Stomach Gas

daisymack

I've slowly been switching over to an all-Infinit nutrition for long rides. Logistically, I like it - I put a 3 or 4 hour concentrated bottle on the handlebars and drink water out of the Speedfil. I supplement with 1-2 S!Caps/hour and I'm pretty sure I adequately dilute each sip with plenty of water.

My formula is: 204 calories. 313 sodium. 206 osmolality. If the slider scale was 1 - 100%, then I'm at 75% carbs, 30% electrolytes, 10% protein, 0% caffiene, 35% amino acids.

The problem I've been having is with stomach gas that appears at around the 3:00/3:30 mark. Even sipping water seems to create sharp pains. As soon as I sit up, stand up, or stop riding the problem goes away, which makes me think part, if not all, of the problem is positional.  GasX tabs are kinda helpful but not for long, and I obviously can't keep chomping away at them all day.

Any ideas?

jwpicciotto

How many grams of protein does that work out to an hour? With some of these drinks, the protein will tend to cause some amount of gas. Penny and I have talked to the folks at Infinit about the amount of foam that gets generated when the mix is shaken. They confirmed this is from the protein and that since they are trying to stay as natural as possible they choose to not use an agent to eliminate the foam. I find that I can't take more that 3 gr of protein on the bike, and I go down to just below 1 gr on the run.

Another source of gas can also be the hydration system itself. Drinking from a straw naturally introduces excess air into your system. Sometimes you just have to give some of that excess gas back to the environment. In a group ride you get style points for this.

daisymack

Ha, good point John. I was definitely giving some back to the environment on Saturday - luckily neither Eric nor Tracy were within earshot. But the tummy gas also happened at the IMLP rally when I was riding the trainer and only using regular water bottles, not the Speedfil. Protein is only 0.81/serving.

I'm considering getting a different bite valve (Camelbak makes a Big Bite Valve) that might make it easier to suck water in. But I still think something else is going on...

Cary Blanco

Have you considered switching the water in the aeorbar mounted bottle and the infinit in the speedfil?

1) The infinit wouldn't have to be as concentrated, you could sip it as needed. Just poor what you need for the 2nd loop into the speedfil from special needs. Sipping it through the straw at your leisure rather than frantically when there's a second to get the bottle out of the bars may get less air in to your system and alleviate the gas issue.

2) having water as the thing you can replenish every 10 miles and put in your bars is nice, so is being able to pour water over your head with from bottle if it gets hot - you cant do that with a straw delivery system.

just my 2 cents.

daisymack

Cary, I opted against that set-up for two reasons: 1) It's hard to wash out the Speedfil after every ride, and 2) It's not practical in training because there aren't convenience stores or drinking fountains every 10 miles. Plus, it's easier to monitor intake of nutrition out of a water bottle then trying to judge the Speedfil. But I hear your point. Maybe I could shove two or three water bottle in my jersey on training rides.

Cary Blanco

Suzanne, I usually have 2 bottle in my jersey pockets for training and I stop at a deli

If all else fails ask Matt Ancona what he does.

Kitboo

The problem could be dehydration which will slow gastric emptying. So will a stomach full of gas you will definitely feel better sitting up vs. being in aero. Are you peeing clear after your long rides?
Another cause to the delayed gastric emptying could be that you should drink more water with each sip of Infinit to make sure that what's in your stomach is not too concentrated. Also make sure you're sipping plenty of water when you take the S-caps too.
Lastly, I do think that drinking out of water bottles and sipping from straws makes for ingestion of alot of air but if you're stomach is emptying normally it will either go downstream and out the other end to keep folks from drafting () or you'll just burp it up.

daisymack

Kit, I was pretty badly dehydrated on Saturday and I knew it. 90+ degrees, very humid, and I didn't pee once in 4.5 hours. We were doing a new route, so it was a combo of fewer opportunities to refill and keeping too close an eye on an unfamiliar road and not bending to drink. But that info about dehydration is really helpful - I feel like we may have hit on the answer.

I also need to fuss with my straw more because for some reason it wasn't comfortable to sip from it - perhaps the set up got knocked around when they swapped the frame.

penlynwilson

Everyone has given you excellent advice.

The first thing I would look at would to be sure you are getting enough water in.

Question: do you feel fluid in your stomach - sloshy - at all?

It could be a combination of things. But, either way it is not comfortable. Keep giving us info and we'll help you figure it out.

daisymack

Penny, NO, definitely was not getting enough water. I didn't feel sloshy at all - probably because there wasn't enough to slosh around.

penlynwilson

There are a lot of things going on here. I'd say to get the hydration fixed and see if the gas continues to be a problem.