In the 1980’s, the word “gel” probably would have been thought of as a hair product.  Jelly Belly made multi-flavored jelly beans that people, including Ronald Reagan, loved to snack on.  Blocks were something that children stacked.  And there was no such thing as “Gu”, just Gak (for those Nickelodeon fans).  The first energy gels were brought about in 1991 by the company Gu.  In 1992, Clif started making their energy bars.  That is just the tip of the ice berg for energy, electrolyte, and nutrition supplements.  Since those first pioneers, there has been a significant increase in the number of nutrition supplements for endurance athletes.  With so many different items to choose from, one could spend endless workouts testing out the products.

I am one of the unfortunate ones that tends to get abdominal cramps after any race that takes about 2 hours to complete.  After running the Chicago marathon, I had abdominal cramps for three days afterwards, which included one full day of lying in the fetal position on a couch.  I realized that I needed to pay more attention to what I was putting into my body during my races.  After doing a little research, I learned part of my problem was dehydration (which should have been a no-brainer).  But I wanted to take it a little further.  I wanted to try as many different energy replacement, electrolyte replacements, and recovery products as possible . . . a human guinea pig!  I wanted to know firsthand what worked the best.  I guess this is a true sign that I’m from the Show Me State.

Race expos for running provided the best means for testing multiple products because running expos typically have more vendors and more free samples (sorry triathletes, but this is true).  Over the past 8 to 9 months, I acquired as many free products as possible and bought some others that I was curious about.  I have even shared these products with my boyfriend to have a secondary opinion.  The below are my own personal critiques (confirmed by my boyfriend) of energy gels.  There is nothing super scientific about it and there is no secondary gain for me.  I just thought I could pass on some information and maybe save some people some money.

Gu Vanilla Bean: A classic for me.  I have used this for the past 6 years.  There is a little aftertaste but it is less pronounced, goes down easier, and has less intestinal “assault” if swished around in the mouth with water before swallowing it.  This one does have caffeine (20mg reported by Gu) which is about 1/3 the amount of an 8 oz. cup of coffee.

Gu Strawberry Banana: Good flavor.  No real aftertaste.  This one is caffeine free, which I like because caffeine is a diuretic that actually speeds up how fast your body gets rid of fluids.  It is thought that caffeine may cause intestinal irritation, leading to abdominal cramps.  I have avoided berry flavored gels in the past due to a heartburn sensation but this did not seem to happen with this one.

Gu Lemon Sublime: I have always been the person who does not like lemon lime flavored stuff.  This gel was a pleasant surprise for me.  No aftertaste, no delayed heartburn feeling, and no caffeine.  This has moved to my list of favorites.

Hammer Gel Raspberry: I only tried this one flavor from Hammer Gel so I could be biased but this was my least favorite gel.  The consistency was kind of grainy.  There was a bit of an icky aftertaste.  I definitely felt this gel doing battle with my esophagus and I can assure you, it doesn’t taste very good a second time around.  I also noticed less sodium, less calories, and less carbohydrates with this gel.  The only plus for me was a lack of caffeine.

Clif Shot Gel Mango: This is one of the gels that is going organic — 90% to be exact.  I liked the fact that they used natural ingredients to provide calories, sodium, potassium, and carbohydrates.  I think that there is something to be said for being able to recognize the ingredients on a package without a chemistry degree.  Once again, no caffeine.  With that said, seriously Clif, mango?  The flavor was not great and the consistency was kind of chunky (pieces of mango perhaps?).  Probably won’t try this again.

Clif Shot Apple Pie: Just like the mango, only apple pie flavored.  Again, kind of chunky and apple pie is not necessarily what I crave when I’m working out.

Clif Shot Vanilla: Third time’s a charm.  At last Clif did well.  The consistency was gel (no chunks thank you), but may have been thinner than Gu.  The vanilla flavor went down well with no attacks on my digestive tract.  This was even better vanilla flavor than Gu.  This is now near the top of my list.

Crank Sports e-Gel Cherry Bomb: This is my most recent gel trial.  Crank e-Gel boasts 50 calories more, 80 to 200 mg more sodium, 40 to 50 mg more potassium, and slightly more carbohydrates per packet than the above mentioned.  However, it is also a bigger packet (1.9 oz compared to the other gels at 1.1 oz), which could account for a little more anyway.  This gel was the thinnest consistency of all.  It had no aftertaste.  In fact, I felt like I should see the Kool-Aid Man come busting through the fence on the bike path yelling “Oh yeah” as I consumed this.  Who doesn’t like cherry Kool-Aid?  Another plus for me is that these gels don’t have caffeine.  This is another that goes in the top 10.

Crank Sports e-Gel Strawberry Slam: It is just like the Cherry Bomb but “slams” you with its strawberry flavor.  I still liked it but felt that it was a little heartburn-ish.

Crank Sports e-Gel Mountain Rush: Apparently if you tried to eat a mountain, it would taste like limes.  I am assuming this because Mountain Rush is lime flavored.  It is a bit odd because as far as I’m aware of, limes don’t seem to grow in the mountains.  Okay, I’ll get off it.  Although the name is a little different, this was my favorite flavor of the three I tried.  This is in my top 5.  And what makes it even better is that I get to say “Man, I’m really craving me some mountain,” before I eat this gel.  It’s the little things that count.

Sun-Maid Raisins:  Yes, raisins.  I know this is not a gel.  I read an article about a study performed at San Diego State University in their Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences that found no significant difference between use of raisins and energy gels in respect to metabolism and performance.  I decided to do a trial of training and racing using raisins.  I completed my fastest half marathon using raisins instead of gels.  I had slight abdominal cramps an hour after the race but this was nothing compared to the past.  A 1.5 oz. box of raisins has 90 calories, 220 mg of potassium, and 22 g of carbohydrates.  The downside is that there is only 5 mg of sodium, they take up a little more space (unless you squeeze them together), and you have to chew them.  The upside is they are CHEAP!  So these are still in my arsenal.

This is just a summary of the gels I have used so far.  For personal reasons, I have chosen not to try products that load up on caffeine.  On a side note, the research that has been done on caffeine in energy supplements has had mixed results…some say it works, some say it doesn’t.  These gels are just a portion of my experiment.  Stay tuned for part 2 which covers electrolyte chews, sport beans, protein bars, performance and recovery drinks.