's trivial to release the glucose, so you get the sugar rush, then crash. On a bike that can mean another type of crash, especially off road. Isn't gatorade a sucrose / glucose blend? |
#7
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Gel vs Cola
Rhubarb wrote:
Isn't gatorade a sucrose / glucose blend? Quite probably - I don't have a bottle to hand. Gatorade is far from the perfect sport drink. The sugars aren't great and there isn't enough salt. It's good for medium length efforts (say 2-3 hours), but for real endurance stuff you need more and more complex carbs, and you need more electrolytes. I find that a mix of simple and complex sugars work well, and IIRC neither Powerade or Gatorade offer anything more complex than sucrose. As far as caffeine and Coke - No-Doz is easy to get, and there are plenty of ways to imbibe caffeine and sugar that aren't as nasty on the stomach - I saw the article mentioned, but they were testing athletes on short term stuff. In endurance work, your stomach goes to ****. I don't think I could drink a Coke - even flat - after say 6 hours. I know that watered down Red Bull makes me feel sick after around that time, though after 10 minutes or so I do feel better than beforehand. At the same stage of an enduro, I can drink a coffee easily. Dave - who has found Mars Bars and donuts work disturbingly well... |
#8
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Gel vs Cola
Random Data Wrote: As far as caffeine and Coke - No-Doz is easy to get, and there are plenty of ways to imbibe caffeine and sugar that aren't as nasty o the stomach - I saw the article mentioned, but they were testing athletes on short term stuff. In endurance work, your stomach goes to ****. I don't think I could drink a Coke - even flat - after say 6 hours. I know that watered down Red Bull makes me feel sick after around that time, though after 10 minutes or so I do feel better than beforehand. At the same stage of an enduro, I can drink a coffee easily. Youz are all talking about sugar types and stuff but you're forgettin a key point.. have you ever tried to drink Coke while working hard? It's gonna be a personal thing but you'd HAVE to degas it first (whic is a pain) and even then it's not gonna go down that well.. maybe afte the race.. Having said that, I can scoff almost anything, anytime. hippy a.k.a fatso (but with digestive super powers! -- hippy |
#9
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Gel vs Cola
Terry Collins wrote:
Absent Husband wrote: One link I followed (sorry, I was tired and can't remember it) basically suggested that rather than gu/gel, you are just as well off drinking Coke/Pepsi. Basis was that you get a decent caffeine & sugar hit from the cola, and that any performance advantages that gel has over cola is disputable/untested. There is also the question of available water to enter the stomach to allow the substance to be absorbed. Have a look at this website. I know they're selling products but the articles you can download are very informative. http://www.e-caps.com/za/ECP?PAGE=DO... 071&AMI=10087 Zoom |
#10
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Gel vs Cola
hippy wrote:
Random Data Wrote: As far as caffeine and Coke - No-Doz is easy to get, and there are plenty of ways to imbibe caffeine and sugar that aren't as nasty on the stomach - I saw the article mentioned, but they were testing athletes on short term stuff. In endurance work, your stomach goes to ****. I don't think I could drink a Coke - even flat - after say 6 hours. I know that watered down Red Bull makes me feel sick after around that time, though after 10 minutes or so I do feel better than beforehand. At the same stage of an enduro, I can drink a coffee easily. Youz are all talking about sugar types and stuff but you're forgetting a key point.. have you ever tried to drink Coke while working hard? It's gonna be a personal thing but you'd HAVE to degas it first (which is a pain) and even then it's not gonna go down that well.. maybe after the race.. Having said that, I can scoff almost anything, anytime. hippy a.k.a fatso (but with digestive super powers!) -- hippy Really? Ironman triathletes (the ones I know, and most of them are sub 10 hr) have no worries drinking flat, diluted coke in the later stages. Like most have commented, the problem isn't the up, the up works great, it's the down after that's the problem. The solution? Keep consuming it. Tam |
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