From what I can tell, most "gu" products seem to be mostly maltodextrin which is basically a long chain sugar. It's heavily processed and in the body it acts as a simple sugar. I'm sure it's effective, any concentrated sugar would be, but wouldn't something less refined, more natural, more of a complex carbohydrate be a better option? The Cliff blocks, for example, are mostly brown rice sugar.

I haven't been able to find out much about maltodextrin except a few questionable articles that Google points to, but I've been avoiding it and sticking to products that don't use it. Just curious what others know/think about it.