High Carb Gut Training

Earlier this summer, I was quoted in an article from Outside Run titled "A Sports Dietitian’s Guide to High-Carb Drink Mixes." With the recent hype of professional endurance athletes consuming between 120-180g of carbs per hour while racing, it's important to know that more is not always better. 

Like your muscles, the gut is adaptable. You can train your gut to increase its ability to absorb and tolerate carbs when training and racing but it takes time and repeated exposure. 

Don't expect your stomach to tolerate 100g carbs per hour on race day if you have only been training with 50g carbs per hour. 

For more info, check out the article here.

Why I love The FEED

 

While watching the Tour de France a few years ago, I noticed a lot of The Feed logos and commercials. I didn't care too much about the company when I first heard about it as I thought it was just another sport nutrition website to order products. 

But overtime, I realized that next to your local run/tri/bike shop, The Feed is a great place to purchase sport nutrition products (and lots of other sport related gear, equipment and nutrition). 

As a sport RD, I'm constantly recommending sport nutrition products to athletes. I'm also constantly trying out different products. But in order to see if a product will work, the only options are to hunt down a single serving at a local store or order online a case or bag of 16+ servings. It was so much more affordable for athletes (and myself) to try out products for a few workouts to see if that sport drink or recovery powder was tolerated by the taste buds and digestive system. 

As a Feed ambassador, I really enjoy this company. They are passionate about sport, inclusion, the environment and athletes and there are so many different products to chose from. Many of the products go on sale, which makes this website very practical and affordable, especially if you are on a budget but understand the importance of applying sport nutrition guidelines to your workouts. I just stocked up on a bunch of single serving packets of sport nutrition (see pic abov). I'm so excited to take a bite of the Cookies n' Cream PowerBar. I haven't had one since I was training for my first Ironman in 2006! And Karel loves the Enervit Jelly's - he always stocks up at the local bike shop in his home town of Znojmo, Czech Republic when we visit. I also wanted to try the new flavors of Never Second gels. And Karel loves Athletic Brewing Company. Sadly, our laws in SC don't allow delivery but we can get through the system through The Feed. 

Here are a few of the reasons why I love purchasing products from The Feed: 

• Prevent taste bud fatigue with different flavors/brands
• Try out different brands
• Gift to a friend who is interested in trying out new products
• Great for younger athletes who want to experiment with different bars and sport drinks for practices and games
• Try out different products if you have a sensitive stomach (this way you aren't stuc with a box of 24 gels if you can't tolerate one of them)
• Learn about new companies/products 
• Purchase single servings to experiment with new products/flavors to incorporate into your fueling regime
• Purchase single servings for travel/races/long training sessions
• Create an order of your favorite brands, shipped all at once.
• Try products from other countries (which is helpful if you plan to race internationally)
• Subscribe and get your favorites delivered every 4 weeks
• Keep your sport nutrition stock varied so you can choose the best option for the workout/race

To get shopping, you can use my custom link  thefeed.cc/trimarnicoach

Sport Nutrition Product Review - EVO1 vegan meal replacement

First Endurance
Salt Lake City, Utah
Firstendurance.com

About the Company from the website:

First Endurance was started in 2002 because endurance athletes weren’t getting the nutrition they deserved. Like you, the founders had struggled with bonking, cramping and having to ‘make deals with themselves’ to get across the finish line or even just to make it home. They saw their friends dealing with the same dilemmas and knew endurance nutrition could be better. The existing endurance nutrition companies didn’t offer products that met the needs of serious endurance athletes. These companies ignored the small, high-end group of dedicated athletes. They’d been working in the sports nutrition industry for a number of years and knew about the latest clinical research that was being done on endurance athletes utilizing new ingredients and technologies to dramatically improve endurance and performance. It was more expensive than what was currently available to endurance athletes, but it was a lot better. The idea was simple. They wanted to give serious endurance athletes access to formulas that are developed for one specific reason – to maximize endurance performance.

