Fruit Juices Beat Sports Drinks for Exercisers by Dr. Mirkin

Matt W.

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
2,305
Location
Puerto Rico
This is an interesting read written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin.... Mt Dew is my new sports drink... :)

Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Health, Fitness and Nutrition. | Fruit Juices Beat Sports Drinks for Exercisers

It summarizes with this:
Foods and Drinks to Take During Prolonged Exercise
The following foods are good sources of separate molecules of glucose and fructose, or of sucrose, which is glucose and fructose bound together:
• Fruit juices
• Most carbonated soft drinks with sugar
• All fruits
• Sweet vegetables such as peas, corn, carrots, beets and sweet potatoes
• Nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds
• Foods made from flour such as cake, cookies, crackers, chips, cereals and breads.

Questions it brings to my mind:
Easy to replicate after the gym, harder to follow when on a remote wilderness pursuit....
What products best mimic this in the wilderness?
Another part Dr. Mirkin did not address was hydration. In my experience my biggest "Crashes" were due to de-hydration and cramping. Curious if his recommendation would somehow address that.

A home made trail mix seems a legit trail food (as we have always known), but what else could you add to extend endurance and increase recovery based on the findings of this article? I have a few ideas, but am curious as to what others would do. Will freeze dried veggies deliver the same "boost" as fresh? I could see throwing freeze dried peas and corn into the trail mix, but not so much the carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes! :)

Anyway found the article interesting and was curious what others thought.
 

robby denning

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
14,993
Location
SE Idaho
this is interesting Matt, and surprising (the soft drink part).

I'll let you go first--Give those freeze dried peas/corn a shot and report back.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
From my experience, eating a lot of sugar during prolonged activity leaves me feeling exactly like I ate a bunch of sugar. Some sugars? Certainly. Cake and Dr Pepper? No thanks.
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
Does he address electrolye levels and fluid balance?

Pedialyte is probably better than anything, but who really knows. Apple juice in a bottle? Not so sure that is going to work long term.
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
I will add, if you are interested in long distance work check out Joe Rogans interview with Zach Bitter he posted a short time ago. Very interesting take on nutrition for long distance events.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
I’ve been listening to Mark Twight’s podcast “Dissect” and they talk a lot about nutrition and performance as it relates to endurance events (alpine climbing, ski mountaineering and bike racing). I think he mentions drinking a coke here and there to keep from bonking, but otherwise it’s going to be so individualistic. One guy can do an event eating avocados while another guy would immediately puke those up. How well does your body convert fat? What do you like to eat?
 

Gorp2007

WKR
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
930
Location
Southern Nevada
Bottled Gatorade's #2 ingredient is sucrose and Powerade is made with HFCS, which are both recommended sugar sources per the good Doctor's article. I don't know which sports drinks he's referring to, but the title is clearly misleading (read: clickbait) when it doesn't account for the fact that the #1 and #2 sports drinks in the world (or at least the United States) both contain the magical sugars that he's advocating. My advice would be to leave the 12-pack of Coke and 7-layer cake at home and just pack in some powdered Gatorade since the primary ingredient is sucrose.
 
Joined
May 12, 2018
Messages
308
Location
Idaho
Hey guys,

My apologies for jumping in uninvited, but I thought you might appreciate knowing about a recent podcast done on Hunt Backcountry addressing the very issue you're talking about.

It's true that a dual source carbohydrate source is better absorbed than a single source. This, of course, theoretically (and scientifically) improves performance. This mechanism of this lies in the fact that we have multiple absorption sites in the gut; different ones for different carb sources.

It's true corn, peas, and potatoes have carbohydrates, but they also have a considerable amount of fiber- something that slows digestion of carbohydrate in the gut.

The same is true of nuts, but for a different reason. Nuts, of course, contain a decent amount of fat in combination with fiber. Fat also reduces digestion speed. Slower digestion equates to reduced performance.

Electrolytes. This is the one issue with simply downing a ton of soda or cake. A person is likely losing electrolytes via sweat if they're doing enough to actually need a sports beverage. What's also not well known is that there are "endurance formulas" made for athletes and are higher in sodium and potassium above the general Gatorade powder at your local grocer.

Take a listen to the podcast and see of it helps solve some of those "how do I transfer this into the wilderness" questions. There's also a free meal plan we put together in conjunction with the great guys over at Exo. Everything is free by the way...

Free Backcountry Food Guide and Meal Plan – Exo Mountain Gear

Anyway, hope the information is helpful,

Kyle
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,527
Location
Colorado Springs
From my experience, eating a lot of sugar during prolonged activity leaves me feeling exactly like I ate a bunch of sugar. Some sugars? Certainly. Cake and Dr Pepper? No thanks.

Exactly, and also why I won't drink Gatorade or Powerade. The most dehydrated I've ever gotten was on a day that I drank numerous of both of those drinks along with a bunch of water. Cramping like crazy. I haven't had either since, and have never had another dehydrating issue like that again. Too much sugar.
 
