High sugar

nipper67

Hi all
Got high sugar levels in my blood tests,
Told by my doc to avoid drinks with high sugar content,so gels and my high 5 will probably have to go, or will they would love to here of drinks for border line diabetics. Or other gels. Would cycle 160k per week aprox. Thanks people.

rab!dmonkey

Did you ask your doctor about eating sports food during exercise? 'Low sugar gel' is something of a contradiction in terms.

Just a little Samba

What's the longest spin you do? 160km per week doesn't sound particularly high, you might not need the gels at all. Try taking something like a banana or two with you or make your own flapjacks, they won't give you blood sugar spikes but will give you an initial boost of energy and a lot of slow release as well.

Unless you're raving or training very hard you shouldn't need gels or sports drinks. Water and food will be fine.

dancrowley

Re High5, is it the electrolyte mix you're talking about? If so, there are sugar-free High5s, which I use. I typically ride with 2 bottles; one containing just water and one containing High5 electrolyte mix.

I don't use gels. I use bananas and dates. I see the value of gels in race situations, but that's it.

Enduro

Water will work perfectly fine as a drink. If you want to flavour it you could always add a small bit of "no added sugar" cordial of some kind. That's what I bring on long spins (I don't bring any drink for spins under 3-4 hours).

Sports drinks and gels are pure gack. You really don't need them.

Seweryn

Enduro wrote: »

Sports drinks and gels are pure gack. You really don't need them.

No, you don't. And secondly, the weekly distance is not particularly high, i.e. say 40km four times a week. Would you need any food at all on your rides?

endacl

Feck. How did we manage at all before gels were invented...

They're as common as socks now, but not every rider needs them, and not in every situation. Fuel up with porridge. Top up with a banana or two.

Be grand.

Taxuser1

go Paleo and reduce your reliance on burning carbs for energy. it also helps address your blood sugar issue. can only say it works for me. some riders are more fat burners than carb burners but the thinking is that the storage and burning of glycogen is better with a modern Paleo diet that anything else.

Just a little Samba

Taxuser1 wrote: »

modern Paleo

Taxuser1

Just a little Samba wrote: »

just the basics with a twist - i race a little so there's a specific place for timing of modern fuel sources like gels/drinks that are not strictly Paleo allowed, only in race situations.

but the assumption was that the OP was only speaking about leisure rides and the application of a Paleo based diet would seem to help his issue of too much sugar/carb loading/carb usage.

nipper67

Thanks to all who posted,will drop the sugar gels and sports drinks and go on the zero stuff plus fruits. I run and cycle but hope to do more cycling. Thanks again.

novarapid

Be careful of the sugar in fruit too. Doctor must have given you other advice too. Are you over weight? Having a well balanced diet will do a lot for your sugar levels. As others have said you don't need a lot of food on cycles and you certainly don't need gels. Do everything you can to get the sugars in line, diabetes isn't much fun

C3PO

I've given up eating on any spins less than 3 hours - I've also started training "fasted" ie. first thing in the morning without eating. After 2 hours I'll have a banana. Don't feel any worse than normal and really seems to be helping with weight loss. I really don't believe that we need gels etc unless you are racing in a real endurance event .... and probably not then either!

tomasrojo

Seweryn wrote: »

No, you don't. And secondly, the weekly distance is not particularly high, i.e. say 40km four times a week. Would you need any food at all on your rides?

The world of long spins is a foreign country to me, but I've definitely done 40km without food. It's two hours of moderate exercise really. Don't see why you'd need to top up with high-calorie food. If it's very hot, you might need water.

Welshkev

I’m a type 1 diabetic, so not sure if what I do would 100% apply to your situation, but the principles should be the same. I ride around 200-250km a week on average and have been racing the last couple of years too. It’s a completely different scenario for the racing, so I’ll assume your rides are ‘leisure’ spins without being full gas too often.

Are you testing your blood sugar? This would be key.

As a few posters have mention, whilst 160km per week is a decent amount, it wouldn’t be excessive – assume this distance is made up of several rides? If so, the below is what I currently do (after a lot of trial and errors):

For any rides below 1 – 1.5 hours I wouldn’t eat anything on them – I’d just have one bottle of water/sugar-free cordial.