Product Reviewed:

• EVO1 All-In-One Superfood (Chocolate, Vanilla Creme) 

Other Products:

• Pre-race/During: EFS Liquid Shot; EFS Drink Mix; EFS Pro-Drink Mix 
• Recovery: Ultragen; EVO1 
• Daily: Multiv; Multiv-Pro; Optygen; OptygenHP; EVO1

Label Claims:

• Plant-Based 
• 100% Vegan 
• Allergen Free 
• No artificial flavors
• No colors
• No sweeteners 
• No added sugar

Nutrition Facts Examples: Chocolate (Gluten-Free)
Serving Size: One packet 

• Calories: 240 
• Total Fat: 6 g 
• Total Carb: 26 g 
• Fiber: 3 g 
• Sugars: 20 g 
• Protein 21 g 
• Calcium: 60 mg 
• Magnesium: 118 mg 
• Sodium: 210 mg 
• Potassium: 220 mg

Ingredients: Organic sugarcane, pea protein, organic brown rice protein, flax seed, medium chain triglycerides, fruit and vegetable blend (banana, apple, blueberry, carrot, spinach, broccoli, oats, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, chia, millet), cocoa powder (processed with alkali), silicon dioxide, inulin, sunflower lecithin, natural flavors, sea salt, monk fruit.

Our notes: 

• Gritty aftertaste - may mix better in a powerful blender
• Mixes well with water in a blender-bottle -  no clumps
• Comparable taste to other vegan protein powders
• Not ideal as a meal replacement (only 240 calories) but appropriate as a post-workout recovery drink
• Ideal drink for plant-based athletes or those who are unable to tolerate animal-based proteins like whey and casein. 

Product Review - RX Bars

Distributed by: Chicago Bar Co., LLC

Based in: Chicago, IL

Website: Rxbar.com

About the Company from the website:

In 2013 bffs who were eager and broke started a business the only way they knew how: the old school, gritty way. They called B.S. on protein bars and started RX in their kitchen and initially sold them door to door and bar by bar. They describe their bars like eating 3 egg whites, 2 dates, and 6 almonds. With no B.S. What’s inside. What isn’t. They think it’s everything you need to know. They describe themselves as not being investors, flavor scientists, or focus groups but instead are industry outsiders with a few healthy ambitions, the usual insecurities, and all the other stuff that keeps them human. They make protein bars with no B.S. and they are real upfront about it.

Products:

RXBar

RXBar Kids

Label Claims:

12 g protein bar

Nutrition Facts Examples:

Chocolate Sea Salt  

Serving Size:  1 bar                    

Calories: 200                    

Total Fat: 9 g                   

Total Carb: 22 g     

Fiber: 4g     

Sugar: 12 g                    

Protein: 12 g               

Sodium: 240 mg                 

Iron: 10% DV

Ingredients:

Dates, Egg Whites, Almonds, Cashews, Cacao, Sea Salt, Natural Chocolate Flavor.

Product Flavors:

Chocolate Sea Salt, Coffee Chocolate, Blueberry, Coconut Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Apple Cinnamon

Final thoughts:

• Dense bar, very satisfying (use caution with any dental issues)
• Taste may not be for everyone at first bite
• Unique feature: 12 g protein (not from protein powder)
• Perfect for traveling/on the go 
• Simple ingredients

To learn more about our product reviews: click HERE.

Why your sport nutrition product is not working for you.

As a sport dietitian, I receive a variety of sport nutrition products from companies to test out for taste, effectiveness and practicality. So guess who also gets to try out all types of sport nutrition products - Karel! Because Karel and I are firm believers in the effectiveness of sport nutrition products in training and racing, we have no trouble consuming safe, well-formulated, reputable engineered products to optimize our performance. Additionally, we don't just use sport nutrition for performance reasons but we also use sport nutrition products for health reasons, as fueling/hydrating your body properly during training and racing can protect your immune system and will keep your body functioning well during training/racing stress.

I remember not too long ago, having a conversation with Karel as he was reminiscing from his teenage cycling days, when he was racing at a national level in Europe.

Check out this stud...

