Training & Nutrition - Real food alternative to energy drinks

Hi all
Have searched, and was surprised not to find a topic on this subject -

I was wondering if there is a 'real food' alternative, such as a combination of dried fruit/peanuts/chocolate or something, to (say) 1 litre of gatorade? It seems to me that these energy drinks are a good idea, but I would much prefer to eat 'normal' foods while out and about, and think it would be cheaper too.

Cheers

Aaron

Most energy drinks are mostly carbohydrate, and most of that is usually sucrose or similar concoction resulting in roughly 50-50 glucose + fructose. You could grab some raw sugar cane stalks and suck on those -- if you got the right diameter it would probably fit in your bottle cages.

Hi all
Have searched, and was surprised not to find a topic on this subject -

I was wondering if there is a 'real food' alternative, such as a combination of dried fruit/peanuts/chocolate or something, to (say) 1 litre of gatorade? It seems to me that these energy drinks are a good idea, but I would much prefer to eat 'normal' foods while out and about, and think it would be cheaper too.

Cheers

Aaron

There was a news piece on public television comparing energy drinks focusing on caffein.The energy drinks you can find at the local 7-11 have many times more caffein than a can of coke. On the other hand, I don't think Gatorade fits into that category. It might just be an electrolyte with more sugar.

I sense that your topic is trying to compare a liquids with solids. In bike riding or running we need fluids but in longer distances we also need solids as well.

Not sure what you mean by fluids vs. solids, if you blend two slices of toast in with a bottle of water, you'd get pretty close to the same thing as Gatorade (+extra fibre). The only difference is the amount of water you take in at the same time. I usually prefer solid foods on rides, tastes better: PB & J sandwiches
baked potatoes
dried-fruit, trail-mix
burritos
pizza
fish-tacos
noodle soups
bananas
fig-newtons
desserts, pastries, cakes
Pretty much anything will do that's easily digested quickly. You'll want to get in about 200-300 calories/hr on rides over 2-hours.

Thanks everyone

Quite like the sugar cane thing 'nother, maybe I could strap it to my frame (or seatpost) somewhere if it doesn't fit it my water bottle cage?:)

Garfield, I could have been a bit clearer I think - I am just getting into longer bike trips (a few hours at a time) and do take water, but thought I might need to start taking along some of the sport type drink as well. I started flaking out on a ride recently, luckily as I came upon a newsagent where I could buy some chocolate. I would just rather take solid food + the water if possible.

Thanks DannoXYZ, that is a much bigger range of stuff than I expected - I thought sports drinks had specific chemical 'things' :rolleyes: in them. Not too sure why people buy sports drinks now. I assume convenience/speed of ingestion..

Thanks again

Aaron

for your electrolytes, dont yforget your banana dipped in salt

for your electrolytes, dont yforget your banana dipped in salt

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/wuerg/vomit-smiley-011.gif

I haven't used sports drinks for a number of years now. I add some unrefined celtic sea salt to my water bottle. About 1/4 teaspoon per bottle. You may have to experiment here. Too much salt will make you very thirsty, too little and no benefit. For energy I will take some dried fruit like dates and dried figs or even fresh fruit like plums, fresh figs or nuts. Sometimes salted beef fat even! I carry food in a Bento box type bag that straps to the top tube at the head tube. Mines not a Bento box but made by Topeak. Its very handy and I can eat on the ride without stoping.

Regards, Anthony

I drink nothing but plain filtered tap water when I ride. If I'm going more than around 40 miles, I'll bring along some GORP with a small bag of M&M's tossed in the mix.

Blueberries and bananas.

Az

Thanks DannoXYZ, that is a much bigger range of stuff than I expected - I thought sports drinks had specific chemical 'things' :rolleyes: in them. Not too sure why people buy sports drinks now. I assume convenience/speed of ingestion..You're welcome. The energy-drinks replenish whatever you use up when you're biking, basically sweat+sugar. If you could collect the sweat off your back, and add glucose, that's the most optimal mix.. ;)

While I'll carry along a bottle of plain water and a bottle of double-strength Cytomax, most of my calories comes from normal food, sometimes 3000-calories+ on a long ride. Most energy-drinks and foods are a little weak on the electrolytes, especially if you're riding hard in hot weather, so I'll have a couple of electrolyte supplements tossed into the bottles as well. :)

Not sure what you mean by fluids vs. solids, if you blend two slices of toast in with a bottle of water, you'd get pretty close to the same thing as Gatorade (+extra fibre). The only difference is the amount of water you take in at the same time. I usually prefer solid foods on rides, tastes better: PB & J sandwiches
baked potatoes
dried-fruit, trail-mix
burritos
pizza
fish-tacos
noodle soups
bananas
fig-newtons
desserts, pastries, cakes
Pretty much anything will do that's easily digested quickly. You'll want to get in about 200-300 calories/hr on rides over 2-hours.


How the heck to manage to carry a fish taco or noodle soups in your jersey? Sounds kind of messy.

