“Carbohydrate Power” or Just Liquid Sugar?

Carbohydrate concentrates provide energy during or after exercise. Are they useful or just expensive?

The essentials in brief:

• Carbohydrate concentrates only make sense for competitive athletes.
• Bananas and bread are sufficient during or after recreational sport.
• Anyone who uses gels must make sure they drink enough.

What is behind the advertising of carbohydrate concentrates in sports?

Carbohydrates play an important role in providing energy during exercise. Carbohydrate intake is performance-enhancing, especially during longer, more intense exercise. After physical exertion, the stores in the muscles and liver can be quickly replenished by the rapid supply of carbohydrates. Carbohydrate concentrates are used by endurance athletes during training and competition phases to replace or supplement meals. They are also intended for bodybuilders who are lean but want to gain weight quickly (“mass gain”). However, complex metabolic processes are often simplified and abbreviated in the advertising for such products. The advertising message sounds understandable and convincing, such as “fast energy”, “carbohydrate power”, “super mega mass” or “best carbohydrate source”. For example, “dual source” means nothing more than two different types of sugar or others Carbohydrates stuck in the product.

The advertising statements about the ingredient maltodextrin often sound great: the substance is an “energy booster” or “weight gainer”, i.e. weight gainer, it “reliably fills up the stressed energy stores”. Maltodextrin is a mixture of sugar building blocks that is usually obtained from corn starch. Its main benefit as an ingredient in carbohydrate concentrates is that it has little taste of its own and is easy to process. Unlike regular sugar, maltodextrin tastes less sweet. It can therefore be mixed into gels or bars in larger quantities without them appearing uncomfortably sweet to you.

Since maltodextrin is easily digestible and usually well tolerated, it can provide a quick supply of calories during and after endurance exercise. However, you should be very critical of any advertising promises that go beyond this.

What should I look out for when using carbohydrate concentrates?

Bars are usually very high in energy. But even when doing sports, you only need this concentrated energy in a few situations. Normal foods such as bread, pasta, rice or bananas are usually sufficient. These have the advantage that they not only provide you with energy, but also with important nutrients. The variety in taste is greater with them and they perform significantly better in the price comparison.

For competitive athletes in long-lasting, high-intensity endurance sports, concentrates can be a useful dietary supplement because they are easy to transport and practical. However, in recreational athletes who are not currently competing, they can lead to the intake of excessive amounts of energy and, if consumed frequently, to overeating and obesity.

It is important to note that carbohydrate gels should only be consumed with plenty of liquid. Annoyingly, this is often missing on the packaging! Products that advertise that they contain enough water no longer fulfill the actual purpose of these gels – a lot of energy in a small space.

You should avoid gels or bars with sugar substitutes. Depending on individual tolerance, they can lead to abdominal pain in certain quantities. Too large amounts of fructose should not be included either. With some products, you can already exceed the usually tolerable amount of fructose with just two gel sachets. This is why some manufacturers advertise a glucose to fructose ratio of 2:1.

It should be noted that the intestines can only absorb a limited amount of carbohydrates (1.0 – 1.2 g of carbohydrates per minute), even during intensive training. Increasing the amount will not bring you any benefits. It only makes sense to combine different carbohydrates, as they are absorbed via different systems.

Caffeine supplements are said to increase performance. However, you should weigh any advantages against possible side effects such as nervousness, dizziness or headaches.

What are carbohydrate concentrates?

Concentrated carbohydrates are available in bars, gels and powders. Gels and powders are usually marketed as dietary supplements and bars as food for normal consumption.

They are easy to digest and are primarily intended to provide a quick supply of calories during and after exhausting endurance exercise – for example in a marathon.

What ingredients are in carbohydrate concentrates?

Carbohydrate concentrates usually contain different types of sugar such as dextrose, glucose or fructose syrup, isomaltulose, long-chain carbohydrates such as maltodextrin and fruit concentrates. Sugar substitutes such as maltitol or sorbitol are pointless. They provide less energy than types of sugar, which contradicts the desire for quick energy supplies. Sweeteners are particularly useless. In the case of bars, grains such as wheat or rice, pieces of fruit and protein sources such as milk and soy protein, nuts and seeds and vegetable fats are added. Chocolate covered bars still contain cocoa butter and cocoa mass.

Products with guarana or caffeine can often be found. However, they can also be enriched with vitamins such as vitamin C or minerals such as zinc or magnesium . Flavors, emulsifiers and other additives can also be added. There are also pure carbohydrate concentrates for mixing in water. They are often marketed as carboloaders, i.e. as an aid to increasing, i.e. “loading”, the glycogen content in the muscles before competitions. They often only contain maltodextrin. However, products made from corn, barley or other starches are also possible.

In the case of gels, the main ingredient is water in addition to the carbohydrate sources. While conventional gels usually contain 50 to 60% carbohydrates, liquid variants can only contain 30 to 40%. So you need two packets to get the desired amount of energy. Ultra-endurance gels contain long-chain fatty acids and sodium as an additional source of energy.

The so-called hydrogels are relatively new on the market. Sports drinks and carbohydrate gels contain gelling agents such as pectin or alginate. The products promise quick energy absorption and fewer gastrointestinal complaints. Studies that prove a clear benefit in terms of performance and tolerability are still missing.

In order to be able to assess the products correctly, you should take a close look at the nutritional value table and the list of ingredients. In terms of ingredients and nutritional value, bars are often comparable to normal chocolate bars. They quickly provide 400 to 500 kcal.

In a product that makes sense, more than 50% of the energy should come from carbohydrates, but not predominantly from sugars. Fat and protein should only be included in small amounts. Depending on the water content, gels provide 150 to 300 kcal per 100 g. The typical pack sizes are between 25 and 60 g. A sachet usually contains around 100 kcal of carbohydrates – like a banana.

Our tips:

• Concentrated carbohydrates only make sense in a few situations, such as long endurance runs. The effect in recreational sports is overrated.
• In everyday sports, normal carbohydrate-rich foods do the same, such as bread, pasta, rice or bananas.
• If you plan to use gels, try them out a few times outside of competitive situations. Individual tolerance can vary greatly. Be sure to drink enough at the same time.