Jump to content

On the bike: Energy drink or OJ?


wonduhboy

Recommended Posts

A friend of mine's coach has suggested she replace her energy drink (and gels) with normal (100% i.e. no apple or other kind of juice) orange juice/diluted.

His reasoning being that normal energy drinks/gels cause blood sugar spikes (and thus drops) while OJ, being low in GI provides consistent blood sugar/glucose levels.

So, any of the experts out there got any comments on this?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not sure about dropping the energy drink but I have noticed that if I use gels in a race that I need to keep "refueling" with gels during the race as I feel dead if I don't.

 

If I just use one energy drink and one bottle of water, much better.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not an expert at all, pure OJ without all the white and diluted it should be fine. Have seen somewhere that fruit juice is not recommended for training.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my big question is: if this method is so efficient, why are so many cyclists still using cytomax/usn/energy dynamics etc?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fruit juice is generally not recommended as exercise fuel because fructose can cause stomach probs.

 

I'm no exercise scientist, but my understanding is that while you're exercising you won't get blood sugar spikes, since any simple sugars will go straight into performing work. Hence the reason you see riders in the TDF drinking coke.

 

Cheers

Nick

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all, read a very interesting article about milk being the best liquid to use to rehydrate oneself during exercise(cycling). This was compared to water and an energy drink. Looking forward to a Super Moo at the next drinks table!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fruit juice is generally not recommended as exercise fuel because fructose can cause stomach probs.

 

there must be some truth in this as I give myself a tummy ache every frikkin time I eat a fruit on an empty stomach....one should have learnt by now but apparently one hasn't overcome the lazy syndrome and prefers to reach out for a banana or an apple instead of going to the kitchen and making themselves a proper meal

 

If i remember correctly (I am gonna have to go and read over this tonight) the article mentioned of putting OJ/Apple J in your std energy drink like Energade and using that....I stand corrected as I am old now
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hi all' date=' read a very interesting article about milk being the best liquid to use to rehydrate oneself during exercise(cycling). This was compared to water and an energy drink. Looking forward to a Super Moo at the next drinks table![/quote']

 

 

Hmm that is interesting since milk takes about 8hours to digest. I cannot see how that can re-fuel/hydrate your muscles effectively during hard racing/training.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

apparently prof tim noakes conducted a study on the best "energy drink" and red grape juice diluted a bit with h2o works really well,have also heard this from a few other cyclists to

Link to comment
Share on other sites

apparently prof tim noakes conducted a study on the best "energy drink" and red grape juice diluted a bit with h2o works really well' date='have also heard this from a few other cyclists to[/quote']

 

See, now this almost goes against the reasoning behind OJ. as I understood it, grape juice is quite high on the GI scale, hence making it a sugar spike - could be wrong though
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If i remember correctly (I am gonna have to go and read over this tonight) the article mentioned of putting OJ/Apple J in your std energy drink like Energade and using that....I stand corrected as I am old now

 

Article said fructose is absorbed by different receptors than glucose. So although glucose is the most reasily absorbed, by adding fructose, you can increase the sugars that can be absorbed per hour.

 

Of course they didn't mention taste Dead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all' date=' read a very interesting article about milk being the best liquid to use to rehydrate oneself during exercise(cycling). This was compared to water and an energy drink. Looking forward to a Super Moo at the next drinks table![/quote']

 

thats it, nesquick in my bottles this weekend
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout