Episode 157 - Our Favourite Sports Nutrition Products

Our Favourite Sports Nutrition Products

When it comes to sports nutrition products, there are a million different options.

With more and more products coming on the market all the time, figuring out what’s right for you can be overwhelming, confusing, time consuming and expensive!

I’m Switzerland when it comes to sports nutrition – I will never be paid to promote or recommend a product so you can be confident if I suggest something, it’s because it’s actually good – not because I’m getting kickbacks.

So I asked some of my Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes to join me to give you their recommendations for products they love and why, to give you some ideas to start with.

If you need more help, then join us inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program!

Head to www.dietitianapproved.com/academy to join us!

Links:

Check how well you’re doing when it comes to your nutrition with our 50 Step Checklist to Triathlon Nutrition Mastery

Start working on your nutrition now with my Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course 

It’s for you if you’re a triathlete and you feel like you’ve got your training under control and you’re ready to layer in your nutrition. It's your warmup on the path to becoming a SUPERCHARGED triathlete – woohoo!

Connect with me: 

To learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy, head HERE | dietitianapproved.com/academy

See behind-the-scenes action on Instagram: @dietitian.approved

Follow along on Facebook: @DietitianApproved

Join our FREE Dietitian Approved Crew Facebook group

Enjoying the podcast?

Let me know what you loved about it and what you learnt by tagging me @dietitian.approved on Instagram!

Episode Transcription

Episode 157: Our Favourite Sports Nutrition Products 

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The show designed to serve you up evidence-based sports nutrition advice from the experts. Hi, I'm your host Taryn, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Advanced Sports Dietitian and founder of Dietitian Approved. Listen as I break down the latest evidence to give you practical, easy-to-digest strategies to train hard, recover faster and perform at your best. You have so much potential, and I want to help you unlock that with the power of nutrition. Let's get into it.

[00:00:00] Taryn: When it comes to sports nutrition products, there are a million products and there are more and more products

[00:00:26] Taryn: coming on the market all the time. Like every time I go on the feed. com, I see something new and shiny that I'm like, Oh, what's that? And so it's really hard to keep on top of.

[00:00:36] Taryn: everything that's going on all the time. And it makes you want to try something new all the time as well. It can be very overwhelming and confusing. And these guys can probably attest to quite expensive when you go down

[00:00:48] Taryn: the route of wanting to try things all the time. So how do you figure out what on

[00:00:53] Taryn: earth?

[00:00:54] Taryn: products you should be using and what is the

[00:00:56] Taryn: right thing for you. I am very much Switzerland when it comes to sports nutrition. I

[00:01:01] Taryn: like to be very impartial so that when I recommend something to you, it's because it is

[00:01:07] Taryn: actually a good product and it's got some evidence behind it. It's got the right things in it.

[00:01:11] Taryn: And I know that it's going to be something that could be beneficial and useful for you. Not because I'm being paid to promote it. And I think that's really important because a lot of coaches and squads and other people on the internet will be paid to recommend something. So I really like to be Switzerland so that you know that you're actually getting a good recommendation, not because I'm getting kickbacks to suggest that.

[00:01:35] Taryn: So what I've done to help us with some of the best sports nutrition products on the market is ask my triathlon nutrition Academy athletes to join me today to To give you their recommendations and talk to you about some of the products that they love, so that gives you an idea to get started with where you can try your sports nutrition products.

[00:01:54] Taryn: if you need more help, then inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, we dive deep on how to actually read the damn label and what the nutrition information panel means, what the ingredients mean, and all those random numbers and names that you have no idea what those chemicals are, what to look for when you're looking at sports nutrition products.

[00:02:12] Taryn: So if something new comes on the market, you can look at it and assess it with a critical eye and go, Hey. Yeah, this is actually a good product or no, that is just absolute marketing BS. And why on earth would they waste their time developing something like that? Well, I have that thought often. You also need to understand the different types of sugars that are in products, what they are, when you would use them and why you would use them, because we don't always have to be aiming to achieve.

[00:02:40] Taryn: ultimate greatness of all the different things. It really depends on you and your situation and the event and so many different factors rather than just blindly following generic advice. So joining me today, we have Christine from Fort Myers, Florida. Hey, Christine. 

[00:02:56] Christine: Hey! 

[00:02:57] Taryn: We have Tony Hampton from Fort Wayne, Indiana,

[00:03:00] Tony: Hey.

[00:03:01] Taryn: Steve Duquette from Ontario, Canada,

[00:03:04] Steve: How's it going, eh?

[00:03:05] Taryn: So we're going to pick these guys brains around the products that they're using and why they love them. And hopefully that gives you a bit of a headstart around trying products yourself. So let's get started with perhaps the overachiever, Christine, who's got all the different products.

[00:03:20] Taryn: What are some of your favorite things to use out there when you're. Running, riding, swimming, doing triathlon all in one day. 

[00:03:27] Christine: Oh boy. my new favorite product is, I don't know how to say the name of this company. It's AMACX And I'm just going to call them AMACX cause I can't pronounce it, but they're my new favorite gels. I've kind of figured out that I like gels that are are a little more liquidy than others.

[00:03:44] Christine: they're not like super thick and hard to get down when you're like, Thirsty and trying to drink, , and they also have 200 milligrams of sodium in them, which I like because I sweat a lot and lose a lot of salt, , and they taste good, , so, that's my new favorite, 

[00:03:57] Taryn: And are they only available on the feed? That's the only place I've ever really seen them. 

[00:04:02] Christine: They might be, I know I saw some of the Tour de France teams using them this year, but, they must get them from somewhere other than the feed, but I I don't know where. so I I think they're a, like based in the Netherlands? Yeah, the Netherlands. So maybe there's a different distribution site in the EU. 

[00:04:19] Taryn: Okay, cool. Good gel recommendation and something that probably a lot of people haven't heard of either. I wouldn't say they're that common. 

[00:04:25] Christine: no, it popped up an advertisement on the feed is, is where I saw it, and yeah, there you go, Add to cart 

[00:04:32] Taryn: Add to cart always. 

[00:04:34] Taryn: what other products are you using and loving? 

[00:04:36] Christine: let's see, I mean, my favorite hydration one is Scratch. Uh, I've got a few of their flavors for the drinks. know, I like the taste, and, I don't know, it's, uh, It's palatable. It's, I've used that for a while and haven't really felt the need to change, so, like in a triathlon, sometimes I'll do one flavor on the bike and then if I'm bringing a soft flask with me on the run, I'll do a different flavor to mix things up a little bit.

[00:05:01] Taryn: and nice and easy on the tummy for you. You don't get any gut issues.

[00:05:05] Christine: yeah, no, no gut issues. at 

[00:05:07] Taryn: And Scratch is pretty readily available. I've seen it all places. Sometimes you can get it in running shops, cycling shops, definitely online. It's in Australia. It's in the US, obviously. It's kind of much more universal product. 

[00:05:20] Christine: Yes. Yeah. let's see. Another thing I've been using a little of lately is, goo gel, but more liquidy than their normal gels. You know, their normal gels are pretty small and thick, and these ones are bigger and more liquid. And kind of really just using the coffee flavor occasionally for a slightly different flavor on the palate, because it does pretty much actually taste like coffee. 

[00:05:43] Taryn: Look at you drinking coffee flavoured gels. You've changed. You've 

[00:05:46] Taryn: changed. I know, I have changed, yeah, well, you know, you mix it up from the strawberry and raspberry and lemon lime flavors.

[00:05:53] Taryn: Yeah, I haven't actually seen that packaging. Maybe that's a U. S. specific packaging, but is it called just goo or does it have a sexy 

[00:05:59] Christine: it's, it's called goo liquid energy. Oh, 

[00:06:03] Taryn: maybe it's new packaging. 

[00:06:05] Christine: yeah, and yeah, it's probably like twice the size of one of the normal tiny little goos, cause it's, it's very liquid y. It's very liquid 

[00:06:12] Taryn: good recommendation if you don't like thick gels. You've got two gels there that are much more liquidy and easy to consume. 

[00:06:18] Taryn: Anything else 

[00:06:19] Taryn: that you 

[00:06:19] Christine: fav I mean, well, I can keep going. How, how long do you want me to go for, Taryn? Um, I mean, I also like, I don't know if either of the guys are, are gonna talk about this. I like the Precision Fuel and Hydration Flow gels. Weirdly enough, I don't love their normal gels, and this tastes almost the same, but I like this gel.

[00:06:38] Christine: So, you know, it comes in a massive thing, and then you decant it into a soft flask or something I like that for my bike ride, then I just have the whole thing in a soft flask in my bento bag because I'm not good at opening gels on the bike, so, if I just have the one soft flask with all the gel in it, then I don't have to open all the little packets. 

[00:06:59] Taryn: Yeah, good tip. So that guy's huge. If you're watching on YouTube, you will see how big the packet is. It's as big as Christine's head, 

[00:07:06] Christine: that's like purport. Oh, maybe it is actually, I lied. I thought, I thought it. was just the camera angle, but yeah, it is pretty big. 

[00:07:13] Taryn: It's huge. So good for Christine because yeah, it doesn't like opening gel packets on the bike. So it's basically like, I don't know, 10 gels or more in one big gigantic satchet or satchel that you can decant. it's probably texture wise. I think you're a textural consumer. It's thinner than the normal gel, which is maybe why you like it a little bit better. 

[00:07:35] Christine: Probably, and I actually even add a little extra water to it when I decant it. I just, because it doesn't quite fill the soft flasks, then I just fill it to the top with a little extra water. So Yeah. it's pretty liquidy when I'm done with it. 

[00:07:47] Taryn: Okay. So if there's anybody listening that doesn't like thick gels, then Christine's just giving you three options to try if gels are something that you're a textual consumer of, right? What else have you got in your bag of tricks, Christina? Now you've got more things sitting there right in front of you.

[00:08:03] Christine: I know, I don't want to steal the guy's thunder though. I mean. Steal away. Okay. Well, I mean, I've also got another drink mix from the same company that I can't pronounce. It's got a slightly different carb ratio than the scratch, so depending on the length of the workout and the intensity of the workout I sometimes choose that one. So it just depends on what the workout is. 

[00:08:24] Taryn: Nice. So good to know that we don't have this one sports strength that we set and forget. We have different levers we can pull depending on what we're trying to achieve. And that can mean using different sports nutrition products for different events or different durations, like doing say sprint distance, Olympic distance racing versus something like a full distance Ironman, which Christine is preparing for in the next couple of weeks.

[00:08:47] Taryn: So good tip there, Christine. Let's move on to Steve then. And we can always come back to you. you're our token female today. But what are some of your favorite products, Steve?

[00:09:00] Steve: I have a few things that are similar to Christine, actually. But I will say that, I used to get my gels from the local bike shop. And this is how crazy it is, right? They had hammer gels. and I never really liked them, but I never really found anything else until I found you.

[00:09:16] Steve: But they were thick and gooey, and I could barely choke them down, and I, it was to the point where they, I didn't feel like they were actually digesting and going really down into my stomach. They were, it was awful. But anyways, through this whole program yeah, I got on to precision fuel and hydration for some gels, and now I, Christine mentioned the flow gel.

[00:09:39] Steve: So I've used that, in fact as some of you know, I raced the Sunshine Coast Iron Man in Australia, and I had that flexible bottle that PF& H provides. filled it up with a flow gel with, you know, 900 grams or whatever it was in that big honking container. And I, used that for that race.

[00:10:00] Steve: And yeah, it goes down nice and easy. it's less viscous to use a science term.

[00:10:05] Taryn: Ooh, getting sexy and sciency on us. Thanks, Steve.

[00:10:08] Steve: Hey, you're welcome. But, um, I, on some training rides, I'll use the 90 gram P, F, and H. And what I like about that is in some workouts, I want to, train my gut to be able to consume 90 grams per hour of carbohydrate.

[00:10:25] Steve: And so I know this thing has 90 grams. So as much as it may sound a little bit crazy when I'm doing my bike ride. I know that when I'm done this thing, I've put in 90 grams and I can look at my watch and say I did that in that hour, but I do use the 30 gram ones, but it's just more of a preference for the size of the package and the timing of when you're taking it.

[00:10:47] Steve: And along the same lines I'm still using Precision Fuel and Hydration the, uh, hydration mix if you will. What I like about this stuff is it's got a lot of sodium. And I'm a heavy sweater. And I've been known to cramp. And I'm not going to get into that whole story today.

[00:11:04] Steve: Because that's sort of in the past now, is what we've kind of figured out. But I like this product because it's a little misleading when it says a thousand milligrams of sodium. If you mix it the way they say for a serving, you actually get 500 milligrams of sodium in your 500 ml bottle.

[00:11:20] Steve: But if you want to double it up, which I do sometimes to get a thousand, and then I can do that. So I like this because it's not only got the carbs that I want to get. in, but it's also got the electrolyte, primarily that sodium. So I do like that. And then the other one that I got onto now, this is, this is one version of Scratch.

[00:11:37] Steve: This is the high carb Scratch labs. And Christine mentioned this one. I've got the other one that Christine showed, which I think has a lot more sodium in it than what I'm showing here. But what I like about this stuff is the flavor and So, strangely enough, , my local bike shop stopped selling hammer gels, and I walked in there one day, and guess what they had on the shelf?

