PMID- 25997181
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160808
LR  - 20151102
IS  - 1543-2742 (Electronic)
IS  - 1526-484X (Linking)
VI  - 25
IP  - 5
DP  - 2015 Oct
TI  - Extreme Variation of Nutritional Composition and Osmolality of Commercially 
      Available Carbohydrate Energy Gels.
PG  - 504-9
LID - 10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0215 [doi]
AB  - The provision of exogenous carbohydrate (CHO) in the form of energy gels is 
      regularly practiced among endurance and team sport athletes. However, in those 
      instances where athletes ingest suboptimal fluid intake, consuming gels during 
      exercise may lead to gastrointestinal (GI) problems when the nutritional 
      composition of the gel is not aligned with promoting gastric emptying. 
      Accordingly, the aim of the current study was to quantify the degree of diversity 
      in nutritional composition of commercially available CHO gels intended for use in 
      the global sports nutrition market. We surveyed 31 product ranges (incorporating 
      51 flavor variants) from 23 brands (Accelerade, CNP, High5, GU, Hammer, Maxim, 
      Clif, USN, Mule, Multipower, Nectar, Carb- Boom, Power Bar, Lucozade, Shotz, 
      TORQ, Dextro, Kinetica, SiS, Zipvit, Maxifuel, Gatorade and Squeezy). Gels 
      differed markedly in serving size (50 +/- 22 g: 29-120), energy density (2.34 +/- 0.7 
      kcal/g: 0.83-3.40), energy content (105 +/- 24 kcal: 78-204), CHO content (26 +/- 6 
      g: 18-51) and free sugar content (9.3 +/- 7.0 g: 0.6-26.8). Most notably, gels 
      displayed extreme variation in osmolality (4424 +/- 2883 mmol/kg: 303-10,135) 
      thereby having obvious implications for both GI discomfort and the total fluid 
      intake likely required to optimize CHO delivery and oxidation. The large 
      diversity of nutritional composition of commercially available CHO gels 
      illustrate that not all gels should be considered the same. Sports nutrition 
      practitioners should therefore consider the aforementioned variables to make 
      better-informed decisions regarding which gel product best suits the athlete's 
      specific fueling and hydration requirements.
FAU - Zhang, Xuguang
AU  - Zhang X
AD  - Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
FAU - O'Kennedy, Niamh
AU  - O'Kennedy N
FAU - Morton, James P
AU  - Morton JP
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20150520
PL  - United States
TA  - Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab
JT  - International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism
JID - 100939812
RN  - 0 (Dietary Carbohydrates)
RN  - 0 (Gels)
SB  - IM
MH  - Athletes
MH  - Dietary Carbohydrates/adverse effects/*analysis
MH  - Energy Drinks/adverse effects/*analysis
MH  - Energy Intake
MH  - Energy Metabolism
MH  - Gastric Emptying
MH  - Gels/chemistry
MH  - Humans
MH  - Osmolar Concentration
MH  - Physical Endurance
MH  - Sports
MH  - Sports Nutritional Physiological Phenomena/*physiology
EDAT- 2015/05/23 06:00
MHDA- 2016/08/09 06:00
CRDT- 2015/05/22 06:00
PHST- 2015/05/22 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/05/23 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/08/09 06:00 [medline]
AID - 2014-0215 [pii]
AID - 10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0215 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2015 Oct;25(5):504-9. doi: 
      10.1123/ijsnem.2014-0215. Epub 2015 May 20.