Creek Dweller

See the page I started on Facebook entitled MALTODEXTRIN INTOLERANCE AWARENESS. Not much discussion going on, and no, I am no expert - but a sufferer of moderate to severe maltodextrin intolerance - I am reposting all the articles I can find on my RSS feed about the negative effects of maltodextrin, sucralose, Splenda, some general food intolerance/allergy information, etc.

Richard Cranium

This thread is full of misinformation and ignorant comments.

Anyone engaged in nutrition studies knows this kind of basic carbohydrate metabolism. Dextrose is a simple sugar, and digesting it is necessary to anyone eating a modern diet. If in fact you cannot tolerate dextrose you have big medical problems.

Malto-dextrose is not a "special" sugar. It is dextrose chained together.

Denny Crane

I know this topic is old, but the information is worth making available to people. I have the very same reaction to maltodextrin and maltitol. I didn't read the ingredients on the salad dressing last night, and 20 minutes after dinner I had cramping. Another 20 minutes later I was very, very ill. I tried to figure out the cause today, and found the ingredients for the salad dressing served last night. Maltodextrin was the third ingredient. At least now I know that I am probably OK to leave the house, that the problem has been dealt with.

If you haven't found it by now, you might read the Amazon reviews for Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bears, which contain many somehow hilarious stories of illness due to ingesting a sweetener made with a derivative of maltose.

Denny Crane

(Excuse the zombie post, but the information is important). It's the maltodextrin. I got surprised last night after dinner at my cousin's house. Couldn't figure out the problem until I remembered the brand of salad dressing and looked up the ingredients. Third ingredient is maltodextrin. I also respond similarly to maltitol. Many people do. Read the hilarious reviews on Amazon of Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bears. You have to Google it, because Amazon has pulled the product.

I find it annoying when people who did not have the same experience try to explain that it must be something else. Many reliable sources cite the laxative effect of maltodextrin, maltitol, and sweeteners containing either. I hope that your GI physician has been able to help. I find that Culturelle probiotic helps lessen the frequency, but it cannot counter the powerful agents like maltodextrin, or a load of fat, or a strong allergen (scallions for me; wheat for you). Fortunately, exercise seems to counter or delay the effect of some antagonists, and I have only had a couple of emergencies while cycling. I pack my own food for long rides, and Clif bars for the shorter ones.

Good health to you.

prathmann

It wouldn't be classic disaccharide intolerance since you appear to have no problem with ordinary table sugar (sucrose) which is a disaccharide (i.e. two sugar). Maltodextrin is a multi-saccharide, i.e. it's a whole chain of glucose molecules strung together. Apparently your body does produce the necessary enzyme to split two sugars (like the glucose-fructose pair in sucrose) but has trouble with the longer chain in maltodextrin. At least you know what to avoid although it's unfortunate that so many processed foods have such long ingredient lists.

Richard Cranium

It is likely that you overreacting. Dextrose is in quite a few products.

My "off-hand" answer is that your symptoms are induced from the pace of your exercise - try the same products at an easy pace........

prathmann

Dextrose is just the biological form of glucose which is the basic sugar molecule that our bodies rely on as a primary energy source. Anyone who can't digest dextrose would presumably not survive. Maltodextrin is closely related but consists of a chain of dextrose molecules chemically bonded together. To digest it the body normally uses an enzyme to break the chain apart. But some individuals lack the correct enzyme and that can lead to various health issues.

sprince

Yes, commonly known as starch. It does not cause stomach problems.

Maltitol on the other hand is a sugar alcohol. This and other sugar alcohols, used as low calorie sweeteners, are well known as potent laxatives for sensitive individuals.

The fact that maltitol can be made from malto dextrose in no way implies that the two are the same substance. That would be like blaming malted grain for drunkenness.

Standalone 

What is Maltodextrin? (with pictures)

sprince

Maltitol, malto-dextrose, maltodextrin are entirely different animals. I'd bet it's the sugar alcohols that are causing your problems. These are particularly common in "low calorie/fat" processed foods as low calorie sweeteners. Best thing is don't eat the processed foods in the first place. And just because it's found in stuff labeled "supplement" or "fuel" doesn't mean that it is good for you.

Richard Cranium

These types of technical pronouncements are beyond my capacity to respond.

It is sad to of hear of so many people suffering GI problems. I have recently experienced life threatening medical issues that involved the blood, heart and intestines. It was interesting to hear about my condition from doctors of differing fields. Each perspective gave more importance to each selected medical issue.

