Food / Nutrition

Yost72 wrote:

If I am cycling anything over 30 miles, I need to eat something during my ride or I feel myself getting weak. Currently I take some Clif Bars (oats and raisins) and some energy gels with me, although I would only have one of each, even for 40-50 miles. My wife, who knows a bit about nutrition, says that Clif bars aren't ideal as they contain a lot of ingredients / additives which will give you the initial boost, but also the subsequent crash. I was already aware that anything sugary was not good, but if Clif bars are no good, what is? Unfortunately she doesn't have any suggestions! It's not as if I can take a bowl of porridge with me.

Any ideas?

I don't agree re Clif. The company built it's name by using organic vegan friendly ingredients. Tell your wife to google them.

I use "normal" cereal bars as I find they taste nicer. (Brunch bars are favourite at the moment).
However my favourite small snack are mini cheddars. They just seem to hit that savoury spot. And are surprisingly robust in a Jersey pocket. The empty packets are ideal for sticky rubbish like gel sachets.
Old school would be jam sandwich and banana.

I just eat museli bars as needed. They have always been fine for hours road or mountain biking.

dilatory wrote:

What about making a tray of flapjacks? Your own choice dried fruits and nuts, peanut butter, rolled oats etc. Bit of sugar and honey to sweeten and bind it. All in the pan and then squish it into a tray and into the oven for a bit. Will probably take a few experiments to get consistency right but they are tasty failures!

+1

This recipe is a good starting point as it uses honey instead of syrup:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeyflapjacks_73203
I use 1kg box of Scotts oat and adjust the rest accordingly, makes up to 50.

I usually add Walnuts, Cranberries and Pecans, so long as the total is less than 500g they'll still hold.
Heat up the oats, nuts and fruit in the oven while your warming the oven and stirring the fatty sugary goo.
I've experimented with adding protein powder, substituting 25% sugar and 25% fat with protein powder worked best.

fatsmoker wrote:

Still a good idea to make your own flapjack - You just have to hide it from children

True, mine like to pinch them, still it's probably better for them than most chocolate bars.

Yost72 wrote:

Maybe she is being too restrictive because anything with sugar, syrup etc is a no go apparently!

You need to eat sugar or you'll eat yourself.

Fructose syrup has been cited as a potential cause of obesity (if over consumed by a sedentary person), but sugar (glucose) is fuel for the body whether it comes in a white powder, syrup, starchy carbs or fruit. If you don't have enough sugar in your glycogen reserves and food intake for the exercise your are doing then your body makes it by consuming muscle and it'll come from the muscles you are using at the time.

What is your wife's qualification in the nutritional field, can she cite meta-analyses and peer reviewed articles for each 'bad' ingredient in the context of endurance sport or athletic performance? If not it's just a case of sugar's bad, m'kay

I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually need to eat any form of 'energy' bar on a 30 mile ride. If you do I suspect your daily diet is not providing you with what your body needs. Does your wife do all the cooking?

PP

30miles I would just drink water, sounds like you need to stop your wife the only way to live is to eat cress and cucumber!

Clif bars are a good 50/50 balance of simple carbs and long chain molecule complex carbs, so you have an initial boost from the simple sugars and more sustained energy from the slower acting carbs, perfect for cyclists.

If you want to slow down the insulin response eat something with it that has even more complex carbs, like whole meal bread with seeds and nuts in, or eat some cheese, the fat will slow down the digestion and the insulin response and not cause spikes, take it from an insulin expert, in fact just take a cheese sandwich on your ride and save yourself the trouble/expense of clif bars

I nibble fig rolls on longer rides, and have a few jelly babies in reserve in case I need a gel type sugar hit.

i am about to do a 40 mile ride and will take a coupe of gels, intention to only have 1 but might need second after the big climb. but when i go on longer rides i take all sorts, jelly babies, gels, fig rolls, jam sandwich. i do take cereal bars at time but try and made it an oaty/nutty one. cereal being what it is, its probably full of sugar but its cheaper then buying sports specific food. home made flapjack has to be an option though, very cheap and you can make it just how you like it

fatsmoker wrote:

Still a good idea to make your own flapjack - You just have to hide it from children

I'd have to hide it from myself, let alone the kids :oops: