What's in your drink?......

What’s in your drink?

REPOSTED FROM OSMO NUTRITION (FEB 8TH, 2014)

Picking up a container of sports drink mix or electrolyte tablets and do you wonder what it is that you are actually putting into your body? Electrolytes.. sure, but what compound? citrate? chloride? chelate? What about carbohydrates and sweeteners? Maltodextrin? Fructose? Xylitol? Stevia? Sucralose? And anti-caking or flow agents? Sodium benzoate? polyethylene glycol? Flavors: Natural and artificial? (what does “natural” mean anyway……..?)

Here is a chart showing a comparison of Osmo Active Hydration to some of the top selling sports drinks:

OSMO ACTIVE- (Men’s and Women’s)	Top selling Maltodextrin+Protein drink	Typical 2:1 malto:fructose sports drink	Top selling sugar free electrolyte tablet
3.5-3.8% solution (3.5-3.8g carb per 100ml)	7-17% solution (7-17g carb/100ml)	5.5% solution (5.5g carb/100ml)	0% solution
Sugars:Vegan Sucrose, Glucose	Sugars: Maltodextrin, Artificial sweeteners-Xylitol, Stevia	Sugars: Maltodextrin, Fructose	No sugars; Artificial sweeteners: Sorbitol, Sucralose
Sodium (from citrate)	Sodium (from chloride)	Sodium (from citrate)	Sodium (from carbonate)
Potassium (from citrate)	Potassium (from chelate)	Potassium (from chloride)	Potassium (from carbonate)
Magnesium (from citrate)	Magnesium (from chelate)		Magnesium (from sulfates)
Calcium (from citrate)	Calcium (from chelate)		Calcium (From carbonate)
B-vitamins Organic Fruit powder	Natural and artificial flavorings, colorings Soy protein isolates	Natural and other flavoring	Natural colors and flavors Sodium benzoate, citric acid**, polyethylene glycol***
			**Both the Health Protection Branch of Canada and the Food and Drug Administration note that sodium benzoate is safe to consume in small doses, but it should not be combined with ascorbic acid, commonly known as citric acid or vitamin C, as this will develop a carcinogen know as benzene. This carcinogen is believed to cause cell death, damage to the mitochondria in cells, DNA damage, ***Polyethyelne glycol is the basis of most prescription laxatives.

What does this all mean?

The primary goal of the maltodextrin+protein drink and the typical maltodextrin:fructose sports drink are to provide calories, aka liquid calories. The two sugars used are maltodextrin and fructose: both of which cause water to be pulled into the small intestines due to the increased osmotic/oncotic pressure they exert. Yes, maltodextrin will allow the products to have a low osmolality and allow for more rapid exit from the stomach, but it wreaks havoc in the small intestines. They also employ artificial sweeteners: xylitol and sorbitol. The sugar free electrolyte tablets are working to provide a low carbohydrate, hydration formula, however they have added sucralose and sorbitol (artificial sweeteners) with additives such as polyethylene glycol which promote GI distress (see note above in the table).

Read more about maltodextrin, fructose and tablets in earlier blog posts:

- Sugars: What about Maltodextrin and Fructose?

- Efferfescent tablets: Osmolality and Fluid Absorption,

Artificial Sweeteners: For starters, they don’t facilitate the uptake of fluid- you need a bit of glucose and sodium to actually work with the physiology of the small intestines to pull fluid in (glucose-sodium co-transport system). Then, depending on the type of artificial sugar, you can have changes in osmotic/oncotic pressures, which can pull water into the GI tract out of the blood. For example, sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol are all sugar alcohols- they are used as laxatives in the general population because they do pull water into the intestines. Sucralose induces an insulin spike- or rather, your body perceives sweetness and in response, releases insulin in anticipation of the sugar to come; but none does; thus your existing blood glucose gets taken up – dropping blood glucose, causing a bit of hypoglycemia, signaling your body to release more glucose into the blood- which causes insulin to be released.. around and around it goes. Yes, during exercise, insulin doesn’t play a large role in blood sugar control, BUT ingesting products with sucralose can make you “bottom out” your blood sugar (kind of like taking in lots of caffeine) more quickly- thus your carbohydrate requirements increase. Sucralose is also strongly linked to GI distress (diarrhea, bloating, gas).