[00:12:01] Steve: They had Scratch Labs, and they said to me that they had all kinds of, you know, cyclists and whatnot come in and were asking about Scratch Labs, so they got it in. They talked to the rep, and they got it in, and I'll tell ya, I had some friends, and of course, like, people like Christine, and maybe Tony, I'm not sure, but people talked about Scratch Lab, so I thought, well, I'm going to try this stuff, and I bought the lemon lime flavoured one.

[00:12:24] Steve: And, aside from the science behind all the carbohydrates, and glucose, and fructose, and whatnot, and then sodium, and whatever I love the taste of that lemon lime and it just goes down and it, it just really agrees with me. so again, like doing the Sunshine Coast, you know, the 90K bike, I was drinking that stuff, you know, every 10 or 15 minutes and I never had one issue with that stuff.

[00:12:46] Steve: what I understand is that they make this from, I think freeze dried fruits or something. It's a little bit more natural. Christine or Taryn or Tony, can you comment on that? Because to Taryn, to your point about, hey, you know, eat whole foods and eat 

[00:13:00] Steve: real stuff, not all the crap. Well, this is coming from something that's a little better than I could, I could use some more choice words that you use sometimes, but I'm not going to 

[00:13:10] Steve: do it on the podcast here. The other gel that I have used in the past is Morton and I haven't used it in a while, but what I like about Morton compared to me, there's Christine 

[00:13:20] Steve: with her Morton, that's a caffeinated one, I think.

[00:13:22] Steve: There you go. So Morton compared to Precision Fuel and Hydration, I found Morton is got less sweetness to it. And so early in a ride, I liked the flavor of something sweet. But as you exert yourself and, you know, get to that point where you get flavor fatigue, 

[00:13:42] Steve: the Morton was pretty good for that. But Back to the cost of things like it's just crazy how much money these things cost like three four bucks for a gel That's Canadian 

[00:13:52] Steve: dollars. Of course, you know Christine gets them for 1. 29 American, But I got to pay Canadian my micro Canadian dollars. 

[00:13:59] Taryn: Well there's, there's 6 here in Australia, so you've got

[00:14:03] Steve: Well, yeah, you're you're pretty much your inflation is ridiculous. Let's not get into that because I lived there for three weeks, as you know, in September. So, God forbid you drink alcohol there.

[00:14:13] Taryn: Yep. 

[00:14:14] Steve: so I like Precision Fuel and Hydration for their gels and, and their liquid hydration.

[00:14:18] Steve: But I, I really like Scratch Labs and I'll, like, when I'm done with this stuff, I will likely stay with Scratch. I just like the flavor better and I like that it's, It's coming from something that's supposed to be more natural, but it checks the boxes for, you know, with the carbs and with the electrolytes and so on.

[00:14:37] Steve: So that's, that's what I'm using. I actually, the other one was the precision fuel and hydration the little chews. 

[00:14:43] Steve: I don't have any here right now, but they come in like a packet of two one, , one of the packs has like a lemon lime and a minty flavored one. And for me personally, I just, I am not a minty kind of guy. So I choked those things down. I looked for, I'd always eat the mint one first because then the reward was I could have the other one after, which tasted really good.

[00:15:05] Steve: So, I find that I'm not eating those chews in my rides and workouts. I'm doing more of the gels and the liquid hydration. And, you know, historically. 

[00:15:16] Steve: my gut has been more kind to liquid hydration than it was to more of the solid stuff. So, you know, I kind of go with that. It seems to work for me.

[00:15:25] Taryn: And also because you don't really love them, and so when it gets to the crunch of, you know, I need something, I don't really feel like this, I'm not going to have it. And that's a really good tip is that you need to love your sports nutrition because if you're trying to choke something

[00:15:37] Taryn: down like you are that you don't really like you're unlikely to keep pace with your feeling demands. 

[00:15:43] Steve: yeah. I've even tried the Morton, they come out with those bars. Now, christine, can you demonstrate the solids 

[00:15:49] Christine: Now tried them but didn't like them, so I don't have any here to demonstrate. 

[00:15:53] Steve: And that's my experiences. I bought a few of them and I didn't really mind the taste so much, but I just found like again, doing a workout on a bike ride, I just had trouble consuming them So back to gels And liquids, they just, went down much easier. They agreed with me much better. and So I just stopped buying the solids and stuff.

[00:16:16] Taryn: Yeah, I think that's a good strategy. You've come a long way with your sports nutrition products, because I remember when you first joined us in the

[00:16:23] Taryn: Academy, you were sucking back these hammer gels. And I said to you, I said, do you like them? And why are you using them? And you're like, no, I hate them. Like, what are you doing it for?

[00:16:33] Taryn: So you've come a long way. 