ThermionicScott 

Sugar alcohols are well-known for causing temporary digestive issues, but it's not clear at all that they were consumed by the original posters in this thread, so why bring them into the discussion?

sprince

The op listed at least one sugar alcohol. Also maltodextrin is frequently found in foods that contain sugar alcohols (low fat, fat free, low sugar, etc.), so much so that it would be unusual if it was not consumed by the op. It is also a food additive and not a food, and depending on if your processed product is considered food or supplement, the package may or may not list every ingredient. And lets suppose for argument's sake it does list every ingredient, and the manufacturer buys additive X in bulk at maybe 98% percent purity, but the additive manufacturer also makes additive Y -- not too hard to see what can happen if you are extremely sensitive to the other 2%. To make things more complicated, maltodextrin is a general term that applies to a family of food additives, it may or may not have calories, and may or may not be digestible.

So again, especially if you have digestive issues, best thing is don't eat any processed foods in the first place.

ThermionicScott 

I double-checked and couldn't find it, but I don't really have a horse in this race, so whatever.

No argument on sugar alcohols and processed food being iffy for some folks.

mpbkk

Wanted to share my own experience on this, not many posts online about this, happy to have found this thread.

im a competitive (amateur) cyclist, and for about 2 years I have been continually cramping during events at around 2 hours into the race. I train hard, eat a proper diet based on my training, I sodium load before and during my events (hot climate), and I always made sure to drink my electrolytes on the bike. Basically, I have always followed a regime which is supposed to help prevent cramps. I have had my blood tested twice in the past 2 years, vitamin levels are fine, but we did introduce magnesium supplements to provide some help. Without going into extreme details of all these things, just take my word I cover my bases, I love to race my bike and go to win.

So, I started keeping notes after awhile to find out why in some events I did not cramp, and compared all the power data, temperatures of climate, my diet leading up to the event, etc. What stood out was a few particular events over 3 hours, high intensity, no cramps, just standard fatigue. In the events where I cramped, it was never a bonk per say, it was always my quads or calve muscles lock up and are extremely painful to extend. In these instances, I can usually find an awkward position to help me finish the race, but I can never get out of the saddle, or I’ll basically shred the muscle or almost fall over. But always same thing, around 2 hours, after a few surges/attacks in the race. This at first made me think my training was missing this, which it wasn’t really, but I added more focus on microbursts, vo2max, all the high end power stuff.

Few years back a guy saw how many gels I ate in an event, which I was showing and stating how I still cramped even though I stayed within my limits of effort and was consuming planned energy via gels. He mentioned, you know some people get cramps or sick from those things. At first my reaction was like huh? No way, these are supposed to do the opposite. Didn’t think much of it, but then last year I was watching Lionel Sanders prep for Kona on his YouTube, and he showed how we was gonna consume all his fuel via fluids.

I did that in a few races over the past 6 months or so (fluids only, no Maltodextrin ingredient), no cramps or muscle locking. I did however use GU Gels in some races also, which I always take around 60-90 minutes into an event. Boom, cramped in all those events. And again, these are events where I trained and prepared well ahead of time, the plan was to podium in these events. Some of the events I still finished top 5-10 (typically around 100-200 riders), but in extreme pain from the legs being locked up.

So, this past weekend I did a short 2 hour training ride. Usually don’t need gels for something like that, but I had one with me so ate it anyways to give me a little pickme up. That’s another thing, I never cramp in training, but I also never eat gels in training (expensive). So I had that Gu gel at 60-70 minutes into the session, legs started to lock up 20 minutes later. The following day, only took cliff bars with me, high intensity and twice the duration, full sprints and racing parts of the ride, hotter temps, no cramps or locking. I was literally just pounding myself to try and cramp, wasn’t happening, just fatigue was setting in.

After years of doing my head in, I’m pretty close to chalking the muscle locking up due to Maltodextrin. As everyone stated above, when you finally can narrow it down, and you start looking up its side effects, and cramping is listed, you just do a OMG, sorta shake your head...

Time will tell though, I need a few more races to prove this, but I will come back and update once I know.

canklecat

I've narrowed down my occasional bouts with intestinal gas to sugar alcohols. Maltitol was the most common sweetener in the energy and protein bars I used to eat -- ThinkThin. I switched to bars (Clif and Larabar), gels (Clif mocha with caffeine) and electrolyte powders (DripDrop) that use regular sugar, dextrose or glucose. No more problems from cycling fuel. And I've had no problems with maltodextrin.

