Nutrition - What are buying and from where

[SlowUpSlowishDown]

As the title suggests, interested to see what people are currently buying, from where and what type of riding this nutrition supports.

I tend to stick to the bananas and Cliff bars but curious what else is out thete

[Mububban]

As the title suggests, interested to see what people are currently buying, from where and what type of riding this nutrition supports.

I tend to stick to the bananas and Cliff bars but curious what else is out thete

Clif Bars when they're on 1/2 price special at Coles or Woolies. Maybe a look on the Coles catalogue or Woolworths catalogue will help.

SiS energy drink from their website, again usually when there's a sale on.

Sometimes use a can of coke and top the bottle up with water and an electrolyte tablet if I've had takeaway, as I never drink the drink at the time

[Retrobyte]

Clif bars from Catch when they are on special. And I buy SOS hydration sachets in bulk lots of 50 or 100 on eBay. For longer rides I will often take a banana or some cheap supermarket oaty slices. Also a fan of a can of coke at the midpoint of long rides.

[SlowUpSlowishDown]

I had to buy some bits from Wiggle so I've bought some of these SIS chewable bar thing's to try. 46g of carbs isn't a bad thing either, let's hope they taste ok.

https://www.this link is broken.au/science-in-sp ... =109360824

[cyclotaur]

I've recently been using 'InfinitNutrition' in training/prep/event for AlpineACE250 and Peaks. It's making a measurable difference in keeping me properly fueled for these big rides. I get 60-90g of readily available carbs per bidon/bottle, so I generally don't really need to eat much. I hate gels.

On big rides I might also use banana(s) and 'the black doctor'. If not training, I'll just have a bottle with weak Staminade, water refills and a muesli bar for rides up to 2-3hrs/50-70km. Besides that I also use cheap supermarket UncleToby's oatey bars, and LCM's which are really easy to digest when out riding, and basically full of sugar.

I usually have an easily digestible carby breakfast (oats, berries, banana, yoghurt) before bigger rides, or for lunch afterwards. On non-ride days I eat less % carbs and less overall.

[robbo mcs]

I usually survive on ride with water for hydration, and muesli/oat type bars for energy, plus a stop for coffee or milk. Post ride like to have a protein powder/milk drink for rehydration.

When doing long multiday tours, like to eat up big in the evenings with carbo heavy and energy dense food.

One of the best tips I ever had was from a random encounter I had on a tour. Riding along minding my own business middle of nowhere, cyclist going the other way waves, then turns around and rides with me for an hour "for a chat". He was a guy who has done some amazing touring and endurance rides, did the cross autralia Indian Pacific Wheel race etc. One tip he gave me was to fuel up on milk. He said it is isotonic, so great for hydration, good protein source and energy. Also, it is cheap, and is available in virtually every food shop, service station, corner store in every corner of the country.

[cyclotaur]

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One of the best tips I ever had was from a random encounter I had on a tour…….One tip he gave me was to fuel up on milk. He said it is isotonic, so great for hydration, good protein source and energy. Also, it is cheap, and is available in virtually every food shop, service station, corner store in every corner of the country.

Agree - I generally grab a milkshake after descending from Donna Buang.

[warthog1]

Would not work for me. I'd be spray painting shortly afterwards.
In any case it is the baby food of another species that grows to 800kg.
If it works good. It certainly won't for quite a few;

Lactose intolerance in infancy resulting from congenital lactase deficiency is a rare disorder. Its incidence is unknown. This condition is most common in Finland, where it affects an estimated 1 in 60,000 newborns.

Approximately 65 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy. Lactose intolerance in adulthood is most prevalent in people of East Asian descent, with 70 to 100 percent of people affected in these communities. Lactose intolerance is also very common in people of West African, Arab, Jewish, Greek, and Italian descent.

The prevalence of lactose intolerance is lowest in populations with a long history of dependence on unfermented milk products as an important food source. For example, only about 5 percent of people of Northern European descent are lactose intolerant.

