PROLYTE: We use three types of carbs:
- Maltodextrin (long chain glucose polymers): Complex carbs. They are easily broken down without requiring much in the way of digestion. It mixes easily and provides sustained energy. Compare this with some products that use starches and brown rice syrups which require more digestion, causing stomach distress during exercise.
- Glucose: Enters the blood stream immediately requiring no digestion. This provides an immediate source of energy while the maltodextrin breaks down.
- Pure, Crystalline Fructose: Fructose preferentially restores liver glycogen, and it helps to speed fluids through the stomach into the small intestine, where everything is absorbed. It is important to note that a LITTLE fructose helps this, but too much can actually slow gastric emptying and cause fluids to "sit" in your stomach. Fructose is classified as a "Sugar" on FDA labeling even though it has one of the lowest glycemic indexes. Fructose does little to spike your blood sugar levels, rather, it is processed by the liver and stored as glycogen there until you run very, very low on blood and muscle glycogen stores. When this happens, the liver begins trickling its stored glucose into the bloodstream to keep blood sugar levels stable.

ULTIMA: Ultima Replenisher has only one carbohydrate source - a complex carbohydrate called maltodextrin. This is also known as a glucose polymer. The features of Maltodextrin are low osmolarity, complete solubility, and easy digestion. The decision to provide 8 grams per 16-ounce serving facilitates complete absorption of an even burning fuel source. Companies using simple sugars as their carbohydrate to provide a cheap and quick hit of energy are inviting the "yo-yo" effect that will precipitate a quick descent in blood sugar values. This yo-yo effect will not allow a steady blood sugar value during exercise. Since the body needs to respond to the input of these simple sugars (digest it), the liver will be diverted from its intended mission, that is, breaking down fats into carbohydrates during activity, a wonderful mechanism.

During activity, some athletes find that they need a higher level of carbohydrates than others and therefore benefit from the use of energy gels. These energy gels are primarily complex carbohydrates (glucose polymers) that provide 25 grams per serving (approximately 100-120 calories). These energy gels work well with Ultima Replenisher since they are both complex carbs based products offering the same benefit – they exit the stomach rapidly and together. If and athlete were to use an energy gel with a sports drink containing simple sugars, the body would have to add water to the stomach to dilute the simple sugars before digestion and then moving them on to the small intestines. This process works against the athlete since it draws fluids from important muscle groups that require the water at the same time. Although the athlete is consuming the proper amounts of fluid he is pooling the water in the stomach and the result is a "watermelon belly." I’m sure some of your readers have seen this happen during a race. In addition, simple sugars combined with strong flavors satiate the body’s thirst mechanism. Ultima Replenisher was designed to be "light’ and water-like, encouraging the athlete to continue drinking.

ELOAD: Dextrose and sucrose are the carbohydrates used in e load™. Dextrose (d-glucose) is a simple, high glycemic index sugar, and is e load’s principal sugar. It is also the sugar of choice in medical intravenous solutions when an individual needs rapid, life-saving infusions of sugar-an example of this is a diabetic who overdoses on insulin. An athlete pushing to the limits also needs sugar rapidly and continuously in order to fuel performance, and to prevent the dreaded bonk! Dextrose is also the sugar of choice in medical oral rehydration solutions, used with illnesses causing vomiting and diarrhea. This is because dextrose actually helps stimulate water/sodium absorption from the gut and water/sodium reabsorption from the kidney, which is crucial for normal rehydration. Dextrose, when taken orally, tastes great, is moderately sweet, causes no gastrointestinal irritation, is rapidly absorbed and needs no processing by your liver before it can be used by your hard working muscles. This truly is an optimal sugar for athletic performance!

Sucrose (table sugar) a simple, moderate glycemic index sugar, is the second sugar in e load™. It is easily absorbed and pleasantly sweet, improving palatability. Once inside the body, it provides instant glucose for use by working muscles. Some people are concerned about sucrose, and some companies take advantage of this concern by continuing to perpetuate the myth that a little table sugar is somehow going to lead us to our destruction! Nonsense! In truth, no one single carbohydrate should be the principle carbohydrate in our diets, and for some people, sucrose is the principal carbohydrate ingested because it is found in so many foods. The medical staff at e load™ agree that this is not ideal for optimum health. However, some sucrose in our diets is perfectly fine, and as a palatable, natural, non-nauseating sugar that offers rapid absorption and fueling, sucrose works very well!

ECAPS: SUSTAINED ENERGY contains no sugar. Sugar is defined as a monosaccharide or a disaccharide. The shorter the chain length a carbohydrate is, the higher it raises the solution osmolality in the stomach. Simple sugars must be mixed in weak 6 percent to 8 percent solutions or they will sit undigested in the stomach and not pass the gastric lining, possibly creating sour stomach, cramps, or flatulence. Maltodextrin is a multiple of sugars hooked together, allowing an 18 percent to 24 percent solution to be immediately in transit to the liver where it is turned back to the energy cycle as muscle glycogen. The amylose-amylopectin content of maltodextrin or potato starch is very similar in chemistry to human stored glycogen. Therefore the "gold standard" carbohydrate source for energy drinks, bars, or gels originates from longer-chain carbohydrates [maltodextrins] because more caloric volume crosses the gastric lining with less distress to the athlete.

As mentioned earlier, human body fluid of 300 mOsm osmolality is a reasonable application for carbohydrate solution absorption. This means that we need to provide a product that has science, logic and reasoning behind it while making it known that alteration can and should be done in training. The "one size fits all" theory has no validity when it comes to proper fueling; a product needs to be experimented with in training so that individual requirements can be fulfilled. When exercise intensity or duration increases and/or when weather becomes hotter, gastric emptying rates are further delayed or decreased. So it’s important that a majority of calories, the most possible under a given situation, are absorbed into the body for use as fuel with as little stomach distress as possible. "The most possible" can only be determined through experimentation in training but at the very least the fuel should allow the maximal amount possible while not upsetting the stomach.

We also believe that simple sugars can upset the body's mineral balance by interfering with the absorption of calcium and magnesium and by also potentially creating a deficiency in chromium and copper. Simple sugars can produce an acidic stomach, which we believe is counterproductive to performance. We believe there are many general health risks in addition to hindered performance that are due to the use of simple sugars, so we do not formulate them in our products. Our belief is that these sugars are used in products solely for flavor enhancement and because of their relative low cost to the manufacturer. Simply put, we believe they offer no benefits for athletes.

GATORADE: Glucose, sucrose and fructose. The optimal combination of these sugars delivers the optimal taste/sweetness profile. These sugars provide rapid forms of energy to fuel muscle contraction. Lastly, research clearly shows that the right combination of carbohydrates help to speed intestinal absorption of water, which leads to optimal fluid replacement during hot and sweaty occasions.

GPUSH: All G-Push products contain galactose. G-Push owns the patent for its use in sports drinks. The benefits of galactose were discovered through research at the University of Leeds in the UK in the mid 1990’s, and are just now being introduced to the market. Galactose is a "super-sugar" with no existing specific usage in any food products, but with enormous benefits over other sugars in the sports area. We supplement galactose with other sugars, maltodextrin and a little fructose, depending on the formula (G1/2/3/4) to achieve specific product objectives. A major concern of our researchers was how to get carbohydrate into the body without a) compromising the hydration need and b) without inducing an insulin-driven hypoglycemic response. Galactose uniquely gets over these problems.*

Galactose has the following advantages:

• Non insulogenic (does not initiate a primary insulin response) (Macdonald 1990, Gande et al. 1979) and hence reduces the likelihood of an unwanted hypoglycaemia
• Naturally occurring monosaccharide, needs no digestion (Williams & McDonald, 1982)
• Rapidly absorbed by sodium co-transport (the fastest sugar transfer mechanism) (Shie et al, 1995, Shi & Gisolfi, 1998)
• Integrates well into energy metabolism (liver pathway) (Williams & McDonald 1982, Williams 1986)
• Low glycemic index – 0.20 versus glucose - 1

Fructose Characteristics

• Monosaccharide
• Slow absorption (does not use sodium co-transporter)
• Primarily metabolized by the liver (Hargreaves et al, 1985)
• Non insulogenic (does not initiate a primary insulin response)
• Limits to the amount the body can absorb

Maltodextrin Characteristics

• Oligosaccharide sugar, broken down in the gut to monosaccarides followed by absorption
• Glucose polymer (ie maltodextrin) feedings during exercise are able to maintain blood glucose and delay fatigue by providing energy to exercising muscles when glycogen levels are low (Thomas et al, 1991).

G-Push G2 Momentum Formula contains galactose, maltodextrin and fructose in a carbohydrate concentration of 7.5%. Galactose supplies all of the benefits listed above, but the inclusion of maltodextrin supplies a separate source of energy once this carbohydrate has been digested to glucose. This and the phased delivery of galactose and glucose (linked sodium co-transport) (Solberg & Diamond 1987, Wright et al, 1997) occurs together with rapid rehydration, due to its marginally hypotonic solution (Shi & Summers, 1995) This formula is able to provide extensive delivery of energy and rapid rehydration in exercise situations where both are important. The provision of a carbohydrate yielding glucose normally potentiates insulin responses but the insulin production is reduced somewhat during exercise, allowing us to use some maltodextrin. Since galactose and fructose do not have primary insulin responses, the overall insulin produced by intake of the drink is reduced. The combination of maltodextrin, fructose and galactose provides a mixture of fuels, which act significantly to support carbohydrate metabolism to supply energy demands during exercise.

It is believed but not yet understood that there are additional energy oxidation benefits from the combination of different carbohydrates – which becomes important when you are trying to get the most energy out from a set input. Jeukendrup et al, 2000 (see our website for the precise reference) have demonstrated the combined enhanced oxidation effect of glucose plus fructose. The internal test data that G-Push has on the combination of galactose and fructose and maltodextrin suggests that this set of carbohydrates can oxidize even more energy.

*The recent article "Pre-Exercise Ingestion of Carbohydrate and Transient Hypoglycaemia During Exercise" (1999) [Kuipers H, Fransen EJ, Keizer HA. Int J Sports Med 20:227-231], shows how insulin sensitivity can be particularly acute for over 30% of people, whose performance can suffer significantly from insulin induced hypoglycemia. Glucose or maltodextrin, let alone sucrose or other sugars fed pre-event will have a significant insulin response.