Electrolytes: The electrolyte compounds used are chlorides and carbonates (for the most part). When the chloride separates from the potassium or sodium it becomes a potential disruptor to the small intestines (i.e. alters the membrane potential of the intestinal cells, allow the cells to “open up”/become leaky, causing GI distress and diarrhea). Carbonates: Sodium bicarbonate is the only really useful carbonate-compound in that it is used in the body’s naturally occurring bicarbonate buffering system. Citrate-bound calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc are readily absorbed by the body (no by-products) as the electrolytes are used for key muscle metabolic processes and the citrate is used in aerobic metabolism.

 Why is OSMO different (and why are there often “floaties” in my drink after I mix it up?!)

OSMO is formulated to promote hydration, not fuel/carbohydrate absorption. There are quite a few critical differences between the aforementioned products and OSMO.

First: The Preload is a hyper-hydration and buffering agent drink. The Active is a 3.5% (men) to 3.8% (women) solution designed to push as much fluid into the blood, and NOT provide calories/carbohydrate for fuel. Again the focus is hydration, not fueling. The Acute is designed to give the biggest protein bang in a short window to rapidly shut down cortisol and all the catabolic stressors associated with exercise- thus maximizing adaptations and recovery.

Second: The sugars used. OSMO uses a ratio of glucose:sucrose in all of its formulas to maximize fluid absorption before and during exercise; and glycogen resynthesis post exercise. The sugars are also vegan; meaning we source sugar that has not been processed cattle bonechar as the decolorizing filter!

Third: The electrolytes. We use citrate based compounds except for sodium bicarbonate in the Preload. The functionality of the bicarbonate is why it is in Preload: It is an anaerobic buffer (more on this below). Sodium citrate is another alkalizing agent shown to improve anaerobic and aerobic performance. Similar to sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate works by offsetting the increase in H+ by providing a greater buffering gradient and increases blood pH significantly. Moreover, sodium citrate can be ingested in higher doses without the adverse gastrointestinal distress often associated with sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride ingestion. Sodium citrate also works upon molecular disassociation- the sodium pulls water into the plasma space and the citrate works both as an alkalizing agent (above) but also as the precursor enzyme for the Krebs cycle (aerobic metabolism).

And Finally: I was heavily pregnant with my daughter when we were sourcing the ingredients for all our OSMO products. In this vein, I did not want to put anything on the market that I couldn’t consume pregnant. This is why we do not use bonechar sugars, why we source our protein from only the three countries in the world that never introduced hormones in the dairy system. This guarantees protein that is “rBGH-free”, “rBST-free”, GMO-free, and not processed with MSG. We use organic fruit powder for flavor, not a “natural” flavor or other flavor enhancers that are ladened with maltodextrin. This is also why you will find sediment or “floaties” in our products-(you’ll find real fruit seeds and vanilla bean!). We also do not implement fillers, anti-caking or flow agents to have a uniform mixability or a “clear” solution. I don’t want to consume silica, calcium silicate or other weird agents, do you?

If nothing else, know that when you drink OSMO you are drinking something that your physiology recognizes as a functional solution; everything in the products are chosen carefully from many different angles.

So…..what’s in your drink?  

Osmo Nutrition products are available at Parvilla Cycle & Multisport

Lactic acid myths, debunked.......via Velonews

To clear lactate, you have to breathe out. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

We all remember the gym coach who roared about how you weren’t working until you felt that lactic acid burn. The phrase “lactic acid” is part of our sports lingo. How many times have we heard “gotta clear the lactic acid”? Well, it turns out that the coach was slightly misinformed. More and more, I have endurance athletes asking me the truth about lactic acid: 1) Are lactic acid and lactate different and which one do we have in our bodies? 2) Does lactate have a purpose?

There is considerable power behind the lactic acid myths, but the reality is that they are just that — myths. Let’s dispel them now.

Does lactic acid exist in humans?

