Nuitritional Advice needed

[airwise]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bar to take in the five minutes before a ride to avoid transient hypoglycaemia. As such it needs a mix of fast and slow carbs. I see the High Five bars claim to offer this but wondered if anyone had favourites that they would recommend.

Not interested in gels, sports drinks or shots.

[Illuminate]

Hi Airwise,

How about something along the lines of this:

http://www.endura.com.au/products/energy-bar

My best,

I

[NealH]

Snickers bar is perfect.

[devinci]

What about combining your pre-ride carbs intake with a little quantity of protein to slow down digestion?

[djm]

Wouldn't a concentrated amount of sugar ingested before exercise, like a Snickers bar, potentially excacerbate the hypoglycemia?

I always try to eat something "slow" a couple of hours before training, and rarely experience these drops in blood sugar on the bike. However, when I was an addict of Coca-Cola, it kept happening

[HillRPete]

The body needs about 1h to fully ramp up energy supply for endurance activities. What if instead you gave it more sugar in the beginning, you trained your body to provide energy? Maybe it's just the time of day (after work or something) when you feel tired. I have never met anyone saying they need to eat something before starting to ride (unless they would need to eat something anyway because the last meal was "gone"). Or do you have a medical condition that's causing the hypoglycemia?

[AGW]

Clif bars or whole wheat fig bars (eg Nature's Bakery) would seem to be the best blend of taste and macros you're looking for. Have you checked your blood glucose with a meter or do you simply feel like you're low? Fructose is retained as liver glycogen so you could just regularly top off with some bananas.

[AlphaDogCycling]

Take a look at Larabars they are a combination of fruit & nuts, with very few ingredients. Perfect combination


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[djm]

Both Clif bars and Fig bars are probably really processed types of food. At least that's how it felt when I ate Clif bars. How about a slice of high fiber bread (not the ones that sit in the shelf for weeks without mold growing on them, but something from a bakery or otherwise recently made) and make a sandwich with eggs or some ham?

Just keep it simple. Fruit (not juice or smoothies) can also be nice as a supplement.

Both juices and dried fruits are pretty much like candy, just slightly better. Because of the absence of water in the dried fruit you can quickly consume huge amounts of sugar, and fruit juices or smoothies usually have as much or more sugar in them than soda.

[AGW]

You didn't take issue with the suggestion that he eat a Snickers, but a Clif bar or Nature's Bakery-brand fig bar are too processed? Are we trying to help the man raise his blood sugar or move his bowels? Unlike a high-fiber breakfast sandwich, bars will actually raise his blood glucose between the time he wakes up and when gets on the bike.

[djm]

AGW, I wrote Wouldn't a concentrated amount of sugar ingested before exercise, like a Snickers bar, potentially excacerbate the hypoglycemia?

I would think it's apparent and too apparent to make it worth mentioning that a Snickers bar is too processed; it's a few roasted peanuts in a lump of sugar

On a side note, moving his bowels would make him _lighter_

But seriously, I was recommending a type of energy source that doesn't just boost blood sugar immediately. A Clif bar or Snickers is much better on the bike or immediately after training than it is before.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10376478

To study the occurrence and contributing factors of transient hypoglycemia after pre-exercise ingestion of glucose after a 4-hour fast, 19 well-trained cyclists ingested 50 grams of glucose dissolved in water around noon after having a normal breakfast. The ingestion of the glucose solution was followed by 30 minutes rest after which the subjects cycled for 40 minutes at 60% of the predetermined maximal power output. Every 10 minutes blood was sampled for determination of glucose, catecholamines, and insulin concentrations. In 6 subjects (hypo-group) plasma glucose levels dropped transiently below 3.0 mmol/l, while in the other 13 subjects (non-hypo group) plasma glucose level remained above this level. Although at the onset of exercise the plasma glucose levels were lower in the hypo-group, insulin levels were similar in both groups, suggesting a higher insulin sensitivity in the hypo-group. During exercise, norepinephrine was lower in the hypo-group, indicating a lower sympathetic activity in the hypo-group. The lowest plasma glucose levels in both groups were observed after 20 minutes of exercise, after which plasma glucose concentration returned to normal levels. It is concluded that pre-exercise carbohydrate ingestion after a 4-hour fast is sufficient to induce a transient hypoglycemia. The data suggest that the occurrence of hypoglycemia is determined by a combination of a high insulin sensitivity, a small amount of ingested glucose, and a low sympathetic activity.

[SUCycling88]

I'm not sure I understand why your requirement is specifically before a ride. Also you don't say how long your rides are or at what intensity, that would be very helpful if you want any sort of educated response

[metal]

Just eat a piece of plain bread or 2