Not sure or don’t believe there are any benefits to using drinks at all? Have a read of the following to see the proven benefits of carbohydrate based drinks. Bikefood® is complimentary with real foods and is a perfect partner for conventional ‘cake stops’ and can also be combined with all real foods and other sports nutrition systems
Ingredient information
Bikefood® is greater than the sum of its parts. Each ingredient has been carefully considered and chosen for specific properties, that when combined, deliver what we regard as the best, most dedicated cycling drink available.
With a number of ingredients that you will not find in the majority of sports drinks, let’s look at these in a bit more detail to understand why they have been included.
For allergens and special dietry requirements please note: Bikefood® contains natural blackcurrents which some people are alergic to. The Maltodextrin used is from maize, not wheat. Bikefood is vegan friendly and gluten free.
Glutamine – for promoting hydration and gut health
Glutamine is a popular supplement in its own right, and a relatively expensive one at that. It helps improve nutrient absorption during endurance cycling by promoting cellular hydration and gut health. Glutamine is also known for enhancing muscle recovery, reducing soreness, and supporting immune function, all of which are especially beneficial for back-to-back long or intense rides. Glutamine is a key difference between Bikefood® and alternative products.
Click here to read about Glutamine in more detail >
Branch Chain Amino Acids – BCAAs for short
Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) support muscle repair and the reduction of exercise-induced muscle breakdown, this helps to alleviate soreness and improve endurance. Additionally, they are considered as potentially delaying fatigue by inhibiting serotonin-related tiredness, which supports sustained performance during particularly long and challenging rides.
Click here to read about Branch Chain Amino Acids in more detail >
Vitamin C and Zinc – keeping you in the saddle
For cyclists, zinc helps with muscle recovery, reduces inflammation, and supports the immune system, which is essential after intense rides. Vitamin C fights muscle soreness by reducing oxidative stress and promotes joint health by supporting connective tissues. Supporting your immune system, esoecially through the Winter months, means you can help bolster up against colds and sniffles, and actually keep getting the miles in.
Click here to read in more detail >
Electrolytes – helps replace what is lost in sweat
Mediterranean sea salt in sports drinks helps you to stay hydrated and replace important minerals lost through sweat, reducing muscle cramps and fatigue. It also supports quicker recovery and sustained endurance, making it a great choice for optimising performance during intense rides. In the heat, it is crucial and an important area to understand. Typically the hotter it gets the more riders dilute down their drinks. This is counter intuitive to what you should be trying to achieve. The solution is simple, don’t dilute – drink more and keep your electrolyte intake where it needs to be. In Winter it is equally as important, whilst it is cold and you may not feel like drinking a lot, just look at how much sweat is absorbed into your kit at the end of a ride, the electrolytes are being lost and need to be replenished for optimal performance.
Click here to read in more detail >
Multi-Carbohydrate blend – the engine room
Bikefood® uses a specific combination of simple and complex carbohydrates, a blend of maltodextrin and sucrose in a balanced ratio for optimal performance.
Maltodextrin is available from various sources, suppliers and in a range of differing technical specifications. We are very specific about the exact options that have been selected for performance benefits. The carbohydrate blend that is core to Bikefood® has been developed to maximise carbohydrate absorption rates and oxidation, through using multiple transport pathways.
We have considered the challenges faced in the need for a high energy product that is effective whilst avoiding stomach upsets or discomfort – not ideal when you are are riding (typically from higher levels of fructose or a personal sensitivity to ingredients). We have also done away with the need for artificial ingredients.
Serious cycling over long distances requires significant energy, and this is what our multi carbohydrate blend really delivers. Drinking Bikefood® enables you to sustain high-intensity performance for longer, delaying fatigue and maintaining stable energy levels throughout your ride.
Click here to read about carbohydrates in energy drinks for cycling in more detail >
The bits we left out – (we didn’t accidentally forget them)
Bikefood® is free from artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours. While artificial sweetners are on the whole safe for consumption, for us they just get in the way. We have concerns around Aspartame and Accesulfame K (two widely used artificial sweeteners in common soft drinks) in that at lower levels they are safe for consumption, however when present in numerous products that you could consume a number of times through a ride through multiple servings of drinks or gels that contain the same ingredients, over a day of riding the level of consumption rapidly increases. We just don’t need this, so we intentionally excluded these from our Bikefood® formula.