[00:16:35] Steve: Oh, I've come so, we could spend a whole hour talking about me if you want, But you're right. Absolutely. I look back on that and I

[00:16:44] Steve: kind of chuckle because I think, Oh my gosh, I can't believe, you know, it's the same old, same old, right? It's sick. Partly it's you don't know what you don't know, and I still talk to people today

[00:16:54] Steve: who are strong cyclists, triathletes, that are using things that don't actually understand

[00:17:03] Steve: or know what's in them. I was that person. I'm taking these hammer gels. I didn't know that there was no fructose in them. And there was only 20 grams of carbs. Like, I mean, I knew that by reading it, but I didn't really know what that meant.

[00:17:16] Steve: I'm thinking, well, I'm taking a gel. That must be good. How many should I take? I don't know. I'll take another one. I'll drink some water. Oh, I'll cramp up and, you know, lay on the side of the road for 20 minutes.

[00:17:26] Taryn: yeah, I know. You are not alone in that though. So many people take stuff and have no idea what they're putting into their bodies or why they would do it because their training buddy suggested it, or it's available easily in the local supermarket or bike store. So you are not alone. But good tip to definitely find products that you like consuming, and then you need to educate yourself around what's actually in it and what you would need to be doing based on the event that you're up to or how fit you are or what you're trying to achieve in a race.

[00:17:56] Taryn: Because we so commonly just blindly follow random advice. And like you, Steve, you're having so many problems, but, but you didn't know how to fix it until you actually educated yourself on nutrition. So good on you. You're a bit of a poster child for PFH at the moment, but you're dabbling in some other products 

[00:18:14] Taryn: now.

[00:18:15] Steve: Yeah, it might be the poster child for Scratch. I'll compete with Christine to be the poster child for Scratch.

[00:18:21] Taryn: So what's the name of your scratch bag compared to the bag that Christine has got? Just for people listening on the podcast, what's the actual name of the

[00:18:28] Taryn: scratch product? It's 

[00:18:29] Steve: it's called the Super High Carb. if you're on the YouTube feed, you'll see the, bag

[00:18:34] Steve: that I'm showing, but it's just, yeah, it's, yeah, it's like a dark gray or a sort of a gray bag, actually, if truth be known.

[00:18:41] Steve: but it's, in four scoops, it has, 57 grams of carb in four scoops and 230 milligrams of sodium.

[00:18:52] Steve: So it's got less sodium in that serving, if you will, compared to the precision fuel you're getting two 

[00:19:01] Steve: scoops and you're getting 500 milligrams of sodium. And you're getting, now you're only getting 30 grams of carbs. So I could go four scoops of this and get 60 grams carbs, same as the scratch, but I'm going to get a thousand milligrams of sodium. so that's why I do like this one for that reason 

[00:19:18] Taryn: And what about yours, Christine? What's your Scratch product called specifically? 

[00:19:22] Christine: it is the Scratch Hydration Sport Drink Mix. 

[00:19:27] Taryn: how much carbs has that got per serving versus sodium? Just to compare with Steve's high carb 

[00:19:32] Taryn: option. 

[00:19:33] Christine: Yep, one scoop is 20 grams of carbs and 400 milligrams of sodium. 

[00:19:38] Taryn: Yeah, wow. So two different products there, both scratch. One of them says high carb, but it's not that high in sodium. 

[00:19:46] Taryn: So it really, you need to understand what you actually need, rather than blindly. Taking products and thinking that, Oh, it'll be, it'll be right.

[00:19:54] Christine: Scratch actually has a third one, I think they call it their Everyday Hydration Mix, Everyday Drink Mix, something like that. and it's like, it's a tiny scoop, and it's basically just all sodium. It's like one gram of carb and 400 milligrams of sodium 

[00:20:10] Christine: and a tiny bit of flavor. So sometimes I'll add that, to the other one, 

[00:20:14] Christine: just 

[00:20:14] Christine: for more sodium. Yeah. 

[00:20:20] Steve: nutrition that I would use, prior to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program and learning all of what we've learned, you know, you sort of go with the crowd. Your well meaning friends are using products, and so, by default, you sometimes think, well, if they're using XYZ product and hey, you know, they're strong, cyclist, runner, whatever.

[00:20:42] Steve: So, I'm going to do that too. But you realize that, you know, what works for one person doesn't work for another and it's very individualized and unique. I mean, our bodies behave differently, our routines and workouts and all the rest of it are, you know, individual and unique.

[00:20:59] Steve: but I was guilty of just. going with the crowd and you know, as per the comment I made about the hammer gels, Hey, they're at the bike shop, they got a whole bunch of the chocolate, there's an espresso, there's, you know, the fruity one. And give me 10 of those and off we go. you know, everybody else is using gels, so I got some gels. Let's go. 

