Guest

The average energy drink I've seen so far is way to high in carbs for a diabetic, like me. Although I control my diabetes with exercise, diet and a few tiny pillls a day, Carbs are still bad in excess.

Anybody cross paths with an energy drink that has a somewhat balanced combination of protein with carbs?

webist

Hello from another diabetic. You certainly have hit on a question of importance.

I haven't reached the point yet where I ride really long endurance rides. Twenty-five miles is my top at this point. I too hesitate to drink the really high carb stuff in any great quantities. However, I have found that as long as I am exercising, I can pretty much eat or drink "normal" amounts of carbs and they will "burn off." My big problem is the so called "carbo loading" that non-diabetics can do the night before and/or several hours before a strenuous long term endurance kind of event. Clearly, you and I cannot get away with that.

When I was on medication, I would bonk after an hour of riding. My Dr considered that when he told me to quit the meds. As long as I get 30 minutes to 1 hour of exercise in every day my glucose level is fine.

My experimentation has revealed the following which works for me.

I drink a Glucerna meal replacement drink for daibetics just before I start a ride. If I know I am going to be out for more than an hour, I add a banana.

I do a 20 minute warm-up which I can make end at a local bagel shop where I drink a V8. Only 70 calories. Sometimes I'll do two V8s or add a multigrain bagel with low fat cream chese. The important thing for me is to get right back on the bike and not hang around too long after eating.

At the one-hour point, I will eat a Balance Bar or an Extend Bar.

Once the ride ends, I again drink a V8 Juice. At this point I always check my blood sugar. If, as I usually find, it is low, I have a peice of whole grain bread with peanut butter or a slice of turkey for protien.

This routine works for me for rides of up to 2 and a half hours. i don't know about longer rides yet.

Another thing I do when I know the ride is going to be long and/or particularly hard is fill my water bottle with Cranberry Juice and wear a Camelback with water in it. usually I can feel if my sugar is going low and take a few sips of cranberry to bring it back up. Only problem with this is if I don't need the cranberry. It is wasted since I won't leave it sitting on the bike after the ride.

All of this came after a good deal of experimentation. I always test the BS before and after and then again an hour later. So far anyway, I have been able to keep blood sugar levels between 80 and 110 this way.

Sorry about the long answer. I know how important the question is.

Carl

Guest

I was just diagnosed -2yrs ago, meds in am/pm... I've noticed the value of working out and the correlation to my BS. . I was MTBing over the last 6+yrs, but not out on the trails as long as I seek on the road. I just started back into actual road training. In my 20's-30's I was doing 250-300mi per wk. My BS tends somewhat high...105-130 range. When my BS drops to 95-100, I feel like road kill... Body is accustom to higher levels. My Dr says it's just the way my body works. I am trying to build a "daily" schedule of working out on my BikeMax Tectrix at home with the gym every other day and long wkend rides. So far, my schedule has been fluctuating, mostly due to my family and running a business. I am expecting to eventually get off the meds. OH BOY

Your feedback is good info for me, Thanks

Pat

I have a cycling buddy who came down with diabetes. We did medium length sat ride together (50-70 miles sometimes up to 100). He had to fool around with testing his blood sugar levels whilst riding. He found that GU worked well for him. It is a sort of syrup that comes in a little packet and is complex carb. Of course, on centuries, his blood sugar fell gradually and he had to go more and more to simpler and simpler carbohydrates. If we rode hard and far he could even eat his old favorite food - snickers bars. I recall standing there watching him eat his first snickers bar in over 2 years in a century we were riding. I asked him how it tasted. He said it was way "too sweet" but he ate it with a grim determination. He does drink diluted gator aid on rides. But he told me that each diabetic has to find the foods that they can eat without spiking blood sugar.

