Recently during my 50 mile ultra in October of 2011 I used a new fuel source. What I did was use a mixture of maltodextrin and www.RunningFood.com's micro milled chia seeds. During my 100 mile in August I used the chia seeds and Gatorade packets. I went with the maltodextrin for a few reasons. Mainly I do not believe in excessive electrolyte supplementation and I do not like the price.
The only ingredient is pure maltodextrin from corn.
Benefits of using maltodextrin are:
- It's a carbohydrate calorie
- Low particle density
- Not likely to cause GI stress
- Cheap sports drink
- Not a lot of taste
I purchased two pounds of it for 12 dollars off Amazon.com. That is 3500 calories for 12 dollars, or only a bit more then half the cost of the big jug of Gatorade Endurance I have. And the more maltodextrin I would have bought, the cheaper it would have been.
During my 50 mile Surf the Murph my primary fuel source for the first 35 or so miles was a camel bak with this maltodextrin in it. Everything went smoothly and I was very satisfied.
The powder is a bit harder to mix. What I have done is put it into warm water as I find it mixed better that way. The taste is nothing special, I've read of athletes using sugar free flavor along with the maltodextrin, however I simply drank mine plain.
If you are a believer in the use of electrolyte supplementation during endurance sports (I am not) you can customize this drink to your liking. I often use RunningFood.com's Milled Chia Seeds
as well, which contain different electrolytes themselves, along with the occasional Clif Blok/Shot I have found supplementation with pills or powders to be unnecessary.
There are a few different places to find this product. I checked at the two local health food stores and neither had it, however the one in your town may. Maltodextrin is used in brewing beer, so you could just go to your local brewer and ask if you could purchase some from them. Third, and my route, was Amazon.
Needless to say, if you want an inexpensive, simple, gluten free, and fully customizable sports drink to use while running, biking, etc, Maltodextrin is a good option to look into.
During my 50 mile Surf the Murph my primary fuel source for the first 35 or so miles was a camel bak with this maltodextrin in it. Everything went smoothly and I was very satisfied.
The powder is a bit harder to mix. What I have done is put it into warm water as I find it mixed better that way. The taste is nothing special, I've read of athletes using sugar free flavor along with the maltodextrin, however I simply drank mine plain.
If you are a believer in the use of electrolyte supplementation during endurance sports (I am not) you can customize this drink to your liking. I often use RunningFood.com's Milled Chia Seeds
as well, which contain different electrolytes themselves, along with the occasional Clif Blok/Shot I have found supplementation with pills or powders to be unnecessary.There are a few different places to find this product. I checked at the two local health food stores and neither had it, however the one in your town may. Maltodextrin is used in brewing beer, so you could just go to your local brewer and ask if you could purchase some from them. Third, and my route, was Amazon.
Needless to say, if you want an inexpensive, simple, gluten free, and fully customizable sports drink to use while running, biking, etc, Maltodextrin is a good option to look into.
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