Any other issues with intestinal gas and mild stomach cramps were due to other stuff I eat. One big offender for me is milk stouts, but I usually drink only a few of those during the winter brewing season. And I have some lactose intolerance, so I've cut way back on most dairy other than yogurt, which doesn't cause me any problems. But I'll have a chocolate malt once or twice a week at Braum's with burgers. And I'll try anything once so occasionally something that tastes good going in causes problems later. I've narrowed down my regular diet a bit for convenience, so I don't need to worry midway through a long ride.

rosefarts

I noticed a semi common theme in this thread. Autoimmune pathology. Ankylosing, Chrons, IBD, Celiac, now add me to the list with Dermatomyositis.

The first time I had to find a bush, strip my bibs, and destroyed was last year. Maybe 20 minutes after a gel (no idea what brand). It happened again this year at mile 40 of a century. There was a potty at mile 50. Between the two stops I got cleared up.

In both instances I lost a lot of fluids and anything in my stomach. That means I was completely bonked and slow on the long ride home.

I'm not a fast racer anymore. I usually stop and eat real food (waffles, bars, tortillas, peanut butter) so I never noticed the issue. 15 years ago in my speedy days, this was no issue. I ate zillions of them.

I may try pure honey. I know an ultra runner who swears by it.

I don't like experimenting on myself but with the autoimmune connection, I wonder if I'd have the same issue while on high doses of Prednisone and my inflammation is low. If I try that, it'll be at home, not on the bike (sorry but I wear bibs, this could end in disaster).

canklecat

Yikes, that does sound uncomfortable. I've had to pull over off the highway for family and friends who experienced sudden and pretty urgent GI problems, so I sympathize. And it's not just little kids or elderly folks who experience these unexpected reactions to food, even stuff they've eaten before without problems.

You might try some plain sugar stuff to ward off bonks. I often carry tubes of glucose tabs in case someone on a group ride, or a homeless person or hitchhiker, has diabetes or blood sugar bonks. In an emergency, sugar is pretty much sugar.

Instead of gels, check out Clif bars and Larabars. Most have no trendy sport fuel ingredient -- no maltodextrin, no sugar alcohols like maltitol, etc. Just sugar, grains and flavors. I like 'em for the texture and flavor too. They don't taste like sport fuel bars. And most aren't crunchy with stuff that messes with my dental work. I got tired of cracking teeth on some bars that were too sticky or had nuts that were as hard as rocks.

I used to use ThinkThin protein bars, but the sugar alcohols made me gassy. Doesn't bother me on my own, but it's embarrassing in group rides when I'd have to drop to the back of the group to avoid making my riding buds pass out.

Luckily I have no problems with Clif mocha gels with caffeine, so I buy 'em by the carton. I stick with that one type since it works for me. But it does contain maltodextrin, like most gels.

Another possible alternative might be baby food in squeeze packets with resealable tops. I tried 'em myself a couple of years ago and some aren't bad at all. The fruit and yogurt types were pretty good. Not as calorie dense as gels, but a possible alternative for folks who don't tolerate maltodextrin and sugar alcohols.

After riding with pretty much the same extended group of friends and acquaintances I have a pretty good idea of their occasional health and diet quirks. So I usually carry a mini-pharmacy even on my road bike with minimal gear. At the least it's a plastic tube for glucose tabs, with:

• a few glucose tabs
• a couple of loperamide for diarrhea
• lactase enzyme for a couple of friends who are lactose intolerant, in case we stop for pizza
• antihistamines, sudafed and bronchial asthma relief pills
• ibuprofen
• CBD for myself (I might share if I like the person enough). Works great for my chronic neck and shoulder pain.
• rescue electrolytes, usually DripDrop ORS in Mylar packets (gave one of those to a friend last week who was on the verge of heat exhaustion)

On my hybrid with larger saddle bag I often carry more of a first aid kit with bandaids, etc. And emergency toilet paper. Hey, might as well be civilized while fertilizing the woods.

Iride01 

I've been using a maltodextrin mix in my bottles for several months now. I've not noticed anything negative. On the positive side, I feel like the slight energy boost I get last longer between gulps than did the diluted fruit juice I used for many years.

As with the fruit juice, I still look for between 100 to 200 Calories per bottle, depending on temps and the intent of ride I'm doing.

And yes, all this is anecdotal. There were too many other things happening at the time I switched to really say this was it.

redlude97

The fruit juice probably had a significant portion that was fructose which has to be processed by the liver before it can be used by the muscles whereas maltodextrin can be directly absorbed in the small intestine and can start to be used immediately following consumption so if you keep the calories the same you're essentially 0.5-0.7x your actual immediate consumption

KraneXL

That's why he needs to see a dietician. Doctors would be clueless.