Can I use corn syrup for on-bike energy?

[Paul Kossa]

I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight," sort
of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that stuff is a
lot more expensive than corn syrup. According to the label,
it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of sugar per serving
(2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the other 20g is more of
the "complex carbo" variety? If so, wouldn't this be better
than honey, which is mostly simple sugars?

 

[Sittingduck]

[email protected] (Paul Kossa) wrote:

> I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight,"
> sort of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that stuff
> is a lot more expensive than corn syrup. According to the
> label, it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of sugar per
> serving (2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the other 20g is
> more of the "complex carbo" variety? If so, wouldn't this
> be better than honey, which is mostly simple sugars?

Some people believe corn syrup is a bit like vegetable
oil... not very good for your heart or arteries.

 

[Marty Wallace]

"sittingduck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Paul Kossa) wrote:
>
> > I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight,"
> > sort of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that
> > stuff is a lot more expensive than corn syrup. According
> > to the label, it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of
> > sugar per serving (2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the
> > other 20g is more of the "complex carbo" variety? If so,
> > wouldn't this be better than honey, which is mostly
> > simple sugars?
>
> Some people believe corn syrup is a bit like vegetable
> oil... not very
good
> for your heart or arteries.

But what does the medical world say?

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 19:24:06 +0800, "Marty Wallace" <[email protected]>
wrote in message <[email protected]>:

>> Some people believe corn syrup is a bit like vegetable
>> oil... not very
>good
>> for your heart or arteries.

>But what does the medical world say?

As far as I can make out the medical world say that corn
syrup is ideally suited to making you very fat very quickly,
and precious little good for anything else. But it is cheap,
which is why it's used in so much convenience food.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Sittingduck]

"Marty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote:

> But what does the medical world say?

What would that matter?

Ducky <--------very little faith in "the medical world"

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Paul Kossa" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight,"
> sort of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that stuff
> is a lot more expensive than corn syrup. According to the
> label, it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of sugar per
> serving (2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the other 20g is
> more of the "complex carbo" variety? If so, wouldn't this
> be better than honey, which is mostly simple sugars?

So you're asking "Idiots Anonymous" about this? Corn syrup
is nothing more than simple sugars. It gives you a boost in
energy but it also elicites an insulin reaction which means
that shortly after your boom you get a consequencial bust.

Stick to energy bars or gels as made by Hammer and such.
More expensive, yes, but better planned. If you carry a bit
of fat on you and the ride isn't going to be more than a
couple of hours you're OK anyway.

 

[Marty Wallace]

"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsJ%[email protected]...
> "Paul Kossa" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight,"
> > sort of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that
> > stuff is a lot more expensive than corn syrup. According
> > to the label, it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of
> > sugar per serving (2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the
> > other 20g is more of the "complex carbo" variety? If so,
> > wouldn't this be better than honey, which is mostly
> > simple sugars?
>
> So you're asking "Idiots Anonymous" about this? Corn
> syrup is nothing more than simple sugars. It gives you a
> boost in energy but it also elicites an insulin reaction
> which means that shortly after your boom you get a
> consequencial bust.
>
> Stick to energy bars or gels as made by Hammer and such.
> More expensive, yes, but better planned. If you carry a
> bit of fat on you and the ride
isn't
> going to be more than a couple of hours you're OK anyway.
>
>
>
How about maltodextrin, isn't that a carbohydrate made from
corn syrup?

Marty

 

[Tom Kunich]

"Marty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> How about maltodextrin, isn't that a carbohydrate made
> from corn syrup?

Working from memory - corn was the initial source of dextrin
which was patented sometime in the mid-20's I believe.
Dextrin isn't very sweet tasting so most "corn syrups" that
are available over the counter easily have "high frutose"
compositions which are made by some sort of enzyme process.
This high fructose corn syrup is very sweet and is the major
component in softdrinks, candy and commercial sweets etc.

I have heard that maltodextrin doesn't elicit an insulin
reaction but again from memory I believe that they have the
same glycemic index as simple sugars and diabetics have to
take that into account.

Young guys that are racing can get away with a lot. Older
guys should eat real food in balanced food groups before,
during and after rides.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Marty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4-
> [email protected]...
> >
> > How about maltodextrin, isn't that a carbohydrate made
> > from corn syrup?
>
> Working from memory - corn was the initial source of
> dextrin which was patented sometime in the mid-20's I
> believe. Dextrin isn't very sweet tasting so most "corn
> syrups" that are available over the counter easily have
> "high frutose" compositions which are made by some sort of
> enzyme process. This high fructose corn syrup is very
> sweet and is the major component in softdrinks, candy and
> commercial sweets etc.
>
> I have heard that maltodextrin doesn't elicit an insulin
> reaction but again from memory I believe that they have
> the same glycemic index as simple sugars and diabetics
> have to take that into account.
>
> Young guys that are racing can get away with a lot. Older
> guys should eat real food in balanced food groups before,
> during and after rides.

