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Home / FAQ / Gels

Gels

It's easier to carry energy with you on a run, ride, or other activity in the form of gels. In a race, most athletes do not get a bottle handed every 15 minutes – but can easily carry a bunch of gels while running or biking.

From a technical perspective, traditional "gels" are water and carbohydrates simply mixed into syrups, often containing added flavors and preservatives. Our GEL is completely different. It’s a hydrogel – a biopolymer matrix, filled with a unique blend of fructose and glucose (ratio of 0.8:1) which enables uptakes of up to 100 grams of carbohydrates per hour.

By harnessing our Hydrogel Technology we’ve built a biopolymer matrix that is dense enough to encapsulate both the caffeine and the carbohydrate mixture. It relies on the same concept as our drinks where the hydrogel technology enables a smoother transportation of carbohydrates.

How to use gels?

Use gels on their own during shorter durations, or combine them with other Maurten products to ensure you have enough carbohydrates throughout your session.

You don’t have to. Unlike other gels on the market, you don't need to drink water to wash down the product. However, hydration is important, and drinking plain water won't affect the efficiency of the hydrogel.

Our advice: drink to thirst.

GEL 100 CAF 100 is a new Hydrogel Sports fuel with caffeine. It contains 100 mg of caffeine – that’s the equivalent of 1,5 espressos – or one cup of brewed coffee. That’s a lot compared to many of the traditional gels out there. It delivers 25 grams of carbohydrates through a unique blend of fructose and glucose (ratio of 0.8:1) and packs a high weight-to-energy ratio. Like all of our products, it doesn’t contain any added flavors, preservatives, or colorants.

Caffeine has been shown to promote alertness and reduce perceived effort. These are properties that can be beneficial in sports performance. But it does not enhance performance: it reduces fatigue and performance decline that occurs during a race.

Caffeine effectiveness is dose-dependent and the response is highly individual, thereby an effective dose is individual, where more is not always better. Caffeine is rapidly absorbed in the blood within 5 –15min, and peaks within 45 –90 min (half-life 180–300min). It interacts with many tissues and organs and inhibits/blocks adenosine which promotes alertness. There is a lot of research proving the benefits of using caffeine in combination with carbohydrates over carbohydrates alone.

Developing a nutritional strategy for races or key sessions is complex. Caffeine absorption and metabolizing rate varies between individuals. There are two key factors that are important to take into account: 1) your body weight and 2) if you’re used to caffeine. Science suggests an intake of 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram body mass, to aid performance. But, it’s highly individual. We’ve developed some general guidelines on how to use the GEL 100 CAF 100, based on our own findings and scientific literature.