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NBS Hydration ... great product from one of our Sponsors
If you're looking for a low sugar electrolyte drink try NBS. Formulated very much like OSMO and Skratch. In the graphic Strategy B works for those that get funky gut when racing.
We get 20% off with code EN20.
We get 20% off with code EN20.
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There are a few ways to do this.
Depending on how many bottles are on your bike you could mix one with a concentrated NBS. If you have a refillable system then you get water at the aid station and squeeze a small from the concentrated NBS into the aero bottle.. Try to drink 24-30 ounces per hour. This will satisfy a lot of sodium you will need. I'm a fan of preload because it guarantees that you will start with 'plump' plasma volume.
Water gets into the cell by piggy backing with glucose, ie., active transport. Trying to mix hydration with fuel usually ends with dehydration or calories not being absorbed.
Check out this video of Na and CHO getting in to the cell. It's super cool. It reinforces what the role is of glucose in a sport drink.
Calories can be made up with chews and a low fiber bar. If the bar is eaten in the first 60 mile that gives you another 50 miles to digest and absorb it.
I'm refining a protocol to use NBS with chews. Work in progress. GE upsets my stomach. I can do maybe one bottle and that's it.
I know I'm a MOP Ironman, but definitely a BOP nutritionist.
I used to use Infinit. I enjoyed it, it's flexibility, etc, but I don't need to ingest calories every time I drink.
For a bigger dood (6'1" and 210+ lbs), I don't use too many calories while working out, surprisingly. In fact, I did a fast and hard (.8 IF) non-stop century ride a few weeks ago on nothing but a single HS Waffle!
@Alicia Chase, I LOVE untapped! Being a HS ambassador (love their waffles), their honey gels are pretty good too. I like the maple flavor so much I should be Canadian! haha.
Cliff at NBS is a really cool cat. I get hand wrote letters from him every order. He's going to be at Lake Placid this year.
@Gary Lewis the reason for low SUGAR drinks is to enhance absorption of sodium into the cell. When there is too many calories or a high osmolality drink in the gut it kind of just sits waiting to get into the small intestine. So to get the calories diluted to be able to move into the cell water will be pulled from plasma to dilute this load waiting to be absorbed. The little video above shows this process. Sodium (NA) + Glucose getting transported into the cell. High calorie drinks can cause dehydration. Also, like @Scott Alexander said, sometimes you just want something to drink without calories.
@Jacklyn Moore NBS is a great sponsor. Clifton Duhon and Stacey worked together on this.
You know NBS stands fro NoBullShit .. right?
@Jeff Horn I just got my order of the NEW NBS product that has a bit more carbs .... 100 calories / bottle.
I need 200 -220/ hour. EASY! The other calories are from chews and a Picky Bar. Now all I have to do is refine the logistics for racing.
Here is an explanation on why hydration is the most important key for results and eliminating gut issues.
https://firstendurance.com/fueling-strategies-hot-days/
@Scott Alexander I love Honey Stinger waffles. They have a gluten-free version (another thing my gut can’t tolerate) that are very good. I’ve used their gels before, I’d have to carry them with me during a race, but might be worth it.
@Scott Alexander a century on a single waffle. Are you a fat adapted kind of guy? Or do you eat pretty regular stuff on daily basis?
For a six hour ride this is what I did ... and will do for IM but adding a little more because my bike split will be more than 6 hours.
Before my ride I had a half bottle of NBS Pre-load. All the minerals are in the citrate form so easy to absorb.
I started with my aero bottle full with two scoops Carb-NBS
Goal:
Na - 2600, about 400 mg/hr
Calories 1450
I started with one bottle on my bike with three scoops Carb-NBS, Na 300, 100 calories
Concentrated bottle of NBS Carbo-Hydration. 10 scoops = 2000 mg, 650 calories
3 bags of chews, Stinger and ProBar, 220 mg Na, 500 calories
Pickey bar and Cliff bar, 200 mg Na, 450 calories
TOTALS:
Na 2720 mg
Calories 1700
I get taste fatigue so the bars are on board to help with that. Waffles work too. I finish eating them with two hours of riding to go. I break the bars up and roll them into little balls. All this gets stuffed in my Bento box. If I can't fit the bag of chews in there I put it in my jersey pocket. I also have on board in my back pocket mint TicTacs and Mint TUMMs for when my mouth or gut feels funky.