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condit ... #frequency
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/la ... ITLE_HDR_2
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lactose-intolerance/

I just drink staminade and carry a banana and museli bar or 2 for 3-4 hour rides.

[trailgumby]

Hammer Perpetuum for the drink bottles from their website, Hi5 for gels and carb bars from Wiggle.

Perpetuum has soy protein, which keeps longer when mixed. The protein helps with sustaining performance on longer rides as well as making it easier to back up after a major event. I have also used Hi-5 4:1 carb:protein mix, which I rate highly for effectiveness and keenly priced.

Hi-5 gels and bars I buy on price, as they contain the right ingredients (fructose for the quick pump and majority maltodextrin for the sustained burn) rather than simple table sugar (aka sucrose) like you get in Gatorade and even some of the super-expensive bike shop-only supposedly elite products.

Sucrose/table sugar spikes your insulin and then dumps you - a well known effect and a pretty uncomfortable experience when you're on the rivet at race pace. I used to accept that as normal until I started using Endura in the recommendation of my training buddies, which was a bit of a revelation.

Sometimes I still use Endura as they have magnesium in the mix, particularly if I know it will be a hot day, but I find you need to work up to it for a couple of weeks pre-event or you risk stomach upset on the day.

I also like Endura gels as they have only 8mg caffeine - 1/10th of a cup of coffee. It's enough to well and truly light the blue paper (anyone remember those skyrockets from the days when you could buy fireworks for the Queens Birthday long weekend?), but without giving me the caffeine headache and dullness.

[trailgumby]

.
….
One of the best tips I ever had was from a random encounter I had on a tour…….One tip he gave me was to fuel up on milk. He said it is isotonic, so great for hydration, good protein source and energy. Also, it is cheap, and is available in virtually every food shop, service station, corner store in every corner of the country.

Agree - I generally grab a milkshake after descending from Donna Buang.

'
Chocolate or strawberry milk is a great post-ride recovery drink if low or no fat, and taken within 30 minutes of the end of a hard workout or race.

Not sure I'd be able to sustain high intensity efforts on that. Zone 2 would probably be OK though.

[nickobec]

recently develop a whole bunch of food intolerances (lactose, fructose and fructans (wheat products)) so does make on bike nutrition and post ride recovery challenging.

My on bike nutrition is mostly liquid Wiggle Energy drink + maltodextrin, solid is often bananas (fresh or dried, can get 5 times more dried bananas in your pockets) dried apples and small amount of nuts.

Post ride recovery, usually a smoothie with rice milk, whey isolate protein (very low in lactose), chai seeds and usually a banana.

Source of maltodextrin and whey isolate protein bulkpowders.com.au though looking at local brewing supplies co for cheaper maltodextrin.

[Nobody]

recently develop a whole bunch of food intolerances (lactose, fructose and fructans (wheat products)) so does make on bike nutrition and post ride recovery challenging.

Look at your exposure to herbicides through the foods you are consuming. They are known to cause intolerances and are sprayed on a number of crops before harvest (mainly in the USA due to the shorter growing season) to improve yield and make harvesting easier.

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This thread is better titled riding fuel, rather than nutrition. Fueling should avoid all forms of fat since fat doesn't make a good fuel for what most are looking for. Fat also slows blood flow by causing the red blood cells to stick together. This reduces flow and can increase blood pressure.

[nickobec]

Look at your exposure to herbicides through the foods you are consuming. They are known to cause intolerances and are sprayed on a number of crops before harvest (mainly in the USA due to the shorter growing season) to improve yield and make harvesting easier.

Cause of my food intolerances was antibiotics (they came on very quickly with a big impact). Killed the chest infection but also destroyed my gut flora. Resulting in IBS ie my gut can not process lactose, GOS (soy and legumes), fructans (particularly garlic and onion), fructose (in large quantities), caffeine and sunflower seeds (not the normal IBS intolerance). So that does make fuelling on long rides and mid ride stops challenging.