Karel was telling me all about all of the sport nutrition products back in the day and well, he didn't have much of a choice. There was one product that he had access to and it was called Iso (Isotonic). And at that time, it tasted horrible. Karel had to choke it down because it tasted so nasty. But he had no other options and he was told that it would help his performance so he did what any other performance-minded athlete would do - he drank the powdered drink during training and racing because he believed it would make him a better cyclist. 

Today, sport nutrition has come very far. We have all types of sport nutrition products and most of them taste pleasantly good and many use real food ingredients. Despite plenty of research demonstrating the effectiveness of consuming carbohydrates, fluids and electrolytes, in the proper concentration, during training and racing to delay fatigue, improve perceived effort and minimize excessive dehydration, athletes continue to struggle with the usage of sport nutrition products and sadly, there are still many athletes who refuse to consume sport nutrition products in training and racing because they feel they don't need it. 

For the purpose of this blog post, I'm assuming that most athletes understand the importance of consuming sport nutrition products during training and racing but there's a common struggle when it comes to the application of sport nutrition. In other words, just because you are consuming a sport nutrition product, this doesn't mean it is actually working for you.

To assist in your sport nutrition journey, I have a few reasons why your sport nutrition products may not be working for you so that you can make the necessary changes in your diet/fueling regime to help your body achieve athletic excellence. 

Gastric emptying
Just because you are consuming a sport nutrition product, this doesn't mean that the ingested beverage/product is being emptied from the stomach and absorbed in the small intestines. If you struggle with rapid fatigue, dizziness, dehydration, nausea, bloating, gas, abdominal cramping or low blood sugar, there's a good chance that the product(s) you are consuming is not being emptied from the stomach efficiently. Here are some reasons that could be affecting gastric emptying: 

• Relying on a straw-based hydration system (sucking fluids) versus a bottle (squeezing the liquid into your mouth). The later is highly encouraged to optimize gastric emptying. 
• Not drinking on a schedule - increased volume in the gut increases the rate of gastric emptying. 
• Consuming too much energy density (high osmolality or high calorie), either from overconcentrated drinks (ex. multi-hour calorie bottles), a variety of sport nutrition products (ex. solid food, sport drink powder, gummies/chews, real food, etc.) or taking in a bolus of nutrition all at once without adequate water/sodium. 
• Trying to fuel for an intensity/duration that is greater than what the body can digest and absorb per minute/hour. Less is more when it comes to caloric consumption to optimize gastric emptying but this also means that pacing is critical. 
• Not planning stops to refill bottles can cause sport nutrition rationing, and then overconsumption of calories/water when you stop. Plan your stop before you need to stop. 
• Poor skills when consuming sport nutrition when exercising (ex. bike handling skills or drinking from a flask in a hydration belt).
• What you eat in the hours before a workout as well as the day before can affect digestion and gastric emptying, which may also prevent you from keeping up with your sport nutrition intake, regularly and comfortably, during training/racing. 

Flavor and consistency

You don't have to love your sport nutrition products but you do have to like them enough to tolerate them during training and racing. Taste bud fatigue is a common issue for athletes as it's easy to get tired of consuming the same flavor of a sport drink, workout after workout, or hour after hour, in training and on race day. But this doesn't mean to ditch sport nutrition the moment you get burnt out from the taste. Here are some reasons that could be affecting the flavor and consistency of your sport drink: 

• Environmental conditions (ex. hot and humid temps) can make it difficult to consume sport nutrition products as your body will crave cold and light-tasting beverages over a thick, warm, factory-concocted drink. However, this doesn't mean to forgo your sport nutrition beverage and choose water instead. Make sure to bring water along with you in addition to your sport drinks, to use for cooling the body and for rinsing out the mouth (give your mouth a swish of water after sipping sport nutrition). Get comfortable drinking warmish fluids, especially if you are training for a long distance event - don't be a picky athlete as warm nutrition is better than no nutrition and yes, your nutrition will get warm during long training/racing. Certainly, when you can plan for cool sport nutrition drinks, those will be easier to tolerate. 
• Try out and vary your flavors/products. The more variety you bring to your sport nutrition products, the less likely you will get burnt out (and the more comfortable you will be with having a plan B product in training and on race day). 
• Avoid adding protein, caffeine, aminos and other extra ingredients to your sport drink if you are sensitive to different tastes/consistencies. Aim for the most basic ingredients - carbohydrates, electrolytes, water. 
• Add in the occasional a tummy satisfier that compliments the sweetness of your sport drink. Lemon, spearmint, chocolate or peanut butter flavored solid food can excite your taste buds, making it easier for you to stay up with your well-formulated sport drinks. 
• Not every natural flavor will appeal to you. Whereas you may love the flavor orange in one product, you may dislike the type of natural flavoring in another product.

Mindset

If you are scared to consume sport nutrition products because you've been told to avoid all processed food or you you worry about the calories or sugar or you once had a bad experience with sport nutrition products in training or on race day in the past, there's a good chance that you have forbidden the usage of sport nutrition products in training and racing or you are trying to keep sport nutrition consumption to a minimum. Here are some reasons why your mind is keeping sport nutrition products from working for you: 

• Your brain has a direct effect on the stomach. If you find yourself bloated, with an upset stomach or psyching yourself out when you consume sport nutrition, there's a good chance that intestinal distress is the cause or product of diet-based anxiety or stress. Work through your relationship with sport nutrition so that you can learn to appreciate and tolerate sport nutrition during training and racing. 
• The reason why sport nutrition products are processed is because companies have come up with a way to make it easy for you to consume the nutrients/energy that you need, easily, regularly and safely during training and racing. If you are putting well-formulated sport nutrition products in the same category as a candy bar, you are overlooking the ingredient component of what makes sport nutrition products designed for athletes. 
• Most athletes that I work with who express a constant struggle with sport nutrition, typically come from a place of not using sport nutrition products properly. Either the type of product, timing of product consumption or quantity was off, making the athlete believe that no type of sport nutrition product will work. Sport nutrition is a science and not all products are created equal. To optimize the efficacy of sport nutrition, the product must contain an appropriate amount of carbohydrates and electrolytes per amount of fluid (water) to empty from the gut and to support the needs of the body. You need to like the taste and consistency and you need to have the right mindset, knowing how to use the product and you have to use it regularly. This requires some trial and error and trust in the process but most athletes can learn to tolerate sport nutrition during training and racing but need some education and assistance from a sport dietitian who understands sport nutrition products. 
• It's not just about sport nutrition. No amount of sport nutrition will help you optimize performance if your daily diet does not provide a solid foundation of calories, macro and micronutrients. Although it's common for many athletes to overconsume sport nutrition on race day and underconsume in training (thus never properly training the gut or building confidence with nutrition, not to mention sabotaging fitness in training from not using sport nutrition appropriately), many athletes struggle with sport nutrition during training because the daily diet is not well balanced or planned. This brings added confusion to sport nutrition because the daily diet is the culprit of training/racing related issues, not sport nutrition products. 

Other
I like this category because after you investigate all of the possible reasons why your sport nutrition product is not working for you and you just can't seem to identify the clear answer, this is when you can say "I can't blame everything on nutrition". Sometimes, your sport nutrition product won't work for you and there will be no clear answer why. But then again, it may not be the product causing the issue. Here are some other reasons why you can't blame everything on your sport nutrition product:
-Stress
-Poor diet/gut health
-Restless sleep
-Anxiety/nervousness
-Intensity/effort of the workout
-Overeating/undereating
-Fatigue/exhaustion
-Medications
-Antibiotics
-Excessive caffeine consumption
-Constipation
-Hormones
-Dehydration
-Weather
-Terrain
-Just an off-day

I hope that you found this information beneficial and hopefully you better understand why your sport nutrition product is not working for you and how to make some easy fixes. For additional help, I highly recommend to reach out to a board certified sport dietitian for personalized assistance, who advocates the use of sport nutrition products and specializes in your sport. 

Did you hear the news? Three new CLIF BLOKS energy chew flavors!

Not too long ago, Clif Bar released 3 new flavors of CLIF BLOKS energy chews. These chews provide quick, chewable energy for athletes in training and on race day.

The new flavors include Salted Watermelon (2x sodium), Ginger Ale and Spearmint. This now brings the CLIF BLOKS collection to 11 flavors. Each chew still contains 30-33 calories and there are 6 BLOKS per sleeve of chews. One serving size is 3 chews. All of the CLIF BLOKS include 95% organic ingredients and depending on the flavor, contain between 50-100 mg sodium per serving and 0-25-50mg of caffeine.

Clif Bar sent me the new flavors to try out but I wanted to use this blog post as an opportunity to introduce you to the new flavors to help you decide on the best flavor for your fueling and tastebud needs.

Salted Watermelon - For the watermelon lovers, this tastes just like you would imagine - watermelonly delicious. It is sweet but it does have a subtle saltiness to it. Each serving (3 chews) contains 100 mg of sodium which is 2x the sodium found in the other BLOK flavors (except the Margarita flavor). 

Here are the ingredients:
Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Organic Maltodextrin, Pectin, Citric Acid, Watermelon Extract with Other Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Potassium Citrate, Colored with Organic Black Carrot Juice Concentrate, Organic Sunflower Oil, Carnauba Wax.

While I can imagine that athletes will crave and enjoy the salted watermelon flavor on a hot summer day of training/racing (along with a few gulps of ice cold water), there are actually some health benefits to watermelon. Now I'm not saying to chew on CLIF BLOKS to improve your overall health but I thought it would be good for you to know that watermelon, although high in natural sugar and water (making it oh-so-refreshing in the summer), has high amounts of antioxidants, vitamin A, B6 and vitamin C. It is also rich in lycopene so the redder the watermelon, the more lycopene. As for watermelon extract, found in the CLIF BLOK Salted Watermelon flavor, research has shown it to be helpful for blood pressure control.

Ginger Ale - For those who just love a nice cold glass of Ginger Ale, or remember drinking it when you had an upset tummy as a child, the CLIF BLOK Ginger Ale flavor is not super strong. So this may be a let-down for those who absolutely love the taste of ginger but great for those who want to receive some of the benefits of consuming ginger oil during training. While I can't promise that you are getting a large amount of ginger oil with every blok, research does show that ginger has great effectiveness in reducing GI complaints, also helping with nausea and vomiting. As a sport RD, I don't feel that a CLIF BLOK Ginger Ale flavor will prevent GI issues in training/racing (especially since a concentrated dose of sugar especially without adequate water to promote digestion will increase risk for GI issues when training/racing), I do believe that those who enjoy a subtle flavor of calories, will enjoy this blok option.
Here are the ingredients:
Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Organic Maltodextrin, Pectin, Citric Acid, Ginger Oil, Natural Flavor, Potassium Citrate, Sea Salt, Organic Sunflower Oil, Carnauba Wax.

Spearmint - You may be cringing at the thought of chewing on a spearmint flavor energy chew but consider this....how many times have you been out training during a long workout (or long distance race) and you find yourself wishing you could brush your teeth or cleanse your mouth with a mint or mouthwash? Well, believe me when I say that the spearmint flavor will do just that! Both me and Karel found it incredibly refreshing (Karel says this one is his fav). You almost want to try to blow a bubble with it, it tastes so cool and refreshing!
Here are the ingredients:
Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Organic Maltodextrin, Pectin, Citric Acid, Spearmint Oil with Other Natural Flavors, Potassium Citrate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sea Salt, Organic Sunflower Oil, Carnauba Wax.
With some recent research on the benefits of peppermint oil and athletic performance, you may be surprised to see the flavor of spearmint instead, but it's important to recognize that spearmint does not contain menthol, which makes it a bit less "bold" of a flavor which may be a little more gentle on the taste buds. But who knows, maybe one day they will make a peppermint flavor to cool off the mouth?
Although I could not come across any recent well-documented research studies on the benefits of Spearmint oil, you have likely heard that Spearmint essential oil may reduce fatigue and pain, help with digestive issues, help with muscle aches and ease headaches.