For anything over 1.5/2 hours, I’d have one bottle of water/cordial and one with a sports drink mix (for what it’s worth, I found the SIS stuff very good). I’d try and have a Nutrigrain bar every hour or so, but only start consuming after the 1.5/2 hour point. Sometimes I might have a Flavahans flapjack.

If I know I’m going to be out for a while (over 3 hours or so) I’d make sure I have my breakfast 3 hours before the ride (which can be a pain for early morning rides). I usually have a bowl of oats with dried fruit, blueberries and a tiny bit of honey (for flavour).

I’d rarely have gels – even in races I’d probably only have one. If you think about them, they’re only there to give you a ‘quick hit’ so you shouldn’t be consuming too many, if at all. I’d agree with a lot of what people have said in that you don’t need them whatsoever, especially for any leisure riding. If you do need to take something, they key is slow-releasing foods so it ‘drip-feeds’ your energy needs. As others have recommended, things like porridge/banana’s are perfect. If you have a decent bowl of porridge before your ride, I’d bet you’d need very little once on the bike.

Enduro

C3PO wrote: »

I really don't believe that we need gels etc unless you are racing in a real endurance event .... and probably not then either!

yeah, Gels' only useful function is to recover from a full scale bonk. Otherwise using them in a real endurance event is likely to be counterproductive in most cases I would guess (cause a switch over from fat burning to sugar burning).

Alanstrainor

Kevinleeowen wrote: »

I’m a type 1 diabetic, so not sure if what I do would 100% apply to your situation, but the principles should be the same. I ride around 200-250km a week on average and have been racing the last couple of years too. It’s a completely different scenario for the racing, so I’ll assume your rides are ‘leisure’ spins without being full gas too often.

Are you testing your blood sugar? This would be key.

As a few posters have mention, whilst 160km per week is a decent amount, it wouldn’t be excessive – assume this distance is made up of several rides? If so, the below is what I currently do (after a lot of trial and errors):

For any rides below 1 – 1.5 hours I wouldn’t eat anything on them – I’d just have one bottle of water/sugar-free cordial.

For anything over 1.5/2 hours, I’d have one bottle of water/cordial and one with a sports drink mix (for what it’s worth, I found the SIS stuff very good). I’d try and have a Nutrigrain bar every hour or so, but only start consuming after the 1.5/2 hour point. Sometimes I might have a Flavahans flapjack.

If I know I’m going to be out for a while (over 3 hours or so) I’d make sure I have my breakfast 3 hours before the ride (which can be a pain for early morning rides). I usually have a bowl of oats with dried fruit, blueberries and a tiny bit of honey (for flavour).

I’d rarely have gels – even in races I’d probably only have one. If you think about them, they’re only there to give you a ‘quick hit’ so you shouldn’t be consuming too many, if at all. I’d agree with a lot of what people have said in that you don’t need them whatsoever, especially for any leisure riding. If you do need to take something, they key is slow-releasing foods so it ‘drip-feeds’ your energy needs. As others have recommended, things like porridge/banana’s are perfect. If you have a decent bowl of porridge before your ride, I’d bet you’d need very little once on the bike.

Being a type one would mean that you have to be concious of your sugars going low due to your injected insulin. This isn't as much of a concern in the case of the OP, as although you could go low, it would only be very temporary, even without eating something.

I would agree with most here, and say eating a banana or having some jellies in your pocket for mid way through a spin would do the OP grand!

roosterman71

C3PO wrote: »

I've given up eating on any spins less than 3 hours - I've also started training "fasted" ie. first thing in the morning without eating. After 2 hours I'll have a banana. Don't feel any worse than normal and really seems to be helping with weight loss. I really don't believe that we need gels etc unless you are racing in a real endurance event .... and probably not then either!

Can you expand on your morning spin? Is it "balls out" type sprinting, or maybe just a leisurely cycle? I'd be interested in trying something similar to see if it helps lose a few pounds of flab

Welshkev

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Being a type one would mean that you have to be concious of your sugars going low due to your injected insulin. This isn't as much of a concern in the case of the OP, as although you could go low, it would only be very temporary, even without eating something.