On course aid stations are every 10 miles. I tried to simulate that. I put water in my front aero bottle with a squeeze of concentrated NBS. I'm constantly sipping or nibbling. Think titration, a constant slow drip of of electrolytes and fuel. By the fifth hour the concentrated bottle was almost gone. I like the idea swishing with cold water from the course.
If I lose my concentrated bottle I will go to GE squirting it into my aero bottle and taking Salt Stick. I can also get Cliff Shot blocks off the course. I haven't worked those numbers.
Filling my bottle on the go is not a big deal for me. I know how crazy aid stations are and it takes awareness.
@Alicia Chase thanks for the post. Stacy Sims is a wealth of knowledge.
@johnkatsoudas there might be some answers here for you.
Cheers
NBS has a wide product range with fuels for a range of events, and I love how they have separate formulas for men and women. Definitely will try these! (But what's up with their plain-looking packaging? Can't tell them apart from the black-and-white packages)
I've been using Skratch for the last two years. Skratch Labs just re-branded their product line, and it's totally confusing if you're used to the old names. As an example, Rescue Hydration is now called Wellness Hydration. I kind of liked the idea of being rescued
I think the biggest challenge when using OSMO, Skratch, NBS, EFS, is that the athlete has to get creative to be self supportive when racing. Gut issues that ruin races can be fixed with a little pre-planning. Understanding why a high osmolality concentrated sugar doesn't get absorbed is a game changer.
In Kona - you'll want to experiment with one of the several Hyper-Hydration mixes.
In reference to gastric emptying, is there a magic number (red flag) that people look for in their solids (bars or chews) to avoid in terms of fat and protein? I know these slow things down a bit. For example, the Skratch bars have 200 cal with 8g fat and 4g protein. Is this acceptable or recipe for disaster? I figure if its from Skratch, probably within range.
That century ride, from Austin to Shiner (home of the beer), I also only went through one bottle in the first 65 miles, with a .85IF hanging with the lead group. At the 65 mile rest stop, I ate that one waffle, and almost puked. Just never ate again. Didn't even get the pre-bonk or bonk feelings over the next 35 miles riding into the brewery. I didn't even finish the other two bottles of Nuun I had with me. No idea how I didn't need more.
My breakfast, pre-century, was two bolthouse farms smoothies, for about 600 cals. Same pre-long-workout breakfast I almost always have, so I don't think I was sitting on a ton of calories before I started.
The chocolate mint was a little too dark for me, especially in the heat. That's the one that did it in for me on my century. Just didn't sit well.
I have used NBS for over a year now. Love the stuff no gut issues at all. For some crazy reason this spring almost summer. Since getting outside. I am swelling like a puffer fish. No seriously. Bike and run. Today while running my hands swelled so bad they turned white.
Tonights run: 85 degrees mild wind
Plan: z4 800m intervals
Swelling started after the first mile. Took a dose of BAse salt when the swelling started. Finished the intervals but had to walk home d/t elevated sustained HR.
Backstory: Swelling has been a problem for a LONG time. This is the worst it's ever been. It resolves quickly once I stop training. Usually within an hour.
Nutrition:
Preload: 1 tbsp with 8oz of water 30 minutes prior (NA 1600mg) with a 100 calorie bag of Kirkland gummies.
Camelbak with 24 oz of Hawaiian NBS, 3 scoops (NA 540mg).
Basesalt x1- NA 290mg
Any suggestions? This is driving me crazy. I know it's affecting my performance. I just ordered the NBS Strawberry lemonade carb stuff. We'll see how that goes for pre load.
Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.
@Robert Sabo- I've wondered that too. It's so hard to figure out. I have tried to go with just water and base salt. That hasn't worked too well either. I've tried plain water and that was a no go bonked hard on that one.