I'm experimenting with foods on ultra's... I find it less enjoyable to chew foods as the run gets longer and I'm trying to experiment with ways around this...
So..
The market is saturated with hi-carb drinks, protein shakes and all kinds of gels and bars... but... is there an 'all in one' liquid product that I can drink that is a combination of everything the body needs on a ultra... thus.. high in carbs, high in protein, with some fats, salts and vitamins etc... one drink that contains everything for a 100 mile ultra without the need to chew...?
Its just a thought..... anyone know of such a product..?
Comments
A smoothie could be the answer? drop a little banana flavoured protein powder in and some elete electrolyte drops for your salts etc.
A bit of research on the best fruits to include to optimise the carbs, sugars and avoid too much fibre etc shouldn't take too long.
unless you have a peanut allergy, this might do it!
http://www.americansweets.co.uk/new-single-sachet-squeeze-pack-peanut-butter-co-dark-chocolate-dream-peanut-butter-32g-pack-14386-p.asp
GU have just launched Roctane UltraEndurance drink in the UK as a test product, which sounds like the sort of thing that you are after: http://www.guenergy.co.uk/products/gu-roctane. I tried some when I was in the US, and it's good stuff. It's got slow and quick release carbs, branched chain amino acid proteins, histidine, electrolytes, caffeine and taurine. There's some info here: http://roctane.com/roctane-energy-drink/
Chocolate milk maybe?!
That roctane stuff looks interesting though DIS.
You might want to have a look at meal replacement drinks- either those targetted at the dietary market (slimfast) or those used in the medical market for people unable to take solid food. Complan, Fortisip and Fortijuice are the brands that spring to mind but there are others.
http://www.nutridrinks.co.uk/
There is a company based in London that allows you to customise your drinks ie carb, protein, electroyte levels etc of sports drink in powder form. The name has completely escaped me at the moment....
http://www.infinitnutrition.us/ ? EU website link is wonky.
Somebody once mentioned baby food sachets, Ella's Kitchen etc. I had a look at them but never actually tried them. Maybe worth investigating further as there is a decent mix of sweet and savoury.
Some good ideas here.. thanks... keep them coming...
DV, just liquidise your fave meal...or flavoured powdered mash potatoe, carbs food in a drink.maybe tricky getting it through the tube of the backpack though.....
i WAS joking about liquidising meals and smash potatoe.......
Hammer perpetuem is meant to be like rocket fuel someone once told me...............never got round to ordering any..
*look furtively over shoulder* okay then...go on....
i have lots of powder at work locked away in cupboards...most of that would either kill me or render me unconsious for a week though so i think the innocuous white powder may be a lot safer from you.....
you has mail...
Lirish.. I do have a bag of hammer perpetuem... it is fantastic stuff but not easy to use on an ultra unless you have someone to pre-mix the fluids or make the paste... good choice though... the paste can be very messy and sticky and isn't conducive to speedy feeds or trying to feed in the dark...
kk.. I think I am fairly reasonable at fuelling.. I'm trying to experiment with other options and would like to consider fuelling that doesn't require chewing... it doesn't need to be 'sports crap'... right now, I don't use any sports products... I eat real foods.. I just find that as the distances get longer and longer I prefer to drink rather than chew...
A +1 here for Hammer Pertetuem, I too use it on the long stuff and it seems to take care of most things. They do a solids version now which I suspect is an acquired taste big, very big lozenges, that are quite chalky in texture, chew 'em (don't meet the brief DV as you don't like to chew but are simple and speedy and easy to use in the dark) with liquid into a paste and then finally wash down, not as unpleasant as I make them sound problem is you need to do 3 an hour to hit the same dosage as the powder in a 500ml bottle.
To meet the inital question better, have not tried this yet myself but am just about to order the chia seeds so that I can:
http://ultrarunning.co.nz/content/chia-seeds-running-food
I have used chia seeds.. it looks like frog spawn or wallpaper paste when mixed, but they don't actually have any taste... I'm not convinced I noticed any of the claimed benefits from them though.
I will experiement some more with the perpetuem to see if I can make that more workable...
I've mentioned this a couple of times. Just one in particular though - Ella's Kitchen Bananas Apricots and Baby Rice. 150 cals and 30g of carbs per pouch. I had a look at just about every other pouch of babyfood available and all of them seem to have far fewer carbs and calories. This one is the only one that has enough in it to actually make it worthwhile.
DV: I know what you mean about food that doesn't require chewing and that's why I like the babyfood. It's goopy enough to feel like 'real' food and not a drink, but it's just mush so easy to force down. And I actually LIKE the taste of it.
I've settled on Peronin for this purpose, is quickly absorbed and gives you a real boost, doesn't taste too bad either.