[Nobody]

Ah yes, that makes sense. I have a goal to avoid antibiotics for the rest of my life, but only if avoiding them doesn't kill me.

Obviously you can rebuild the microbiome slow and methodically which mainly comes down to prebiotics - in the form of natural fibre rich foods fed in gradually. Not supps - but it's probably going to take months to fix and then months for the immune system to settle down again. I'd argue that most people don't have the required dedication in diet control to see it through. Consequently one of the reasons symptoms persist.

Anyway OT...

[Mububban]

I have plenty of lactose-free milk at home, but if I drank a normal choc milk at the midpoint of a ride, the rest of the ride would definitely be wind-assisted

I do miss a choc milk though....

[mogwaiboi]

recently develop a whole bunch of food intolerances (lactose, fructose and fructans (wheat products)) so does make on bike nutrition and post ride recovery challenging.

My on bike nutrition is mostly liquid Wiggle Energy drink + maltodextrin, solid is often bananas (fresh or dried, can get 5 times more dried bananas in your pockets) dried apples and small amount of nuts.

Post ride recovery, usually a smoothie with rice milk, whey isolate protein (very low in lactose), chai seeds and usually a banana.

Source of maltodextrin and whey isolate protein bulkpowders.com.au though looking at local brewing supplies co for cheaper maltodextrin.

That's my energy drink of choice as well, seems to work for my sensitive stomach. I use Coopers brewing sugar to top up the maltodextrin (not pure maltodextrin), pretty cheap at around $6 a kilo. The good thing is even with 3 tablespoons it doesn't make the mix any sweeter.

[queequeg]

I’m also trying the InfinitNutrition after it was recommend to me by some riding buddies. I used it on Peaks and a 200km Audax ride before that. i liked it because it’s both hydration and food, so I can stay fueled far easier. on long rides i find chewing a clif bar etc can be a chore.

I used the GoFar mix to begin with, but the others I spoke to have said they make up a custom blend with 90g of carbs per serve rather than the 60g.

I am going to work on the mix over the next 12 months before I have a serious attempt at Peaks (my last two were purely social and I was way out of form, so just finishing was an achievement!)

[trailgumby]

I have plenty of lactose-free milk at home, but if I drank a normal choc milk at the midpoint of a ride, the rest of the ride would definitely be wind-assisted

I do miss a choc milk though....

Pack a lighter and you'll be fine. Rocket assistance

[trailgumby]

I have plenty of lactose-free milk at home, but if I drank a normal choc milk at the midpoint of a ride, the rest of the ride would definitely be wind-assisted

I do miss a choc milk though....

Pack a lighter and you'll be fine. Rocket assistance

[BrisBoy]

Ah yes, that makes sense. I have a goal to avoid antibiotics for the rest of my life, but only if avoiding them doesn't kill me.

Obviously you can rebuild the microbiome slow and methodically which mainly comes down to prebiotics - in the form of natural fibre rich foods fed in gradually. Not supps - but it's probably going to take months to fix and then months for the immune system to settle down again. I'd argue that most people don't have the required dedication in diet control to see it through. Consequently one of the reasons symptoms persist.

Anyway OT...

Or faecal implant.

[BrisBoy]

I've had a lot of success with bulk nutrients "carb+" and "electrolyte blend."

Don't think I've had cramp or bonk since using them (maybe I'm just not going hard enough).

You need pretty accurate scales for the electrolyte but that's easily solved. I'd like to turn the carbs into more of a gel as it's sometimes nice to feel like I'm eating something. Anyone know any good recipes?

[baabaa]

Look at your exposure to herbicides through the foods you are consuming. They are known to cause intolerances and are sprayed on a number of crops before harvest (mainly in the USA due to the shorter growing season) to improve yield and make harvesting easier.

