2024-02-04 06:00:29
They are present in all competitions of endurance, whether on foot or pedals. More and more professional athletes consume them on a recurring basis and their use has spread rapidly among amateur athletes. It is common, in fact, for them to be provided in the broker’s bags. Popular careers and that has made them increasingly present in the lives of runners y cyclists. Los carbohydrate gels They have become, more than a fashion, an essential, at the cost of in some cases not being used appropriately.
“I think we need to do more dissemination, especially among amateur athletes, to know when it is appropriate to use them and when not,” he says. Xavier Sebastian. The biochemist and nutritionist is also an amateur runner and in addition to advising some of his athletes, he consumes them. “I have seen everything. People who use them excessively and people who should use them and don’t,” he says.
These supplements, which come packaged in individual servingsare basically high contributions of carbohydrates intended to give a energy boost to people who make prolonged efforts. “This is where the controversy lies, in the amount of carbohydrates they provide,” says Sebastià. “The tendency of manufacturers is to make them with an increasingly greater amount of carbohydrates because according to studies, performance improves when there is a greater intake of these nutrients,” explains the nutritionist.
Moderate or intense efforts
The problem occurs in this case in that the studies, as the biochemist states, are based on cases of elite athletes who make very prolonged and demanding efforts, so the results cannot be directly extrapolated to the rest of the people who make efforts. “They are generally intended for those runners, already in good shape, who are going to make a moderate/high effort,” says Sebastià. “For example, an athlete who is going to go on a three-hour outing at a pace that allows us to talk but with difficulty, could benefit from its consumption. On the other hand, a cyclist who goes out for a couple of hours chatting with friends and stops for breakfast, no. The second would be ingesting calories too much,” he exemplifies.
These calorie packets usually provide an average of between 20 and 30 grams of carbohydrates per serving, but currently there are even 45 to 60 grams. Some also add some salt and caffeine. “There is a very marked trend in the marketing of these products to correlate effectiveness and the improvement of performance with the contribution of carbohydrates and that is why they are increasingly manufactured in larger proportions,” says Sebastià. In this case, it is very important to assess the type of intake that will be necessary to avoid consuming them in inappropriate quantities.
High caloric density
In any case, it is not only fans who consume them incorrectly. “These gels involve a double-edged problem,” says the nutritionist. “In the case of elite athletes, in some cases it is the other way around. Some do not use them when they could benefit from fear of ‘getting fat’”says Sebastià. “Among professionals there is the thought that ‘the less I weigh, the more I will run’ and in the end these gels have a calorie density very high. The problem is that they could see an improvement in performance with their consumption,” he explains. Given this statement, the nutritionist clarifies that carbohydrates should not be associated with calories, they are different concepts but like the rest of the macronutrients (proteins and fats), carbohydrates provide calories.
On the other hand, these supplements are also useful for athletes who need quick recoveries or a very high daily calorie intake. “In the case of an athlete who must consume, for example, 3,000 kcal per day given the high workload, the consumption of these gels during training can allow them to cover their energy requirements by prioritizing whole, quality foods the rest of the day. Without the consumption of these supplements during exercise, the volume of foods that you should eat to meet your energy needs would be so high that it could cause many digestive problems,” says the nutritionist. In any case, it is advisable to test tolerance to this type of supplements in controlled environments before taking them to big events to see how our body reacts. Like any supplement, there are people who don’t agree with it, and testing yourself at a major event can cause disaster.
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