Well, there you have it - my sport RD/endurance triathlete take on the three new CLIF BLOK flavors. I always enjoy trying out new sport nutrition products, specifically powders, chews and gels (I'm not a pill/tablet type of athlete).

As for my feelings on sport nutrition products, it's all about function and convenience. You don't need to love your engineered products but you have to like them enough to consistently use them during intense and long workouts to help you maximize fitness and to build confidence in your race day fueling and hydration strategy.

Sport nutrition products make fueling incredibly easy as they take the guessing and calculating away from how much you need to consume of calories, carbohydrates, water and sodium each hour and they make it easy to meet your metabolic needs as you can quantify the consumption of your nutrition, in frequent intervals, during training and on race day. Plus, with a little creativity, you can prevent taste bud fatigue by changing up the flavors and textures of your sport nutrition products as there are so many safe and well-formulated products available to athletes. Sport nutrition products are also formulated in a way to be easy to digest IF/WHEN consumed properly.

As for when you are not training? Real, whole foods should make up the majority of your diet. When your heart is pumping and blood is being diverted away from the gut and to the working muscles to support muscle contractions, your body prefers to digest and absorb engineered products as they are formulated in a way to meet your needs and to be consumed quickly. But when you aren't working out, reach for real food as mother Earth has a variety of great food options, rich in the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that keep your body functioning well on a day-to-day basis. A well-nourished body performs incredibly well during training/racing and with an organized, balanced and wholesome diet, it's much easier to better understand your fueling and hydration requirements during training and on race day.

Any questions about sport nutrition and fueling/hydration? Reach out to a sport dietitian for help.

Fuel Smart!
Your body will thank you. 

Timeline of Sport Nutrition Products

As a Board Certified Sport Dietitian, I have a rewarding job of recommending sport nutrition products to athletes in order to enhance performance and to help athletes maintain good health throughout training and on race day. In order to make proper recommendations, I am always trying out new products to better understand the application of the product and to give my feedback on taste, texture and digestibility. The above picture is a look inside three of our kitchen cabinets full of sport nutrition products (with more products stashed away in the dining work and in our workout room closet - because everyone keeps sport nutrition products in a dining room hutch, right?).  

For decades, scientific breakthroughs by exercise physiologists have driven the evolution of sport nutrition products to help maximize athletic performances. Since the ancient Olympics, when athletes fueled dried fruit and wine before competition, the study, practice and promotion of sport nutrition has grown substantially. Sport nutrition progression has helped athletes train harder and go longer than in the past, which means more records can get broken.

As it relates to sport nutrition products, like sport drinks, it's really all about function and convenience. I often tell my athletes that they don't need to love their engineered products, they simply have to like them. It's also important to find creative ways to prevent taste bud fatigue and to train the gut to minimize GI distress, while sticking to a flexible and a well-practiced fueling and hydration schedule during long workouts in order to delay fatigue.

In other words, appreciate how easy sport nutrition products make fueling and hydrating. Sport nutrition products take away the guessing and calculating to ensure that you are meeting your needs during training and they give you precise feedback on what you did/didn't consume. Plus, it adds confidence to race day that you don't have to worry if your fueling and hydration strategy will (or won't) work because you can routinely practice your fueling and hydration long workout after long workout with similar products and amounts. Certainly, you know my approach to the daily diet - real food should make up the majority of your daily diet whereas sport nutrition products DO have a place during intense and long workouts.

In the recent issue of Triathlete Magazine (January/February, pg 56-62), I have a small article on the evolution of Sports Fuel (bottom of the pages), focusing on the history of several notable U.S. based endurance-focused sport nutrition companies. I also take my guess on the future of sport nutrition over the next ten years.

Since the magazine was not able to include all of my investigations, I wanted to give you a more in depth look inside some of the notable moments of several well-known sport nutrition companies.

Timeline of sport nutrition products:

1965 Gatorade – A balanced carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage was created. As of 2015, Gatorade’s inventors have earned more than $1 billion in revenue.

1986 Powerbar –The first “energy bar” for use by endurance athletes. In 2000, Nestle purchased the company for $375 million.