Of course, there is the other extreme - a friend of mine has a story about getting close to bonking on a fast century. She went into a convenience store, bought a 2 lb hershey chocolate bar and washed it down with 2 liters of Mountain Dew. Even I, with my terrible sugar tooth, find the sound of that combination to be well not exactly attractive.

webist

Well I did a 32 mile ride this past weekend. Ride had lots of hills. Real hills. It took an hour and a half to complete the ride.

This was the third time I tried using the Extend Bar. This bar is billed as a carbo which is configured to prevent lows without causing highs. They even mention pre-exercise in thier description. I did my usual pre-exercise routine - 20 minute warm up followed by a bagel and low fat cream cheese and a V8 juice. After an hour of riding I stopped and ate an Extend Bar. After the ride I had another V8 juice. My blood glucose measured 84 an hour after the ride. I was real happy with that.

I then proceeded to replenish both carbs and protien with a turkey-salami sandwich and some grapes.

So far, I have been real pleased with the results of an Extend Bar snack while riding.

I do of course pay very close attention to hydration as well.

Guest

I'll pickup some of those bars this week at give them a try. I live in some really killer hills ranging from 800' to 2000' with constant elevation changes and just started back riding 4wks ago. Nothing is flat, and I did a 13 miles ride last sat. My climbs ave 12-15mph, and that's great for his ole boy. What was nice thought was after climbing the final 1 mi hill to my house, I recovered from 178 bpm down to 85 in about 20mins.

Working out on an eclipse machine at the gym after weights, then bike riding is great. MY BG runs high naturally 110-120. This weekend my BG hit 87 1.5hr after dinner for the first time. That's a real good thingy

lowcarb314

I've found a great energy shake for people with Diabetes. I use all their products for energy when I exercise.

The "ExtendShake" has only 12 grams of carbs, only 1 from sugar, and has 15 g protein + 5 g fiber.... The thing that makes them good for energy is that they have uncooked cornstarch in them which digests more slowly than typical carbs. They say it lasts for up to 9 hours, but everybody is different. For me it's very effective for 6 hours because I'm high energy use / fast metabolism.

Hope that helps, I think the website will get listed below my name (it didnt extendbar.com) - they're only available online and came out last year.

Have a great ride!!!

JLauren

It takes a lot of trial and error to work things out. As you increase your riding, keep track of what you're doing and how your BGs are working out, and make adjustments as you go.

I find that water and peanut butter crackers work well for me (I'm type 1), about 1 pack of crackers per hour. At that rate I could probably ride all day if I didn't otherwise get worn out (a good metric' is about as far as I ride in one go).

There are many products out there that will probably work, but out here in The Middle of Nowhere I favor things I can get at the local stores.

andyman

Hammer Nutrition sells "diabetic friendly" sports drinks and gels.
https://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HN...RTICLE.ID=1566
I'm not diabetic, but I like using their products.

lemonlib

wow a bagle...you dont spike after a bagel.???? .thats like 6 slices of bread...wow..i am so like , given hope..to kick actos and glipizide for breakfast...

i am going to try your drink...

for my part...i was given bitter melon pills....so i said at first yada yada yada...hell, after an hour my sugar has stayed leveled...119 ...even after a 30 min bike ride...i have only been like taking this for a month..it has stablized my sugar...


great and keep me posted on your findings on your diet...

Lemon

trace22clawson

I'm a diabetic that requires insulin (4 shots per day.) However, when I'm riding hard on the bike, I really don't concern myself with drinking a low carb sports drink. My body responds to carbs and exercise quite well. My physician has told me that I don't really need to be concerned with my glucose levels spiking during exercise. He said that the exercise itself should keep the blood sugars in check regardless of what I eat if I am on a ride that exceeds one hour and my heartrate is at an average of 145+ bpm (this is an indication that I really am working hard and not just putzing around the neighborhood on my bike.)

I found what works best for me is an energy drink from hammer nutrition called perpetuem. One serving is mixed with cold water in a normal sized cycling water bottle. Each serving has 54g of carbs, 6g of protein, and 2g of fat. I consume one bottle about every 75-90 minutes.

