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Featured Recipe: Citrus Berry Smoothie

To prevent bonking, long-distance athletes supplement with carbohydrates during a workout—literally, they eat on the run or the ride. Many athletes go straight for specially formulated sports gels or drinks, which provide easily digested simple carbohydrates and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium (which are lost through perspiration), minerals that help the body maintain a healthy fluid balance and keep the heart working properly. Gels generally are easier to carry than high-carb “real foods,” such as bananas or raisins (which contain potassium) or pretzels (which provide sodium). However, according to some nutrition experts, these specialized products aren’t necessarily better at maximizing performance. For example, according to a small San Diego State University study (funded by the California Raisin Marketing Board), eating raisins prior to a workout was just as effective as consuming the same number of carbs in a sports gel.

That said, fueling up mid-workout is a science. The body can generally absorb only about 60 grams of carbohydrates, or 240 calories, an hour, says Gibala. If you eat too much, the carbohydrates aren’t absorbed into the bloodstream and sent to muscles; they just stay in the digestive tract—so you can end up with a lot of cramping.

However, recently a lab in the UK found that a blend of fructose and glucose allows the body to burn up to 108 grams of carbs an hour (compared to 60 grams for straight glucose). Scientists found that when eight trained cyclists consumed glucose and fructose together throughout their workouts, they stored more energy in their muscles and, as a result, completed the course 8 percent faster than when they fueled up on straight glucose and 19 percent faster than when they sipped plain water.

“Chemicals in our digestive systems transport sugars from the stomach into the intestines and then into the blood. And those transporters respond differently to different types of sugars,” says Gibala. “So giving multiple types of sugars allows the athlete to get more energy into their muscles to fuel the work.” It’s like having multiple doors to a stadium: with more doors, the stadium sections fill up faster.

Historically, carbs were the only nutrient for fueling up, but new research suggests that athletes may benefit from eating protein during a workout too. In fact, the latest craze in sports nutrition is spiking energy drinks with protein. A couple of studies on trained cyclists reported that when athletes consumed a drink containing about 2 percent protein (and the rest carbohydrate) they were able to cycle up to 30 percent longer than when they consumed a sports drink containing only carbohydrates. Despite the promising results, experts claim the research isn’t conclusive, that the benefits may come simply from consuming more calories overall. “Basically they just added protein on top of carbohydrates,” says Gibala. “So is it an effect of protein, or is it the fact that you’re just giving people more calories?” No one knows for sure—and, from a biochemical standpoint, there’s no generally accepted explanation for why consuming protein during exercise would improve performance.

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