Originally Posted by
ticktockpedal
the more i research this the more it cornfuses me. so basically this breaks down to be available quickly for energy as well as for the long term. usually you see other types of sugars mixed in with maltodextrin (gel packs e.g.) i thought that was to get a balanced short-term/long-term energy needs effect.
Maltodextrin doesn't taste very sweet so they might add sugars for better flavour. Also, studies have found you can process more glycogen if you have multiple sugars, i.e. glucose and fructose. With fructose and glucose you can process up to 400 Cals/hr vs 250 or so for glucose only.
All sugars provide short term energy which is what you want.