I did a 200+ mile ride this summer using that formula. At the end of the ride my blood glucose was 90. I didn't take any insulin during the entire 14+ hours on the ride (12+ on the bike.) When I'm working that hard, my concern is not having my BG go too high, but rather go too low... below 60. That is when it is dangerous for me to be on a bicycle.

I've run this past the Dr. He agrees with the methodology. He says that having high BG readings(160 all the way up to 500) for a short period (a few hours) is not really that dangerous and does not cause long-term damage. He says, "eat what you need too to fuel your body for the exercise, the benefits of the exercise by far outweigh any risks of high BG during the time you exercise. If your BG readings are still high after the exercise, bring them down with insulin. At least then you are in a position to manage a low BG if you happen to go there. Being on the bike is not the time to be trying to manage low BG."

It seems to work for me. It puts my mind at ease when I'm riding. I enjoy the ride, the scenery, the social aspect, and I don't think about my BG. I use the perpetuem on distance rides. I'll have a gatorade and a donut on a hard training ride if I want. I've had this condition for many years and I'm not going to let it "rule my life."

MAK

I'll eat a Nature Valley Berries and Nuts Bar every 60-90 minutes and use Camelbak Elixer or NUUN in my water bottles. Both the Elixer and the NUUN are electrolyte replacements and have less than 10 calories and only a carb or two.

As for bagels...I buy Thomas's or Pepperage (sic?) Farm mini bagels and they seem fine for me. Not exactly NY bagels but they do the job.

adamant

some good info here.. i have type2 and was looking into the hammer line but i ended up getting cytomax

JHG57

I am a Type II , while cycling I have found that Gatorade G2 does not blow my BG thru the roof. It will peak around 160 and then steadily decrease to around 120. There may be better alternatives from a nutritional standpoint but it is nice to find something readily available that will work.

paulclaude

I'm not a diabetic, but just glanced over this post and noticed that there were mentions about a mixed protein/carb drink. Although i've never tried it, High-5 do one, which may be beneficial to some of you guys

https://www.highfive.co.uk/energy_end..._drinksUK.html

Flatbroke

Interesting. Has there been any new products?

Carbonfiberboy 

Not diabetic here, just hypoglycemic which is never an issue on the bike.

Another way to look at carbs for those who are carb sensitive is carb calories/hour. It's very difficult to judge carbs/hour to hold blood sugar steady unless you ride for many hours and test yourself once an hour. And the harder you ride, the more carb calories you can take in and burn without ill effects. So it's complicated, individual, and varies with the ride.

An Extend bar has ~20g carbs. The uncooked cornstarch is less than 2%. Who knows how long the various carb components take to digest. I'd guess an hour, max. There's also a lot of fat and protein in those things which of course is much slower to digest and doesn't go toward providing energy on the bike. You are actually better off burning body fat than expecting to burn fat you eat because eating fat while riding can cause stomach issues. They put a lot of fat and protein in specifically to slow stomach emptying, but IME that's not a good thing on the bike, only off the bike.

What I'm meandering around to saying is that you're probably better off sipping a standard high carb sports drink, some number of swallows every 15 minutes. You could start with 20g/hour of carbs, or 80 calories. So say you mix up a 24 oz. bottle of Cytomax or HEED, say 40g or 160 calories, and then drink it at some slow rate and monitor blood sugar. Adjust the rate to what your BS is telling you to do. You see, you don't need a slow digesting carb at all: you only need to move a fast digesting carb into your stomach at a sufficiently low rate that your BS holds constant. IOW don't do a bolus once an hour, which would spike you for sure. Dribble it in. That actually works better for every rider, not just diabetics or hypoglycemics. No special diabetic foods necessary.

You should also bring a bottle of plain water so you can stay hydrated without consuming carbs.

I also recommend going out fasted or not having eaten for 2-3 hours. Again, avoiding a possible BS spike early in the ride. Start dribbling in the carbs during the second hour - you shouldn't need anything in the first hour, though if you do start feeling low BS, take maybe 4 swallows then.