[00:21:16] Steve: the old saying, right? If I knew then what I know now, I could have solved a lot of problems with my cramping and all of that 

[00:21:22] Steve: stuff, a long time ago. it's still a work in progress, right? I'm not, I'm far from perfect, but I'm working, 

[00:21:28] Taryn: had a bit of some insulin at some point. So, yeah.

[00:21:38] Tony: I'm a little bit different because I'm a, I'm a diabetic and I'm also allergic to stevia and stevia is one of the products that gets used for the flavoring, the sweetness part. So a lot of those products that have stevia in it, I just, I don't even look at anymore. But I am like, Steve, I started off because my neighbor was using hammer.

[00:22:04] Tony: I used hammer and I hated it because it was all sticky and gooey and it was real thick. you know, and then you've got this big mess cause it's all over your hands and it's all over your kit and, you know, and then it's in your hair and, you know, it's all over the place. then I went to another product EFS, which I don't even know what EFS stands for, and , it just didn't work at all, I would prefer to actually drink the calories and the carbs.

[00:22:31] Tony: But when I do, I tend to not drink as much because I, tend to drink to thirst and if I'm not thirsty or if I don't feel thirsty, then I'm not getting the benefit of what I need. So I have to use the, the gels. That's what I prefer. And right now I'm on Precision Fuel and Hydration. I like their product line because a lot, most of their products are exactly what is on the package and that's it.

[00:23:00] Tony: It's carbs, it's sodium, you know, separate. So, they do have the one drink mix and I use that for recovery with my protein shake. so I'm getting a little bit more carbs sodium in my protein, but I prefer that, that gel. It's not too sweet. It's not too thick.

[00:23:20] Tony: It's not real runny. So it, it's good. Plus , they have, , the big, 300 gram one, which, if you're doing a long bike ride, you know, that'll get you covered for a couple of hours. So you may have one product which makes it great.

[00:23:36] Tony: their chews are the same. I like the chews. I like the mint. 

[00:23:40] Christine: the mint is great, Tony, I'm with 

[00:23:42] Christine: you.

[00:23:42] Steve: we are not having a competition on the mint here. There were no, there's no vote happening on the mint.

[00:23:48] Taryn: Maybe you need to eat the lemon and give the mint to Tony and Christine.

[00:23:53] Steve: we can barter on that for sure. Anytime.

[00:23:55] Tony: but all their, all their products go together well, so, , you can dial in that, the numbers you need without having to, oh, well, I need this for a little bit, and then this to make up for the lack of whatever the other one didn't have, or whatever, it's easy, it's one, one thing, and you're, you're done, but I also do, uh, Morton, um, and, I like, , the Morton comes in two sizes, the 40 and the 160, I think it is, 

[00:24:24] Taryn: the 160 drink mixes.

[00:24:27] Tony: I'm talking actual packet, 

[00:24:29] Christine: 25 

[00:24:30] Christine: gram or 

[00:24:30] Christine: 40 gram. 

[00:24:31] Tony: Yeah. They've got two gel sizes. so you can hit the numbers a little bit better. , and most of the Ironman, uh, races have 

[00:24:39] Tony: those. So if for whatever reason, my nutrition isn't working, my feeling isn't working. I train with the Morton stuff so that I know I can use that as a fallback.

[00:24:50] Tony: I don't wanna be out there on the course and be like, okay, I know what I 

[00:24:53] Tony: have isn't working right now. , so I'm not gonna just do anything. I 

[00:24:57] Tony: can't do that. like I could do, you can, but I can only do, you can if it's the plane 

[00:25:03] Tony: and. That's tastes like drinking concrete. So, 

[00:25:07] Steve: How would you know? How would you know, Tony?

[00:25:10] Tony: yeah, trust me. I know. Uh, so I, I have to mix that with like, uh, flavor packets, to get it. but it's turning out to not be enough carbs and then it's you can only have the liquid with that because it's just the powder. So, I'm not sure about their, gels, if they have, Stevia in it or not.

[00:25:27] Tony: but yeah, that's, where I'm at right now.

[00:25:29] Taryn: Yeah, I don't know about that. I'd have to have a look. I know we've done a lot of looking at products for you to find products without stevia in it, and I also didn't realize how much stevia was in stuff.

