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e-Gel is loaded with complex carbs and half the sugars of GU and other energy gels and it’s the only Electrolyte Energy Gel with 4 times the electrolytes to avoid cramping and injuries. e-Gel also provides critical antioxidants and a blend of 4 amino acids to reduce muscle soreness and tissue damage and to speed recovery. And, with 150 carbohydrate calories, e-Gel packs 50% more energy than most competing gels. e-Gel and water, it’s all you need!
Why is this important?
SHORT ANSWER
Because your body can uptake more energy when you use complex carbs instead of simple sugars. If you’re doing any kind of endurance sport, then the more energy you can get from your nutrition the better you’ll perform. Period. e-Gel has more complex carbs than any other gel, check out our comparisons
LONG ANSWER (or watch this video)
The carbs/energy in an energy gel are transported into your cellular system through osmosis. If you recall learning about osmosis in science class, it’s the way a fluid crosses a membrane. In order for the fluid to cross, it has to be an equal or lower concentration than the fluid on the other side of the membrane. In this case you’re trying to get the gel across your cellular membrane so you can use the energy. Gels by themselves are extremely concentrated (hypertonic), that’s why you need to use water with gel so that you can lower the concentration until it becomes isotonic (the same concentration as your cellular fluids). When you do, the gel and water get absorbed – osmosis!!
What’s interesting is that the concentration of a fluid (also called the osmolality) is largely dependent on the NUMBER of particles in the fluid, and less dependent on the size of the particles. Complex carbs by definition have a larger molecular structure than simple sugars, basically they have more glucose molecules stuck together. But remember, it’s the number of particles, not the size that matters most. What that means is that at the point of absorption (isotonic), a fluid with complex carbs can transport nearly twice as much energy into the cellular system compared to one with simple sugars.
This isn’t something that we’ve invented here a Crank Sports, it’s proven science. Many energy gels (including e-Gel) use at least some maltodextrin for this reason. Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate with an extremely large molecular structure. Where e-Gel sets itself apart from other products is that we use much more complex carb and less sugar (read about sugar below). This allows you to get more energy when you use e-Gel compared to our competitors. Why do other companies use so much sugar? Simple, because it’s sweet and inexpensive, and sweet things sell. So if you want to sell a lot of something you make it sweet. But if you want to make the best PERFORMING product you use complex carbs.
230 mg Sodium
85 mg Potassium
This is about 4 times the electrolytes that you get with most other gels.
Why is this important?
SHORT ANSWER
Electrolytes are critical to maintain hydration and avoid cramping and injuries
LONG ANSWER
Energy gels have to be taken with water in order to be properly and rapidly absorbed (via osmosis). If you try to use a sports drink with your gel in order to get your electrolytes, it’s a recipe for disaster. The combined solution of the sports drink and the gel in your gut will be too concentrated (hypertonic), thus not allowing it to be rapidly absorbed. The result can be stomach discomfort, gas or worse. With other gels, the way to get your electrolytes is with some sort of electrolyte supplement. But this is one more thing to buy and one more thing to figure out how and how often to use. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Since energy gels are absorbed via osmosis, water is the transport vehicle that carries the gel into your cellular system. And we know how much water travels with the gel. Taking this into account, we have designed e-Gel to provide 500 mg of sodium and 200 mg of potassium per liter of absorbed fluid, which meets the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine for electrolyte replacement.
e-Gel has been doing this since 2001, and this is where the name e-Gel came from – it has all of the electrolytes and the energy you need, right in the gel. Just use e-Gel and water, it’s that easy.
As we explained above, if you want to provide maximum energy to your working muscles it can’t be done with simple sugars. You need to rely on complex carbs.
Additionally, sugars can cause massive swings in your blood sugar – the sugar high followed by the inevitable crash. Even worse, when this happens your body slows down insulin production. Insulin is like a gatekeeper that allows glucose into your muscles. When your insulin production drops, less energy is provided to the working muscles and your performance suffers. As an athlete, you want sustained energy delivery from your gel, without the sugar highs and lows. That’s exactly what you get with the complex carbs and low sugar found in e-Gel.
You may be asking why we use any sugar at all in e-Gel.
Good question . . .
SHORT ANSWER
Fructose is a sugar, and if you use too much of it during your training or competition it can cause stomach discomfort. But if you use a little fructose you can actually get more energy than if you used just complex carbs. Read on for an explanation.
LONG ANSWER
Your body has two different types of energy transporters. One transporter just processes fructose and nothing else. The other transporters handle all other carbohydrates (both simple sugars and complex carbs), but not fructose. So, if you’re not using some fructose then the fructose transporters are sitting around doing nothing – you’re missing out on energy that could be delivered to the working muscles. The problem is that if you use too much fructose then you overload the transporters and you can get stomach discomfort as a side effect. The trick is to use enough fructose to take advantage of the transporters, but not so much that you overload them.
With e-Gel that’s exactly what we’ve done. You get a little bit of fructose and the rest complex carbohydrate for maximum energy delivery.
Why is this important?
SHORT ANSWER
Fats, fibers and proteins have to go through a full digestive process, thus taking oxygen away from your working muscles.
LONG ANSWER
If you remember the Lance Armstrong scandal, it was all about blood doping. By illegally increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood, more oxygen is then provided to the muscles. The more oxygen you have available the better you will perform, period. Likewise, if you reduce the available oxygen to the muscles your performance will suffer.
When your are training or competing, your body is amazingly adaptive and it does everything it can to help you out. One way it does this is by drawing blood form parts of your body that don’t need it at that time so that it can route more blood (and therefor oxygen) out to the working muscles. A large user of blood is your stomach and intestinal tract, and it will draw on this blood supply.
The beauty of e-Gel is that that it is absorbed via osmosis (with water) instead of going through a full digestive process. However, when you consume anything with fats, fibers or protein, these ingredients must be digested. This means that your body has to route blood back to the stomach and intestines for the digestive process, thus taking blood and oxygen away from the working muscles.
If you are trying to set a personal best, run a qualifying time, etc., consuming something that takes away from your performance, even a little bit, should be avoid if possible.
e-Gel is the only energy gel that includes a blend of 4 amino acids as well as antioxidant vitamins C & E.
This is designed to help reduce tissue damage and soreness as well as speed recovery. Most endurance athletes train 5-7 days per week. If that’s you, then you know how important recovery is to ensure that you can train hard day after day.
Every pack of e-Gel provides 150 calories of carbohydrate energy
GU, Roctane, Clif SHOT and virtually every other gel only has 100 calories, so with e-Gel you get 50% more per pack. This means fewer packs to carry and less trash to deal with, and that’s a good thing. So while the cost of a pack of e-Gel is roughly the same as most of our competitors, remember that 2 packs of e-Gel = 3 packs of GU, making e-Gel the more economical gel!
Every pack of e-Gel provides 30 grams of complex carbohydrates, more than any other energy gel. Because complex carbs have a larger molecular structure than simple sugars, your body is able to uptake more energy. This isn’t something that we’ve invented, it’s proven science. For a complete explanation, read more
Where they should be!
Energy Gels by themselves are extremely concentrated, which means that you have to consume water to ensure that they are rapidly absorbed. This is the case for all gels.
If you try to get your electrolytes by drinking a sports drink (instead of water) it will not properly dilute the gel. This can lead to stomach irritation and a dehydrating effect as your cellular fluids are drawn upon to dilute the gel. (read more: when to use energy gels vs. hydration drinks and can they be used together)
So, if you drink water with your energy gel like you have to, then how do you replace your electrolytes? Other energy gels contain electrolytes, but they do not contain nearly enough (see comparisons) to provide adequate electrolyte replacement (even GU says so). e-Gel on the other hand is the only Electrolyte Energy Gel with 4 times the electrolytes and is designed to provide complete and balanced energy, hydration and electrolyte replacement. e-Gel and water… that’s all you need!
Note that e-Gel and e-Fuel are both labeled with “Nutrition Facts” instead of “Supplement Facts” because they are classified by the FDA as food items and NOT dietary supplements.That’s a good thing … read about it here
Energy from Complex Carbs
150 carbohydrate calories from a blend of glucose polymers (maltodextrin) and fructose that is designed to provide sustained energy delivery. That’s 50% more energy then other leading energy gels. Read: how complex carbs provide more energy that simple sugars
Fructose
e-Gel’s carbohydrate blend includes approximately 20% fructose which allows you to uptake more energy compared to gels without fructose. To understand why, read: What Athlete’s Need to Know About Fructose
Electrolytes
230 mg of sodium and 80 mg potassium (more than double other gels) to help avoid cramping and injuries. Read these testimonials from our customers on how well e-Gel works for cramping
NO Caffeine
Read our view on caffeine and why we don’t put it in e-Gel
NO Fat, Fiber or Protein
Fats, fiber and protein have to go through a digestive process that draws blood and oxygen away from the working muscles. For more information, watch our video on Liquids vs Solids
Antioxidant Blend
To protect tissues by neutralizing free radicals that are produced by the muscle’s use of oxygen during intense athletic activity.
Amino Acid Blend
Designed to slow lactic acid build up, fight muscle degradation and assist in maintaining focus and concentration.
Vitamin B6
Assists with the conversion of protein to energy, and research has shown that your body loses vitamin B6 during intense athletic activity.
Balanced Formulation
e-Gel is the only gel designed to provide complete energy, hydration, and electrolyte replacement when consumed with water as recommended.