Don't worry about not being able to carb load. It's not particularly effective anyway. Say you ride for 3 hours and burn 400 calories/hour. That's pretty normal. At least half of that could be body fat, so that leaves 600 carb calories. Of those, say you consume 80 calories/hour, which leaves 360 calories unaccounted for. Those would come from glycogen, of which you have probably 1500 calories in your muscles. It's pretty easy to replace those 360 calories before your next bike ride.

I would note that the above calculations are somewhat random: many experienced cyclists can easily ride for 3 hours without eating anything, and in fact if you are Type II that's not a bad idea. However, it takes a lot of riding to get that fat burning thing going. At first, some newbies might need to eat even during the first half hour.

Rollfast

I am obese (250 pounds or so). I was told to check my blood glucose level prior to meals and adjust accordingly. While I'm really not eating well enough to always stay in a better range and I've had all kinds of poor sleep patterns and stress while getting my house ready for it's regular inspection this time around, I see sports drinks as little but glorified Kool-Aid and a crutch for the sweet tooth.


You do not need to force calories back into your body. It's psychological. If your reading is 150 mg/dL or more you are bound to force yourself into a yoyo pattern if not curbed properly.


Your body SHOULD be converting both digested food and stored energy (fat, nobody is free of it completely, it is vital), and the digestive process can take 1-2 days to fully process your prior intake.


It is only a craving. What it's doing is telling you are working hard and your stomach expects you to maintain a certain state. It's a primitive reflex from the time when humans had far slimmer pickings and could starve. But as the previous poster said, it's not a requirement necessarily. It's more of a reward and a habit.


Diabetics need to rely less on drinks and candies and keep a proper diet. That will suffice. One of the ironies is that your poor insulin made you crave the sugars and fats that were not being processed correctly in the first place, causing the complications.


If it's hot and you are sweating a lot anyway, you are not losing Gatorade, you are losing water and salt and waste products.

Carbonfiberboy 

My BMI is 23. It got that way from learning how to eat.

"Fat burns in a carbohydrate fire." You need carbs for good performance.

When you start to feel dizzy during a long hard climb, it's because your BS is in the toilet and you need to eat, particularly high GI carbs. It's not a craving, it's a physical need. Low BS is no joke. One of the problems of low BS is that your decision making also goes in the toilet and you may not feel hungry or want to eat at all. You have to learn to recognize the symptoms and force yourself to act.

The trick of losing weight is simply eating fewer calories than your burn. For purposes of weight loss, it really doesn't matter what those calories are. That said, different people find they can eat fewer calories more easily by eating certain foods and not others, but everyone is different that way. The simplest thing is simply to eat smaller portions of healthy food.

On the bike, it's a whole different story. Your burn can be 10X your resting burn. Those calories have to come from somewhere. The hangup in the system is simply getting those calories across the stomach wall. High GI carbs cross that wall the fastest. You will never have a BS spike as long as you dribble those calories in and don't wait until you're having problems to eat.

Check your BS once an hour and you'll quickly see exactly how much to eat how often. I ride with several Type I riders who've been riding for 30+ years. They know how it's done. They're slim, fast, and you'd never know they were diabetic.

Rollfast

The worst I'm going to get is being in a hurry to get somewhere before they close. I don't like doing that because that is generally when I figure out if my tire pressure is low (and I'm HR Huffnpuff)


My glucose isn't going to fall that rapidly. I wonder if perhaps hypoglycemia isn't being confused here. But if you need carbs, why drink a bunch of other stuff that is not only unrelated but could be a problem with your medication?


I don't have to check my blood glucose every hour. Two or three times a day is enough in my case and can be done at home most of the time without lugging the kit and insulin around. Yours may need a closer watch...I took pills until 2012 and have been diabetic for about 20 years.

Machka 

Since 2002?