Tuesday, May 15, 2007

An excerpt from Simon Whitfield's blog:

I had an email exchange with Simon Whitfield the other day, copied below:

Simon wrote:

G'day Dr. Stoddard, I appreciate you getting back to me (I emailed him to see if I could pick his brain). I had a couple questions re your product. I've had some stomach issues on and off through out my career. Figuring out the fructose thing was huge but trying to get a handle on the electrolyte question is my current challenge. I've been using @#$%$## and really like it but the electrolyte profile is really low, I had used your eload product in the past but to be completely honest a your labels and directions are a little confusing. I imagine either A) I'm just not reading it right or B) you wrote it in a context that you are very familiar with and would like to see other companies use but when trying to compare it to other products it's actually a little confusing.

Dr. Stoddard wrote;

Fair comment. We have changed our directions over the years and I think that they are easier to follow now. The customization directions in our earlier years I think may have been a little hard to follow-this has all been simplified now. Regarding comparison, we have made that really easy by setting up comparison charts for all of our products at www.medioncorp.com.

Simon wrote;

I'm thinking you're wondering if I graduated high school... but what's the difference between sodium citrate and sodium chloride (is that salt?).

Dr wrote;

Hah-that's funny, but don't worry about it. I didn't know the difference either until I got really stuck into this stuff a few years ago prior to us launching e load. Sodium chloride is table salt. Sodium citrate contains sodium just like table salt, but instead of chloride, it's attached to citrate, a different molecule that has different properties than chloride. Citrate is a great because it buffers acid in your stomach, plus, it is converted to bicarbonate inside your body, thus helping buffer lactic acid in your blood.

Simon wrote;

For the Des Moine race in June it's predicted to be a very humid race, I'm a very light sweeter and avg. in the heat (no advantage no disadvantage). My usual "game plan" is 120cals on the bike with around 500mg of sodium and various other electrolytes (I've been using @#@#@#@#@#@#@@ but so far it hasn't agreed with me).

Dr. wrote;

Hard to comment unless you tell me your average times for each of the three events-let me know more here and I can help evaluate.#$#$#%#%#%#% maybe giving you problems because it is a very acidic drink, having 12 x more acidity than e load. This extra acid irritates your stomach. Also, their electrolyte mix is a little wonky. Sodium:potassium ratio is way off, as is their Calcium:magnesium ratio-again, see the comparison chart specifically at http://medioncorp.com/hm/eload/eProductChart1.htm

Simon wrote;

I rarely if ever take calories on the run as the intensity is so high it's a little impracticle.

Dr. wrote (I like this part :) Yeah, I've seen you tear it up several times running and I agree, it isn't necessary here, as long as you have appropriately topped up on the bike.

Simon wrote;

I also feel I'm not doing a good job of hydrating pre event and in the travel to the events.

Dr. wrote;

That's pretty common, and in my mind, is one of the biggest issues facing endurance athletes. Since most races start early am, people rarely arrive on the start line adequately hydrated-see http://medioncorp.com/hm/eload/inside.php?id=34 for additional thoughts on this one.

THANKS DOC.

eload is making a new gel I'm keen to try and Dr. Stoddard hosts a REALLY interesting blog at http://heatdoc.blogspot.com/index.html.

...and check out Simon's cool blog at http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/

Friday, May 11, 2007

e load Energy Gel

Spring, and the launch of our new gel...

Taking advantage of the latest information on why gels are so irritating to the gastrointestinal tract, this gel is about as irritating as baby food...

The reasons why most gels are so irritating are:

1. Too sweet, too flavorful
2. Too thick

Both of these reasons affect the psychology of eating gels i.e. your head starts to object, so your gi tract soon follows. e load gel is subtle on sweetness and flavor.

3. Too acidic

All gels on market that we know of are very acidic. This is because their manufactureres put preservatives in them, and preservatives only work in acidic enviroments. So, most gels have pH's around 4-5.

Turns out your stomach is a very acidic enviroment during exercise, due to all that stress your body experiences during exercising times. So, the less acidic your sport nutrition products, the better.

e load energy gel uses no preservatives-we figured out a way to keep the product sterile and safe, without using them. So, it doesn't have to be acidic at all. Our pH level is around 7, meaning it has no acidity whatsoever, like water.

4. No resistant starch

This is an interesting topic. Turns out that maltodextrin, the common carbohydrate used in every gel we are aware of, if derived from dent corn, the most common type of corn grown on the planet, may contain undigestable chains of carbohydrate called resistant carbohydrate or resistant starch. Ultimately, these chains come from amylose, one of two plant based starches found in dent corn (the other starch is amylopectin). Waxy maize corn, another corn varietal, contains only amylopectin, and no amylose, so using this corn as your base is a better choice for producing easily digestable maltodextrin. e load energy gel uses maltodextrin derived from waxy maize corn.

5. No fructose

The carbohydrate fructose continues to be a common, cheap sweetener used in many sport nutrition products, and is derived from fruit sugar. It is also a known gastrointestinal irritant. Most gels contain this carbohydrate. e load energy gel does not.

6. Dextrose

Dextrose is a great carbohydrate for adding to a gel, because it adds a pleasant, subtle sweetness to the product (less so on a gram for gram basis vs fructose), plus, it facilitates the absorption of sodium-good in the heat.

Check out www.medioncorp.com.

On sale now...