Cause of my food intolerances was antibiotics (they came on very quickly with a big impact). Killed the chest infection but also destroyed my gut flora. Resulting in IBS ie my gut can not process lactose, GOS (soy and legumes), fructans (particularly garlic and onion), fructose (in large quantities), caffeine and sunflower seeds (not the normal IBS intolerance). So that does make fuelling on long rides and mid ride stops challenging.

Gawd - just get and start using the monash uni low fodmap app as soon as you can - have struggled with IBS for decades. Had to have a unrelated bilateral inguinal hernia operation which puts mesh into your belly cavity and the unteated ibs / bloating had my guts pushing and grating hard against the mesh - short story the IBS/ mesh combo has left me with a ongoing eating disorder/ fear of food.

The monash app has without doubt made me a new person and while I still struggle to keep weight on, am back into above a 21 BMI and feeling better in body and brain. I have been a big grain and pulse eater of each and any bean and pea type and now sadly just dont - my diet is gluten free, very plain and simple. Once you have now gone weeks without any IBS symptoms you then begin to understand what it is feels like to be well again.

FWIW - I have been on plant based foods for more than 15 years and no dairy for around 10 years and put my IBS down to lots of business travel to places which are just tiny dots on the world map, so too much post trip !!! Spammer !!! and more importantly, moving from our own farm grown meats to supermarket junk - so yes antibiotics but second hand from meat products but never a lot and only for a short time - also feel my family history has a low gut tolerance to lots of meat products as all my fathers side of the family complained of stomach issues so would be pencil thin and self treated by growing lots of fruit and veg.

I wont comment on the sports drink or nutrition stuff apart from just try to avoid any IBS issues if you can and if it was me, I would be reading all the ingredients included and then re-reading them again after checking the origins of what goes into that sort of gloop - clean flat water still works pretty well across the world if you are doing hard work or sport and if you can project 10 or 20 years into your gut health future, being a few minutes slower on any bike ride or race is really no big deal....

[nickobec]

Gawd - just get and start using the monash uni low fodmap app as soon as you can - have struggled with IBS for decades. .....

I have been using the Monash Uni App and low FODMAP diet since I was diagnosed with IBS, which was 8 weeks into my journey. I am working with a dietician who specialises in treating IBS. So significant difference first 6 weeks and now.

I wont comment on the sports drink or nutrition stuff apart from just try to avoid any IBS issues if you can and if it was me, I would be reading all the ingredients included and then re-reading them again after checking the origins of what goes into that sort of gloop - clean flat water still works pretty well across the world if you are doing hard work or sport and if you can project 10 or 20 years into your gut health future, being a few minutes slower on any bike ride or race is really no big deal....

I read and re-read ingredients, as well as IBS, I can not cope with the taste of artificial sweeteners (taste like metal filings to me).

I do like racing and riding with fast friends, so I do use nutrition on a ride and particularly sports drinks. It is a case of me understanding how much fructose I can consume in an hour/ 3 hours without any ill effects. Which appears to be 20g of fructose an hour.

[baabaa]

Well done with all that and sounds like you are on top of it - hope you can turn it around soon.
Must admit the reading and re-reading of what goes into most of our foods is a real pest - my shopping time has slowed to a near crawl as the eyes work overtime in reading the ingredients listed out in microscopic fonts found on the back of packs ...

[Mububban]

I’m also trying the InfinitNutrition after it was recommend to me by some riding buddies. I used it on Peaks and a 200km Audax ride before that. i liked it because it’s both hydration and food, so I can stay fueled far easier. on long rides i find chewing a clif bar etc can be a chore.

I used the GoFar mix to begin with, but the others I spoke to have said they make up a custom blend with 90g of carbs per serve rather than the 60g.

I am going to work on the mix over the next 12 months before I have a serious attempt at Peaks (my last two were purely social and I was way out of form, so just finishing was an achievement!)

This is an interesting sounding product - how did you get on with it?