Exactly! Now, for those of you keeping score, my diet today,
during a blisteringly-paced 100 km fun ride (supplemental
water throughout this timeline):

Pre-ride:

Peanut butter and cherry jam sandwich on Portugese bun

During:

750 ml Sisu Hydrade (I judge my effort level by the taste
of this beverage: when it starts tasting good, I know I'm
going all out)

granola bar

date square

1 banana

Immediately after:

bottle of Gatorade, too many slices of carrot/raisin
loaf to count

Later:

cupcake for a snack, potato salad for dinner, strawberries
with a bit of sugar and a few very small cookies for
dessert, couple of chunks of cheddar, and a short glass of
Remy Fontainebleu liqueur and a pickle.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected]
http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Marty Wallace]

"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Marty Wallace" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4-
> [email protected]...
> >
> > How about maltodextrin, isn't that a carbohydrate made
> > from corn syrup?
>
> Working from memory - corn was the initial source of
> dextrin which was patented sometime in the mid-20's I
> believe. Dextrin isn't very sweet tasting so most "corn
> syrups" that are available over the counter easily have
> "high frutose" compositions which are made by some sort of
> enzyme process. This high fructose corn syrup is very
> sweet and is the major component in softdrinks, candy and
> commercial sweets etc.
>
> I have heard that maltodextrin doesn't elicit an insulin
> reaction but
again
> from memory I believe that they have the same glycemic
> index as simple sugars and diabetics have to take that
> into account.
>
> Young guys that are racing can get away with a lot. Older
> guys should eat real food in balanced food groups before,
> during and after rides.
>
>

I did a 2 day canoe race with my own home brew of
maltodextrin mixed with coca cola and thinned out with
water. Seemed to do the trick ok. Maltodextrin has a metalic
taste so you need something to give it a bit of flavour,
hence the coke (which also has sugar and caffine in it to
give you a bit of a buzz.)

Works out a lot cheaper than commercial stuff. Maltodextrin
can be found in supermarkets near the home brew beer kits.

Marty

 

[W K]

"Tom Kunich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsJ%[email protected]...
> "Paul Kossa" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I know some guys use maple syrup -- either "straight,"
> > sort of like a gel, or mixed with water -- but that
> > stuff is a lot more expensive than corn syrup. According
> > to the label, it contains 31g of carbo, with 11g of
> > sugar per serving (2tbsp, I think). Does this mean the
> > other 20g is more of the "complex carbo" variety? If so,
> > wouldn't this be better than honey, which is mostly
> > simple sugars?
>
> So you're asking "Idiots Anonymous" about this?

?! You aren't anonymous.

> Corn syrup is nothing more than simple sugars. It gives
> you a boost in energy but it also elicites an insulin
> reaction which means that shortly after your boom you get
> a consequencial bust.

If you take simple sugars in small, regular quantities, it
will not "elicit an insulin reaction".

"I have heard that maltodextrin doesn't elicit an insulin
reaction " ... anything that gets your blood sugar level
high enough will.

 

[Curtis L . Russ]

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 14:14:29 +0800, "Marty Wallace" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I did a 2 day canoe race with my own home brew of
>maltodextrin mixed with coca cola and thinned out
>with water.

Add yeast and give it three weeks in a cool, dark closet.
Open slowly...

Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on
two wheels...

 

[Marty Wallace]

"Curtis L. Russell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 14:14:29 +0800, "Marty Wallace"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >I did a 2 day canoe race with my own home brew of
> >maltodextrin mixed with coca cola and thinned out
> >with water.
>
> Add yeast and give it three weeks in a cool, dark closet.
> Open slowly...
>
> Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on two
> wheels...

Funny you say that. Leave it two days in the canoe, (I use
a large bladder from a 3 litre camelback), let it cool and
it has a fizzy pleasant taste. Maybe I should experiment
with the mix.

Marty

 

[Zoot Katz]

3 Apr 2004 19:52:00 -0800,
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Paul Kossa) wrote:

> If so, wouldn't this be better than honey, which is mostly
> simple sugars?

Honey tastes better. It's real food.

When honey is taken in its natural “gel” form, it provides a
low glycemic response or slow release of sugar into the
blood accompanied by a low insulin response. Because high
glycemic food ingested immediately prior to exercise may
actually hasten the use of muscle glycogen, honey is a
useful food source prior to exercise.

Though honey would be considered a “low” glycemic food
source, the CHO in honey is well digested and performs as
well as high glycemic index CHO sources during exercise.
--
zk

 

[The Real Bev]

Pbwalther wrote:
>
> > Corn syrup is nothing more
> >> than simple sugars. It gives you a boost in energy but
> >> it also elicites an insulin reaction which means that
> >> shortly after your boom you get a consequencial bust.
>
> >If you take simple sugars in small, regular quantities,
> >it will not "elicit an insulin reaction".
> >
> >"I have heard that maltodextrin doesn't elicit an insulin
> >reaction " ... anything that gets your blood sugar level
> >high enough will.
>
> Well, when you exercise, your muscle cells will grab
> sugars without any insulin stimulus. The mechanism is not
> "well understood" which is "science jargon" for saying
> "Gosh, how in the hell does it do that?"

The medical term for that is "idiopathic." Whenever a doctor
says you have an idiopathic condition without further
explanation, find a new doctor; this one is trying to
******** you.

--
Cheers, Bev ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Friends help you move. *Real* friends help
you move bodies." --A. Walker

 

[W K]

"Pbwalther" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Well, when you exercise, your muscle cells will grab
> sugars without any
insulin
> stimulus. The mechanism is not "well understood" which is
> "science
jargon" for
> saying "Gosh, how in the hell does it do that?"

They probably haven't bothered working it out. Its a logical
thing for muscle tissue to be doing, and it would appear not
to be related to any particular disease.

Why on earth would an ordinary cell need to respond to
insulin anyway?

 

[Drs]

Zoot Katz <[email protected]> wrote in message
[email protected]
> 3 Apr 2004 19:52:00 -0800,
> <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Paul Kossa) wrote:
>
>> If so, wouldn't this be better than honey, which is
>> mostly simple sugars?
>
> Honey tastes better. It's real food.
>
> When honey is taken in its natural "gel" form, it provides
> a low glycemic response or slow release of sugar into the
> blood accompanied by a low insulin response.

It's counter-intuitive but true. See
http://www.glycemicindex.com/. The raw honeys listed ranged
from a GI of 58 (Capilano honey) down to 32 (locust honey,
Rumania). A GI of 55 or below is low, 56-69 is moderate.

--

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