A Question of Nutrition

[jasonw]

Hello, everybody, I hope you're all having good rides out there, hopefully getting out before the sun comes up and roasts you on your bike, like some of us that can't quite make it up in the mornings... ahem.

Anyway, I have a question for all you guys and girls - after riding a Ring of Fire and the miles in and out of Sylva (right about 60 miles in all) yesterday, I felt extremely sick. Well, not sick like a stomach flu, but I had horrible bloating, gas, cramping, and, well, other stomach issues that didn't go away for several hours even after the ride. It made the second half of the ride pretty miserable, as I couldn't concentrate on climbing Ellijay, I could only think about how much my stomach (and legs, of course) hurt, how hugely bloated it felt.

The ride time for me came in at about 4:30, and I ate one solid item per hour (roughly) in an attempt to keep up with myself. Since it may be important, I ate a Kashi bar (one of the little tasty things), a Kashi energy bar, a Clif Bar, and a Kashi Go! choco-peanut energy snack thing. (I can get Calorie counts when I get home, if it helps.) I ate a bowl of GoLean crunch and a banana for breakfast about 45 minutes before the ride. Also, I swear I don't work for Kashi, that's just the way things worked out.

Here's my dilemma: I have blood sugar problems, and if I don't eat, I will get very sick, possibly pass out, at the very least succumb to extreme muscle cramps that will take me out of a ride and possibly send me to the hospital. I can't get by on gels alone - I can supplement solids with them, but if I depend on them for anything substantially over 1.5 hours of riding, my stomach will cramp from emptiness. I pretty much have to ignore the 3 hour pre-ride rule, because unless I completely gorge myself at a buffet, 3 hours later is time to eat again, if not sooner. I'm checking out this PDF recommended by Josh - I'll peruse it more thoroughly later (www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdf).

Does anyone have any recommendations on ways to keep your stomach satisfied without eating way too much?

Thanks a lot,
Jason

[Scott Baker]

You may want to try using a supplement with your fluids, assuming you are drinking water, instead of eating solids. Make sure it has sodium to replace what your body sweats out. Normal Gatorade does not have sodium, but they make a variety that does. Your body can only absorb a finite amount of carbs per hour, about 60g I think (someone correct me please), so eating more than than can cause the bloating feeling and the sick-to your-stomach feeling. I have experienced that near the end of long rides when I tend to consume more fluids and carbs myself. I can't eat solids well on longer rides, but each person's stomach handles energy differently. You need to find what works for you. I try to eat a small meal a few hours before a ride, but in your case, that seems like a challenge.

Hammer Nutrition makes some stuff that has more natural ingredients that may sit better with your stomach. For me, I use Accelerade and only eat gels (usually GU) and limited solids on long rides. When it is hot, it gets even tougher on your stomach. The only real way is to try different things before and during long rides and see what works best. I have gone through dozens of iterations before I figured ot what works best for my stomach. Good luck and keep on riding.

[Wrenchmeister]

Jul 21, 2008 16:28:24 GMT -5 jasonw said:

Here's my dilemma: I have blood sugar problems, and if I don't eat, I will get very sick, possibly pass out, at the very least succumb to extreme muscle cramps that will take me out of a ride and possibly send me to the hospital. I can't get by on gels alone - I can supplement solids with them, but if I depend on them for anything substantially over 1.5 hours of riding, my stomach will cramp from emptiness. I pretty much have to ignore the 3 hour pre-ride rule, because unless I completely gorge myself at a buffet, 3 hours later is time to eat again, if not sooner.

I'm the same way. Generally that's going to mean that what works for most people (carbo loading before exercise, high carbs during exercise) isn't going to work for you. If anything, it will make it worse by starting you on the blood sugar roller coaster. I have to do quite a bit of protein, both before and during exercise if I want my blood sugar to be stable. I don't mean "peanut butter (or Kashi) has some protein in it" kind of protein, I mean meat or actual protein supplements like Zone bars and the like. It will probably take you some experimentation to find out which ones work, especially over longer rides. You should also pay attention to keeping your blood sugar as stable as possible even when you aren't riding. What you eat today will affect you tomorrow when you ride, even though it's effects are less obvious. It will always be more work for you to maintain stable energy than it is for someone without blood sugar issues.

[cujo]

It will be hard to tell without checking your blood sugar. I feel that you do not have enought protein in there. Preride should have some protein for sure. Many schools argus against that but protein is like a good oak log. You have eaten alot of high yeild fast burn kindling. It almost seems like you have eaten to much. It could also just be the heat and ozone on that day causing problems.

A way to check if it is sugar it try a caffeine free coke and see the change. or more scientific is to check you blood sugar.

[mvi]

Regular Gatorade does contain 9mg sodium per serving (Tbsp). Not enough maybe on a hot day for some.
It really helps to sneak sugars in the system at any level of exertion to me. Just don't overdo it and get an insulin bonk. No fancy things needed unless you go deep. Bread and bananas, crackers. As long as it is not to fatty.

[TC]

Jul 21, 2008 16:28:24 GMT -5 jasonw said:

Here's my dilemma: I have blood sugar problems, and if I don't eat, I will get very sick, possibly pass out, at the very least succumb to extreme muscle cramps that will take me out of a ride and possibly send me to the hospital.


Thanks a lot,
Jason

Jason, are you a diabetic or do you have some other medical diagnosis that would cause your blood sugar to crash? If so, you need to seek the advice of a Endocrinologist or registered dietitian for help. The damage you can do to your kidneys if you have an untreated disorder can land you in the hemodialysis clinic for an 8 hour session three times a week. Please take care of yourself now, tomorrow it may be too late.

TC

[Nikki Alexander]

A trick I learned as a medic is if you have blood sugar problems and are prone to dropping blood sugars, carry a tube of cake icing with you (emergency/desperate only). It's pretty much the same thing as oral glucose that we carry on the truck. However, please be sure this can be under control. Exercise with uncontrolled blood sugar problems can result in very serious low blood sugar problems such as the statement "possibly pass out," and as TC has stated above, will end up with further organ damage. (Not necessarily diabetes specifically, but even just low blood sugar in general)

Should it not be a blood sugar issue, I was taught working last summer at a bike shop that bananas can help A LOT with sickness during/after rides. Peanut butter too.

I hope these problems get resolved, it's no fun having a possibly prevented sickness ruin a good ride!

-nikki

[YellowLemondTed]

Jason, did you ever figure out your nutrition issue? If so, let us know what worked out.