I would agree with most here, and say eating a banana or having some jellies in your pocket for mid way through a spin would do the OP grand!

Agreed, the problem of low bloods shouldn't be an issue for the OP (I assume) - that's why for me having food 3 hours before helps in that I check my bloods before heading out knowing the insulin is cleared.

Probably OTT, but the OP could get a blood testing machine and check before heading out, make a note of what was consumed during the ride then check again at the end (and an hour later) and adjust food/drink accordingly.

As I mentioned, a lot was trial and error for me, but this is essentially what I did (along with helps from doctors) and eventually found what works and doesn't work.

ford2600

Kevinleeowen wrote: »

Agreed, the problem of low bloods shouldn't be an issue for the OP (I assume) - that's why for me having food 3 hours before helps in that I check my bloods before heading out knowing the insulin is cleared.

Probably OTT, but the OP could get a blood testing machine and check before heading out, make a note of what was consumed during the ride then check again at the end (and an hour later) and adjust food/drink accordingly.

As I mentioned, a lot was trial and error for me, but this is essentially what I did (along with helps from doctors) and eventually found what works and doesn't work.

Do you have a link for the monitor you use?

Would be curious to see how low mine goes on the very long stuff.

OP I doubt if the gels/sugars you are consuming around your cycling are the main problem. I'd be having a look at your overall diet.

Welshkev

ford2600 wrote: »

Do you have a link for the monitor you use?

Would be curious to see how low mine goes on the very long stuff.

OP I doubt if the gels/sugars you are consuming around your cycling are the main problem. I'd be having a look at your overall diet.

It's a OneTouch Verio IQ but any monitor would do - a doctor / diabetic hospital would give you one for free, but they can be bought in Boots etc. too

outfox

ford2600 wrote: »

OP I doubt if the gels/sugars you are consuming around your cycling are the main problem. I'd be having a look at your overall diet.

+1. Having experimented a bit with diet, it became evident to me that one of the biggest factors is overall sugar intake. The odd chocolate bikkie here and there might not seem much, but all it does is force your body to continue its reliance on refined sugars. So when you're on a long spin, your body continuously demands what it's used to - more refined sugars. Which you'll need every 20 min. If you can eliminate crap like sweets, gels, cakes and soft drinks entirely from your diet, you'll see a huge change in a few weeks.
It's fekkin hard though. 1-2 days of a few biscuits and cakes and I'm back to square 1.
Maybe you could take a look at your overall diet, OP? Your on the bike diet will then change automatically.

C3PO

roosterman71 wrote: »

Can you expand on your morning spin? Is it "balls out" type sprinting, or maybe just a leisurely cycle? I'd be interested in trying something similar to see if it helps lose a few pounds of flab

Probably somewhere between hard and leisure .... On the road I would normally average 26km/hr and 400mts climbing per hour - off-road I would average 15km/hr, again with 400mts climbing per hour. I certainly wouldn't attempt to race or do a hard interval session without eating!
I have recently switched the emphasis in my diet from high carb to more fat/less carbs (protein intake remaining approx the same) and that seems to be helping with weight loss also!

nipper67

Thanks again all for the info , I have cut out all the sugar stuff and use the zero tablets in my water. Also trying few nuts and jelly for eating change is hard. Would cycle twice during the week 30 to 60 k each spin and 100to 150 at weekend agv would be 25 to 30 depending on where we go. Will try any thing to keep levels down, hate needles!!!!!!!!!!

SummerRebel

nipper67 wrote: »

Thanks to all who posted,will drop the sugar gels and sports drinks and go on the zero stuff plus fruits. I run and cycle but hope to do more cycling. Thanks again.

Fruit is full of sugar. People don't seem to get this. There is just as much sugar in orange juice then in Coca Cola. Sugar isn't a bad thing, it's the most efficient form of energy and when you're performing you need fast energy into your muscles.

C3PO

SummerRebel wrote: »

Sugar isn't a bad thing, it's the most efficient form of energy and when you're performing you need fast energy into your muscles.

A lot of new studies would disagree!