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
427
I listened to this podcast and wasn’t impressed. It sounded like every dietitian I’ve ever read or heard about. They give all the science, and it all seems to make sense, except one thing. It doesn’t work. Dietitian’s advice has lead Americans into obesity. Most people I know that are in shape are restricting carbs in their diet. A conventional diet of low fat and high carbohydrates leaves you feeling hungry all the time, and has proven to be too hard to stick to for most people and is non-sustainable. All the science that’s used in academia is based on a high carbohydrate diet. This whole concept that is discussed in this article and the podcast mentioned is based on the idea of fueling your current activity with what you are currently consuming. The article states that “we cannot wait for food to get to our colon”. What about the food we ate hours ago that is already in our colon? I think the idea of fueling your body for the current activity or recovery from the recent activity, has been put in our heads from supplement companies marketing their products to magically go from our mouths to our muscles immediately. Maybe we need to start thinking of this differently? Maybe the food you ate 5 hours before your workout is fueling the activity?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Messages
583
Location
Zuni, VA
I listened to the podcast (Hunt Backcountry by Exo) that is linked 3 posts above and got a completely different impression than Jorgensen.travis did. I think Kyle (V2PNutrition) did a great job of explaining the differences in types of hunting activities and how we should be eating for those activities. He even talked about how to eat for a typical spot and stalk mule deer hunt (lots of sedentary time behind the glass) as compared to an early season elk hunt (constantly on the go). He also differentiated how we should be eating if we're working a desk job. I learned a lot from the podcast. I have to confess that I didn't read Dr Mirkin's article.

I especially liked Kyle's podcast because he is a hunter and he knows how hard it is for us to choose food that is lightweight, will keep without refrigeration, and fuel our bodies. I don't know Kyle at all in case I sound like a salesman :)
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,527
Location
Colorado Springs
Maybe we need to start thinking of this differently? Maybe the food you ate 5 hours before your workout is fueling the activity?

Or perhaps the fat that your body has stored is fueling (or perhaps should be fueling) your activity.

Constant carbs do give people the feeling of constantly needing to eat something. I've hunted with folks in the past that can't seem to take a step without needing (or wanting) to stop for a snack. They can't even go a couple hours without eating. Seriously?

I usually take it to an extreme in the opposite direction, and I don't eat anything near what I probably should during the season. But that's also why I'll lose 15-20lbs every September.......because I'm burning all my fat stores, and at 6'6" 215 I don't have too many to burn. But I always survive it and never get to a point where I "feel I have to eat". I mostly eat up there just because it's noon or 6pm and time for lunch or dinner. I never eat breakfast up there so I'm going probably 15-18 hours every single day (6 or 9pm to noon) without food of any sort except coffee in the morning and afternoon. At noon I'm not starving by any means, and sometimes not even hungry and will just have some coffee and go.

I've never understood the constant grazers or gorgers.
 

BradNSW

FNG
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
87
Location
San Diego
Bingo 5milesback/Gorp2007. daily consumption for a 6 day backpack hunt:

Food - Breakfast 1 Powerbar. mid-day snack a few handfuls of trailmix. Dinner 3 serving Mountain house dehydrated meal.
Liquid - 8-12oz water AM. Sip water throughout the day, ensuring piss isn't getting dark. Evening 1 Nalgene 32oz of powdered Gatorade. and 2 shots of whisky with advil for sore muscles.
Back off the mountain for a night of wife's cooking after 6 days, then repeat.

Great 13-day plan guaranteed to drop 10-15lbs off a 200lb 56 year old and I usually feel much better and alert the longer the hunt goes

Rarely any cramps at night. Almost always cramp the night after packing out an deer/elk though...thought that was normal.
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
Most people would be hypoglycemic by midday if they attempted to skip eating for 18 hours. I can do it, most cannot, and it is a significant issue as confusion and lose of judgement can occur.

Gluconeogenesis that occurs when fat and protien are used to produce glucose take much longer to occur versus the use of carbohydrates. Loren Corsain covers this extensively in "Paleo for Athletes". Timing of carbs is probably as important as amount, and if burned they are certainly not a bad thing as current trends would indicate.

3 Mountain House as the only significant meal of the day, Brad? That is interesting. I like the stuff, and have a gut like Satan's Anvil, but stomach issues might result from that meal plan.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,527
Location
Colorado Springs
3 Mountain House as the only significant meal of the day, Brad? That is interesting. I like the stuff, and have a gut like Satan's Anvil, but stomach issues might result from that meal plan.

I think he meant a single 3 serving MH meal at the end of the day, not 3 MH meals. I do the same. Or sometimes eat the MH for lunch and not much for dinner.
 

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
5,659
Location
Sodak
I think he meant a single 3 serving MH meal at the end of the day, not 3 MH meals. I do the same. Or sometimes eat the MH for lunch and not much for dinner.

I see. That makes more sense.

With all conversations around nutrition and intake it's really important to realize that individuals have significantly different reactions to intake. The gamut from breatharians to primal includes many people who thrive on their diet of choice. I thought Kyle's podcast was really solid, and a good starting point for pretty much anyone. Tailor it to personal preferences to find a combination that works best for you, but the general knowledge was very fact based and includes a lot of useful information.

Just to be clear, Americans are not fat because of nutritional advice given by Kyle and others like him, they are fat because they eat too much food. The average fast food meal contains enough calories to sustain life for an entire day, and people eat multiples of that daily. A well balanced diet of whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and fatty meat is to my way of thinking ideal, but most people refuse to eat like that.
 
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
427
In February I went 5 days without consuming anything but water. I worked out every day and ran 6 miles on the last day outside in zero degree temperatures in a T-shirt and shorts. The feeling of low blood sugar you get when you haven’t eaten for a few hours is nothing more than an addiction.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
I stay fueled up in all athletic endeavors because once glycogen stores are depleted, the body begins to breakdown muscle for protein. Since I work hard to stay strong, coming home with a Backsquat that’s down 60-100# is undesirable (that’s happened before) so I eat... a lot... of everything... all of the time.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
Or, you can just get high and glass

02d5fd8f28cefb687cc11e36efced801.jpg
 
Top