Essentials of Nutrition for Sports

Cost

You can make you own great solution inexpensively. You can purchase a wide variety of pure maltodextrin products

in 50-pound bags from commercial grain processors. The cost usually is less than $1.00 per pound

or one-tenth that of proprietary

products. The bag generally has a shelf life of two years.

You can split a $100 order (100 p

ounds)—generally enough for

four riders for a year. Taste

Maltodextrin is relatively tasteless; it has minimal sweetness. Your own maltodextrin solution taste better because you control

the taste.

Generally, something with a little citric acid or tartness works

best.

You can add a little lemonade, fruit juice, Kool-Aid, soda, to

your own made-up solution for your personal favorite taste.

Maltodextrin solutions that contain more than 100 calories per

standard 16-ounce waterbottle some

times result in a filmy back-of-

the-throat aftertaste. If this

is unpleasant for you, reduce the

concentration. Handling

I use Maltrin QD 500. It has a slightly higher caloric content for

the same osmotic load than other Maltrins.

It is agglomerated, virtually dustless. The powder pours well. It pours eas

ily into a waterbottle. This is

valuable when filling a bottle of water from a feeder on the fly at an aid station or while racing.

The powder does not cake; the solution does not sludge. It

dissolves quickly and completely.

This maltodextrin can dissolve 3 cups (24 fluid ounces) of
powder into 2 cups (16 ounces) of fluid—not that I use that amount. This works out to about 1,000 calories per bottle.
Figure 6. A 50-pound bag of Maltrin QD M500 from Grain Processing Corporation.

7

(^)
7 Product Reference/Disclosure I have no commercial interest in this company. I purchase the product at retail cost. The minimum order is
$100.
Product Information http://www.varied.com/food/maldescr.html
US West Coast Ordering E. T. Horn Company 16141 Heron Avenue, La Mirada, CA 90638. Te
l: 800-442-4676, Fax: 714-670-6851. Web site:
http://www.ethorn.com
US non West Coast Ordering J. M. Swank Company, Inc. 520 West Penn Street, North Liberty, IA 52317. Tel: 800-593-6375, Fax: 319-626-3662. Web site:
http://www.jmswank.com
Nutrition for Sports, Essentials of 54