According to Professor Matthew Hickey, head of the Human Performance Research Lab at Colorado State University, “The bottom line is, no. There is no lactic acid in human beings.”

To explain why, a brief lesson about acids is necessary. Every acid has an alternate base (alkaline) form — a sort of yin and yang. For example, lactate is a base and lactic acid is, well, an acid. Acids and bases frequently exist as mixes and are able to change back and forth between one another.

So how do we measure these acid/base mixes? Enter “pH value,” which is simply a measure of acidity/alkalinity. The pH ranges on a scale from 0 to 14. The lower the number, the more acidic the fluid. Our blood, for example, has a pH slightly above seven.

As the pH drops, more and more base molecules transform into acid molecules. There is a critical point at which there is a perfect 50/50 mix. Hickey points out that for lactic acid/lactate, that “occurs at a pH of 3.87.“ That, of course, is well below our blood pH of seven. This is why we don’t ever have “lactic acid” in our system. According to Hickey, lactic acid really doesn’t start appearing until “you have a pH under six,” and even then “you’d have 99 percent as [lactate] and one percent as lactic acid. During intense exercise, you can drive [pH] down into the high sixes,” Hickey said. This is well above the pH required to produce true lactic acid. If you had lactic acid in your blood, you’d have to have a pH under six, and you’d be getting rushed to the hospital.

Why then do we still talk about lactic acid in our bodies? Because of “simple historical inertia,” said Hickey. “It has stuck in the minds of lay audiences, coaches, athletes, etc. But it is based on a misunderstanding about the chemistry.”

But if we don’t have lactic acid, then what do we have? What causes the burn? Our muscles do produce acid, but that acid is simply positively charged hydrogen, not lactic acid as we once believed. Scientists were long fooled because hydrogen and lactate exit the cell together — in fact one can’t leave without the other. So when we measure lactate levels, it correlates with hydrogen ions. We thought we were measuring lactic acid, but it is merely a coincidence that when we measure a rise in lactate it happens to match with a rise in painful acid levels.

Does lactate serve a purpose?

Our misunderstanding about lactate gave it a bad rap. It was believed that lactate was just a nasty waste product that made our legs scream 50 meters from the finish. In reality, lactate serves many important roles. For example, “it is the principle fuel for the heart during vigorous exercise,” Hickey said. And the liver can recycle it, “releasing a brand new glucose molecule as if you’d been drinking a sports drink.”

The reality is that we are constantly producing lactate in our bodies. “There’s a misunderstanding that until you get to threshold you’re not making lactate. That’s not the case,” Hickey said. “You’re making lactate 24/7 all your life.”

The same goes for acid, those hydrogen ions. The reason our blood lactate levels are low most of the time is because our bodies clear and use it as quickly as we produce it. Our lactate threshold is simply the point where our bodies produce both lactate and acid faster than it can clear them. This makes our ability to clear lactate and acid a critical part of sustaining high-end power. And that brings us to our next big myth.

The myth that leaves you breathless

When you’re cranking up that 15 percent grade and gasping for air, it’s not the need for oxygen that’s driving you to breathe hard. It’s the struggle to breathe out. According to Hickey, we have sensors that constantly sample our blood and tell the brain when to increase respiration. “They are far more sensitive to rises in carbon dioxide in our blood than a drop in oxygen.”

Humans are one of the few mammals to have overbuilt lungs. We only require two thirds of their capacity to fully oxygenate our blood. So taking in enough oxygen is rarely a problem (unless you happen to be on the slopes of Mount Everest.) The reason we breathe hard “goes back to all of this pH threshold stuff,” Hickey said. If we can buffer the acid, “we can delay that pH threshold and get up to a higher and higher exercise intensity.”

Our best immediate buffer is a molecule called bicarbonate. Bicarbonate binds to acid to produce harmless water and CO2. However, “that process is only as good as the last step, which is breathing off the carbon dioxide.” If we don’t breathe it off fast enough, the CO2 is converted back to acid, and we lose the race.

The takeaway? Concentrate on exhaling.

Trevor Connor is a long-time cycling coach and researches both exercise physiology and nutrition at Colorado State University.