1987 Hammer Nutrition – In 1995, Hammer nutrition created the first energy gel sold with a re-usable flask.

1994 Gu Energy labs – Considered the first major energy gels distributor. In 2012, GU became the first official gel and chew sponsor of the Ironman.

1992 Clif Bar –In 2000, Gary Erickson turned down a $120 million offer from Quaker Oats to buy the company.

1992 EAS – In 1993, EAS releases the first commercially available creatine supplement (Phosphagen). In 2005, Abbott laboratories purchases EAS for ~$320 million.

1996 Carbo Pro – Provides a product with 100% pure complex carbohydrates derived from glucose polymers extracted from non-GMO corn.

1996 Pacific Health Labs – Accelerade utilizes protein in a sport drink with a unique ratio of 4 parts carbohydrate to 1 part protein.

1998 Cytosport – Makers of Muscle Milk, known as the number one brand in the ready-to-drink protein beverage category.


2002 First Endurance – Recognized for OPTYGEN by endurance athletes. In 2008, the EFS liquid shot flask was developed with a re-sealable pop top. The liquid shot contains no gelling agents.

2002 Honey Stinger – Originating in 1954 by Ralph and Luella Gamber as the EN-R-G bar, made with honey. The Gamber’s created the first ever squeezable honey bear in 1957.

2004 Nuun – Pronounced “noon”, the first company to separate electrolyte replacement from carbohydrates.

2004 Base Performance – Best known for Base Electrolyte Salt and race vials, where athletes lick the pure crystalline salt to maintain electrolyte balance.

2005 Jelly Belly Sport Beans – Performance Jelly Beans formulated with carbohydrates, electrolytes and vitamins.

2006 SaltStick – Creator of buffered electrolyte capsules, dispensers and most recently, chewable tablets to help athletes minimize heat stress and muscle cramping.

2006 Infinit Nutrition – Provides a revolutionary system of creating your own personalized sport drink, made from an isotonic blend of ingredients.

2010 Generation UCAN – Launched at the Boston marathon. Powered by SuperStarch, UCAN claims to help sustain energy and burn fat in a healthy way.

2010 Bonk Breaker – Embodies a whole foods philosophy of creating simple, high quality, real food ingredients into great tasting bars, chews and hydration products.

2010 Picky Bars – Made with a a 4:1 carb to protein recovery ratio, balanced macronutrients for sustainable energy. Containing only real ingredients, gluten and dairy free.

2012 Osmo  - Stacy Sims introduces the concept of “food in the pocket, hydration in the bottle” and “women are not small men.” Pushes for a new paradigm in sports nutrition.

2012 Skratch Labs – Dr. Allen Lim makes training food and sports drinks from scratch for cyclists and a business is born. “The Feed Zone” cookbook was published in 2011.

2013 Tailwind  - Known in the trail and ultra-running community, offering glucose/sucrose fuel, allowing athletes to go longer at higher intensities without gut issues.


2016 HOT SHOT – Curiosity killed the cramp. A propriety formulation of organic ingredients to stop muscle cramps at the nerve.  

My take on the future of sport nutrition:

2016-2018 – More engineered sport nutrition products hit the market, with light palatable flavors, made with “real food” ingredients and electrolytes.  Companies re-invent the shape of “chews”, bars become thinner and lighter and there is a substantial re-design in the packaging of energy gels.

2018-2020 - Sport nutrition products highlight herbs, spices, caffeine, amino acids and fatigue resistant nutrients, in addition to electrolytes and carbohydrates. Products focus more on fatigue in order to help athletes stretch physical limits and to break more records.

2020-2025 - Sport nutrition products become even more convenient with portable options, like buffered and effervescent tabs for “sport drinks on-the-go”. Sport nutrition companies turn the focus to pre-workout/race meal and drink products.

2025 – The emerging field of nutrigenomics makes its way into sport nutrition. By identifying exercise-related genetic characteristics, sport nutrition will become highly ultra-personalized working with one’s unique genetic makeup – Eat/fuel according to your genes.