Thanks everyone,
Really interesting responses - I am now thinking dried apricots/bananas and home made salted peanuts (with maybe some chocolate or something) + the water might be a good place to start.

Edited to say: for a shortish but fairly intensive ride (3 or 4 hrs, say).

Aaron

I drink nothing but plain filtered tap water when I ride. If I'm going more than around 40 miles, I'll bring along some GORP with a small bag of M&M's tossed in the mix.

What's GORP???

I haven't used sports drinks for a number of years now. I add some unrefined celtic sea salt to my water bottle. About 1/4 teaspoon per bottle. You may have to experiment here. Too much salt will make you very thirsty, too little and no benefit. For energy I will take some dried fruit like dates and dried figs or even fresh fruit like plums, fresh figs or nuts. Sometimes salted beef fat even! I carry food in a Bento box type bag that straps to the top tube at the head tube. Mines not a Bento box but made by Topeak. Its very handy and I can eat on the ride without stoping.
+1 on the tossing out of sports drinks. Too much refined carbos.

I take some rolled barley and/or rolled oats mixed with raisins - very lightweight, very energy dense, slow releasing so it lasts a looooong time. Works quite well in a drinks bottle - open the top take a pull and chew away. And water.

What's GORP???


Good Old Raisins and Peanuts---GORP :)

Great,
Tons of good ideas here, thanks again everyone.

My favorite is bagels.

How the heck to manage to carry a fish taco or noodle soups in your jersey? Sounds kind of messy.heh, heh... I take a little break at the 1/2-way point, Trancas market just north of Malibu. There's a taco-stand with lots of goodies. Along the way, there's convenience stores that have these Campbell's soup in the new drinkable plastic cups (fits in water-bottl cage). Toss in the microwave for a couple minutes and I'm on my way again. :)

all rolled oats are doing for you during a ride is sitting in your stomache taking blood and h2o away from where it needs to be

liquid calories are the best for riding as theyre the most easily digested, and refined sugars are great because they enter your blood stream fastest and get to your muscles quickly, where theyre needed

high fiber/high fat/high protein food during a ride is more a detriment than a benefit

all rolled oats are doing for you during a ride is sitting in your stomache taking blood and h2o away from where it needs to be

liquid calories are the best for riding as theyre the most easily digested, and refined sugars are great because they enter your blood stream fastest and get to your muscles quickly, where theyre needed

high fiber/high fat/high protein food during a ride is more a detriment than a benefit
Well that depends. (It always does, doesn't it? :D ) If you are doing an endurance race, you want gastric emptying. OTOH if you are doing an audax riding is slower and lasts all day. You don't want a quick fix, you want the long lasting solution that doesn't weigh you down.

Anyway, read the OP. I responded to that.

All these suggestions are great. Definitely try a baked potato. Eating baked potatoes on rides is probably the best piece of advice I've ever picked up on this forum.

The only problem with all the suggestions so far is electrolyte balance. Both the suggested foods and gatorade are also woefully lacking in sodium and potassium. The joke post of a banana dipped in salt isn't so far from the truth. You need both sodium and potassium (other electrolytes are either in much lesser demand or kind of take care of themselves).

I'd go with bananas (flattened or fresh) and some salty peanuts. Or better yet a nice salty baked potato.

On the post railing about how all you want is refined carbs while riding, this is simply false. Yes, you will get some energy out of gatorade faster than out of some peanuts. But this energy boost will not be sustained and your blood sugar levels will drop right back down. On long steady rides its best to mix from all the kinds of macronutrients and make sure you've plenty of electrolytes.

... and gatorade are also woefully lacking in sodium and potassium.
According to the Gatorade bottle I was using a while ago, there was both potassium and sodium in much more than trace quantities.

Gatorade does have potassium & sodium, but only in 1/2 the concentrations needed. Same with the carbs. In order to get enough nutrients from Gatorade, you'd have to drink so much that you end up with twice as much water than necessary.

For glucose, potassium and sodium, the easiest "real food" solution might be orange juice and salted nuts. OJ has a good amount of potassium and lots of sugar.

For liquid only, instead of the peanuts, I'm going to try danno's idea:


Along the way, there's convenience stores that have these Campbell's soup in the new drinkable plastic cups (fits in water-bottl cage). Toss in the microwave for a couple minutes and I'm on my way again.

I like that Campbell's soup, especially "Blended Vegetable Medley," which is loaded with sweet red peppers (Vitamin A) and lots of sodium. And the ingredient list is pretty clean, too. danno said to heat it up in the store's microwave, but I think it goes down pretty good at room temperature. Fancy restaurants serve a lot of soups at room temp or even chilled. Thanks for the idea, Danno! :)

Soup and OJ would make a real complete balance for a long ride, IMO. I hate the phony taste of commercial supplements, and I really don't like to put that highly processed stuff in my body. The more you eat real whole foods, the nastier that phony crap tastes.

Or how about OJ mixed 50-50 with iced tea?