[00:25:40] Tony: and Hammer didn't used to have Stevia in it, but when they came out with their 2. 0, they use Stevia in all of their stuff. They used to have quite a bit that didn't have. , but, if you find the regular hammer stuff. It's all 2. 0 now and I haven't found any I think they discontinued the regular hammer line

[00:26:01] Steve: you're talking about the, uh, drink mix now, eh, Tony? The 2. 0? The heed? 

[00:26:04] Tony: the heed and the the gels i'm pretty sure they have another one too. for longer base stuff. It's not just heed

[00:26:12] Tony: Perpetuum. Perpetuum. Yes. I've tried that, but now it's got Stevie in it, so I can't do it.

[00:26:18] Steve: I tried that perpetuum before a long time ago. I did not like that stuff.

[00:26:23] Tony: it's more kind of like the you can 

[00:26:25] Tony: stuff. I think, It'll up in your system and you burn it 

[00:26:29] Tony: off as you use it, which makes you can a nice product. 

[00:26:34] Tony: But, , the unflavored one is not very nice, 

[00:26:38] Taryn: All of the electrolyte sachets and, you know, salt tablets and things like that 

[00:26:42] Taryn: for you to have stevia in them, anything that's, you know, 

[00:26:45] Taryn: low carb or high electrolyte often has stevia in it to give it some flavor. So it's more palatable. So yeah, it is a bit of a struggle finding products for you, but I'm glad that you found things that, that work and you don't have a allergic reaction to tick.

[00:27:00] Tony: And the reaction isn't that bad. It's just that my legs feel like they have no power. So it's not like I'm itching or, you know, coughing or hacking or sneezing or anything like that 

[00:27:13] Tony: I just feel absolutely. numb from the waist down. 

[00:27:17] Taryn: definitely not idea why you're trying to do a triathlon race we don't 

[00:27:20] Taryn: want to avoid that as best as possible

[00:27:22] Taryn: Well, there you have it. There's three age group triathletes. Each of them has different taste preferences, different needs, different wants, like consistency is a thing for people, cost is a thing for people, ease of opening.

[00:27:35] Taryn: There are so many factors that go into the sports nutrition products that you choose to use. And what I would love for you to do is, like, actually think about whether you like your sports nutrition products or not. I think that is the key. The most important factor because like Steve said, he was sucking back these gels that he hated and he's been even trying to use true flavors that he doesn't like and so you are unlikely to do a good job of your fueling if you are using products that you don't particularly like.

[00:28:01] Taryn: Also why would you buy something and spend your hard earned cash on something that you don't particularly enjoy either? As a food lover, I know Christine is probably with me on this, as a fellow food lover, eating something that you don't like is just a waste of time. so there's no one perfect product for everyone. And I really want to stress that. And all three of these athletes are triathlon nutrition Academy members, and you'll see that they all have their own product ranges. I'm not a. Dietician that's going to say, everyone has to use this product. Like I said, in the beginning, I want to be Switzerland to go, okay, you are doing this thing and this is, this is everything I know about you.

[00:28:38] Taryn: And so maybe try this product as a good place to start so that I can save you time and money in figuring out what sports nutrition products are right for you without you having to waste a whole heap of stress and overwhelm trying to figure that out for yourself. There are lots of places that do sample packs as well.

[00:28:55] Taryn: If you are new and you really have no idea what you like yet, go to somewhere like thefeed. com or there's other websites in Australia as well where you can get a gel sample pack that has a One gel of lots of different brands to try different things. You might figure out really quickly that you're a texture leader and you go, this is too thick and I hate it and I can't do it.

[00:29:16] Taryn: Or something like, you know, the Morton, because it's on courses at the moment, a lot of people have tried it or at least know about it. But if you've ever had that as a texture, it's very divisive. They have been affectionately named snot rockets as a result of their very interesting texture.

[00:29:35] Taryn: So go and try things, but if you really need some help with understanding what products are good for you based on your event, then seek some help with your nutrition, because that is my happy place.

[00:29:44] Taryn: It's my job to stay across all the new products on the market, but also teach you how to look at products so that These guys are, you know, starting to dabble with different things and something new comes on the market. They go, I know how to look at that label to go, is this product going to be good for me or not?

[00:30:00] Taryn: Maybe I'll try it and see how it goes, see how it tastes, see how it feels in my tummy. So I'd love you to. Share with me in the Dietitian Approved Crew Facebook group, what your favorite sports nutrition products are, because you will see if we start a comment chain, there are a million different things out there, which can be quite stressful, but there are definitely some commonalities with things That people do like and do seem to work for them, but it is really just about figuring out what works for you. So thank you guys so much for joining me and sharing your experiences. I think it's really valuable and really helpful. I love having this discussion with you all in our weekly power hour sessions because. Christine's really good at coming up with new products that she's discovered. And then we share that with the wider group.

