During athletic activity your body depends on your glycogen stores as its primary source of energy, and to a lesser degree on your body fat. Fat is an inefficient fuel source in comparison and therefore you are not able to achieve optimum performance when relying on fat as a significant source of energy. During endurance sports this raises a dilemma because your glycogen stores can only hold about 2,000 calories. Depending on your diet prior to your workout or competition, you may actually have significantly less available energy in your glycogen stores.

Fortunately there is a third source of energy – blood sugar. The beauty of a good sports drink is that it is rapidly absorbed in your small intestine, thus providing energy in the form of blood sugar that can supplement your glycogen stores. However, not all sports drinks are created equal, and if you want to achieve optimum performance then it is important to use a product that will deliver maximum energy to your body while also maintaining proper hydration and electrolyte balance. The key to maximizing energy is complex carbohydrates. (why)

When selecting a sports drink, don’t just look at the calorie count – look at the carbohydrate sources. Because of the way sports drinks are absorbed by your body, you should look for high levels of complex carbohydrates. e-Fuel derives 71% of it’s carbohydrate energy from complex carbohydrates (maltodextrin), significantly more than the leading sports drinks. Because of this, e-Fuel provides up to 75% more energy than other competing drinks (watch this short video explanation).