Maltodextrin, glucose, fructose, isomaltulose yes... there are many different and strange names in the ingredient list of energy products. But what can they do and what on earth are they important for?
Because sugar is, well... just sugar ...
So you should really be able to drive just on coke and wine gummy bears ? Or can you…?
Both of the above questions can actually be answered yes or no. This is because, overall, we have carbohydrates, which is a term for all types of sugar. All sugars are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, but it is how the atoms in these are composed that makes all the difference.
First of all, these sugars can be categorized as either mono- (one), di (two) or poly (multi)-saccharides. The monosaccharides are simple and consist of only one type of "sugar", e.g. glucose, fructose are mono-saccharides. If you put two monosaccharides together, you get a disaccharide.
A polysaccharide (such as maltodextrin ) consists of a longer composition of sugar forms and therefore the atomic chains in these also become much longer. the source, as it were, consists of several glucose molecules which are joined together in an extremely long chain.
The benefits of glucose and fructose
The good thing about glucose and fructose is precisely that they have shorter atomic chains and are some of the so-called monosaccharides. This also means that they are easy for the intestine to absorb as no enzymes are needed to "cut" them into smaller parts. What is special about these two is that they each use a different transporter to get across the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. Glucose uses something called SGLT-1 (sodium-glucose-linked-transporter 1) and fructose uses something called GLUT 5 (at least that's what people think, but the evidence isn't so good yet that it's in the textbooks) to get over the intestinal wall and into something called the intestinal interstitium. Then they both again use GLUT 5 (presumably) to get into the bloodstream.
To make it a little more complex, let's also take a look at the disaccharide that the Carbo Race Electrolyte series contains. This contains isomaltulose, which is a disaccharide. It also means that it is composed of two different mono-saccharides and for isomaltose, it is glucose and fructose which are then linked together. The keen reader may have heard that sucrose is also composed of glucose and fructose, and is it not the same?
And no, luckily it isn't!
Sucrose is basically table sugar we have lying around at home... and the difference between isomaltose and sucrose is the bond between the glucose and the fructose (you don't think a bond can make such a big difference, but it does!) Because it causes e.g. that isomaltose will not taste as sweet as table sugar, which is probably very nice for most people, that what you have to drink will not be too sweet when you are out training.
More technically, it has the beneficial effect that the absorption rate becomes a smidge lower and therefore you get a more continuous flow which causes the blood sugar to become stable.
On the other hand, the good thing about maltodextrin is that " you get more for your money ", i.e. there are longer atomic chains and therefore there are also more atomic chains per grams consumed.
Precisely for the same reason, it has also been seen that maltodextrin is very good during long-term work, as you can get a lot of sugar per day. grams consumed.
Therefore, it makes good sense that energy powder contains different types of carbohydrates , so that you can play on the whole palette during the competitions!
At PurePower we offer two different energy powders, which are designed based on the above principles of using different carbohydrates for an energy drink. Carbo Race Electrolyte and Carbo Race Citrus are both energy powders with maltodextrin, fructose and isomaltulose. We also offer a pure maltodextrin drink that many people use to make their own energy drink. You can read more about the neutral maltodextrin drink here.
The only thing to be aware of in relation to Purepower's energy powder is that they do not contain pure glucose and therefore you probably do not experience the same "boost" as you can get from others. In addition, you must also remember to drink from the start and not when you are about to get cold, because then it will be difficult to come back (a gel would be better here). But on the other hand, you get the smartest solution if you remember to start drinking from the start of your race or your training!
How to make your own energy drink.
You can use our Carbo Race Neutral to mix your very own energy drink. Our maltodextrin is easy to mix with e.g. juice (without sugar) or an electrolyte loss . Several PurePower ambassadors use our pure maltodextrin powder to mix their own energy drink, as it is different how much sugar you need.
If you don't want to mess around with mixes and just want an energy drink that tastes good and works, you can choose our other Carbo Race products. (read more here)
So yes, you can run on coke and wine gummy bears, but it is far from the most optimal and efficient way to energize yourself during competition...
Daniel Nykvist Larsen: Stud. Cand. Scientist. In Human Physiology.