[00:30:47] Taryn: And then if we're finding things that could be beneficial for other people, then they do go on our worksheets that I constantly keep up to date with new products so that every time somebody goes through the program or people that still have access in our alumni program can go and grab that new worksheet with those new products.

[00:31:04] Taryn: And it just takes all of that time and effort out of you doing that hard work yourself. That's my job. I got you. I got your back. All right, legends. One last tip from each of you, please, around getting the right sports nutrition products for you. 

[00:31:16] Steve: one thing I will say in being part of the program through the master classes and all the group, you know, sessions that we had, you've taught us, to be very discerning and critical, when it comes to looking at say gels or hydration products and whatnot.

[00:31:30] Steve: So, I'm far from perfect, but I feel like I am so much more confident when I look at a product, I can see what's in there and make a decision around, you know, is this thing going to work for me or how would it work for me? Or I, you know what, I'm not going to like this thing.

[00:31:44] Steve: It's, it doesn't have what I want in it, but you know, being in that program and having the worksheets and the masterclass and having you, cover our back and then also the other people like Tony and Christine and others that are in the program where we get to have those conversations about what other people are doing and we all kind of chime in on, you know, What we think of the product or that we've used it or we might want to use it because someone else has used it and we get that feedback from other athletes in the program, so I wouldn't have that if I wasn't part of the program.

[00:32:18] Steve: I mean, I could probably go and try to find it, but 

[00:32:21] Steve: it's not the same.

[00:32:22] Taryn: Yeah. Good one. What about you Christine?

[00:32:24] Christine: Uh, you know, I mean, the other thing I would say is just like really also try things out like outside at race pace, , you know, the chew that maybe you tried out like at home to make sure you like the taste. Maybe it's too thick to 

[00:32:38] Christine: get down when you're like running fast or. I tried the like the little jelly bean sport shoes and I was running at a Good pace and I had like a handful and I just kind of chucked them into my mouth.

[00:32:49] Christine: And I chucked one. like straight down my throat 

[00:32:51] Christine: and started choking on it. So like really try it out. or I mean, even some gel 

[00:32:57] Christine: packets, like there was one brand that even before my fingers were sweaty, I could not get the thing open. I was out on my run and like desperate to have it. And, and I could not open the thing.

[00:33:08] Christine: I threw it in the garbage on open. 

[00:33:09] Christine: So. 

[00:33:10] Christine: Like, yeah, just, just, test them out.

[00:33:12] Tony: There's a little notch on one end but when you're riding your bike at 25 miles an hour down the road, it's really hard to find. But there is 

[00:33:21] Tony: a notch 

[00:33:21] Tony: there It has worked for me, but, 

[00:33:24] Steve: it's, it works like shit. I peel that notch back and I got a little piece of foil in my hand and a whole package of these two gummy things that I can't, I might as well just chew the whole thing and crap out the package after. Come on.

[00:33:39] Taryn: Don't know how much nutrition you'll get out of the plastic packaging, but maybe good feedback for the company to make it easier to open, but they're the sorts of things that you want to figure out in training. Like Christine said, great tip. All right. Any famous last words from you, Tony?

[00:33:53] Tony: uh, yeah, so on the, try and, uh, multiple packs or whatever, I know cliff bar for example, they do a lot with their cliff blocks. I bought, 18 different cliff blocks. blocks. Yep. And it came with like six or seven different flavors. So, there was some sour, there was some salty, there was some caffeinated.

[00:34:16] Tony: And we really didn't even scratch the surface on electrolyte products. So, I mean, there's just as many options out there for electrolytes as there are for carbs, which 

[00:34:26] Taryn: Yep. 

[00:34:27] Tony: talking about today.

[00:34:29] Taryn: Yep. So many different options, which is why you need maybe a little bit of help directing you for the right places to start. Because like I said, right in the beginning, it can be very time consuming, stressful and cost a lot of money failing forwards in this sort of space. So thank you guys much for sharing your words of wisdom. It's been a pleasure having you on the podcast.

[00:34:48] Steve: Thank you, 

[00:34:49] Tony: thanks. 

[00:34:50] Christine: Yeah. Thanks Darren. 

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or want to share with me what you've learned, email me at [email protected]. You can also spread the word by leaving me a review and taking a screenshot of you listening to the show. Don't forget to tag me on social media, @dietitian.approved, so I can give you a shout out, too. If you want to learn more about what we do, head to dietitianapproved.com. And if you want to learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, head to dietitianapproved.com/academy. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to helping you smashed in the fourth leg - nutrition!