Keddi-Anne resides in Niagara, ON, trains 6 times a week at a crossfit gym, and runs an average of 60km per week.
When Keddi-Anne finished first overall at the 2019 Buffalo Half Marathon, she looked at the official race clock to see her finishing time of 1:23, because she wasn’t wearing any devices.
In college, Keddi-Anne raced competitively with a personal best of 1:18 for half marathon distance. Almost a decade later, Keddi-Anne finished first overall in the Buffalo Half Marathon, just 5 minutes shy of her personal best, and with only 4 months of focused training.
Keddi-Anne’s secret to success is to train by feeling, which has helped her podium twice over the last three months at two American races. She attributes her results from focused feeling training.
“Training on feeling allows me to rely on my own instincts and focus without the distraction of devices, so I can train my mental toughness to dig deep and demand the best of myself”
Her fuelling strategy is an important part of her training and racing.
“My nutrition plan for the Buffalo Half Marathon was to take 2 scoops of Cocoa Delite and 1000ml of water, 30 minutes before the race”
Keddi-Anne did not ingest any other nutrition or water during the race.
The next race Keddi-Anne is training for is the Scotiabank half marathon! Stay tuned for updates on her race prep!
Feel free to say hi to Keddi-Anne on Instagram @kaliveactive
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How does the molecular weight compare between SuperStarch and Cornstarch?
Cornstarch has a molecular weight of 692.7 g/mol. As a result, UCAN SuperStarch is almost 866X more complex than regular cornstarch.
Why does molecular weight matter?
Three reasons why from Dr. Jeff Volek, expert researcher in low carb athletic performance and Chief Science Officer and Co_Founder of Virta Health.
Reason 1 - Gentle on the Stomach
Since molecular weight and low gastrointestinal pressure are inversely related (more weight results in less pressure), SuperStarch rapidly leaves the stomach and intestines, and is more gentle on the stomach.
Reason 2 - Time-Released Digestion
SuperStarch promotes a positive delayed and continual glucose absorption over time. The results lead to a minimized hormone insulin response.
Reason 3 - Low Glycemic and Hormone Insulin Response
If the carb consumed does not significantly raise blood glucose or hormone insulin levels, then your body will efficiently use a combination of fat, ketones and carbs for energy sources.
In contrast, if a carb significantly raises blood glucose and insulin levels, then your body will be more carb dependent, and not burn fat and ketones efficiently.
Burning your fuel sources efficiently will promote improved body composition, fat burning and breakdown during exercise and recovery, and is very easy on the stomach.
What about other carb molecules, such as Sugar and Maltodextrin?
Below is a chart outlining the UCAN SuperStarch and a number simple sugars found in various carbohydrate sports drinks.
In comparison, UCAN SuperStarch has almost 1000X more complex than CornStarch and almost 1750X more complex maltodextrin, a popular ingredient in sports drinks.
Carb |
Weight |
UCAN SuperStarch |
600,000 g/mol |
Cornstarch |
|
Maltodextrin |
|
Maple Syrup |
|
Sucrose (Cane Sugar) |
|
Dextrose |
|
Fructose |
For a list of simple sugars used by other sports drinks, please see the table below.
Dextrose |
Maltodextrin |
Fructose |
Maple Syrup |
Brown Rice Sugar and Coconut Sugar |
|
Endurance Tap |
X |
||||
Gu Gel |
X |
X |
|||
Maurten |
X |
X |
|||
Vega Pre-workout |
X |
||||
Tailwind |
X |
Smart Performance Nutrition is UCAN’s Premier Canadian Online Retailer
The purpose of this campaign is to experiment with @genucan SuperStarch as a pre-workout energy fuel (complex carb supplement), and to evaluate its effects on ketosis levels.
The big hunch.... UCAN SuperStarch has a minimal impact toward ketosis levels.
Why does this matter?
Ketogenic strict diets are not sustainable for high performance athletes. When we demand our bodies to output high intense efforts, carbs is the first and best fuel source for these efforts.
Does it matter what carbs are ingested?
Yes, if the carb doesn’t significantly fluctuate or raise blood glucose or insulin, then metabolically, your body should be using a combination of energy sources of fat and carbs.
So what pre-work energy fuel source doesn’t significantly fluctuate or raise blood glucose or insulin?
UCAN SuperStarch
Why are we confident in our hunch?
Check out the chart below on experimenting with other pre-workout energy sources and UCAN. This experiment was based on consuming these products at rest, meaning there was no activity involved other than drinking the different products. We are expecting similar results while training, however, we are looking forward to the experiment and evaluation. For background information about the chart below, visit our past blog posts, Part1 and Part 2 of the Sample Size of One Series.
What’s next?
Over the next 21 days, SPN will be testing UCAN and other products while training. A number of devices will be used to measure different bio markers, such as heart rate variability, glucose and ketone levels. The training will primarily be on a stationary bike measuring power/watts, speed etc...
Be sure to follow this blog and instagram !
]]>Evan’s routine was to wake up at 530am and before 6am consume 50 grams of one carbohydrate energy product mixed with 350ml of water. Evan then rested for two hours and observed his glucose levels with a Dexcom 5 continuous glucose monitor. For more information about the glucose monitor please visit the first blog in this series. Click here.
Each product was consumed once and at least 24 hours apart from one another.
Why 50 grams of carbohydrates?
Consuming 50 grams of carbohydrates is a standard clinical trial amount. We understand the quantity will vary for each person when training, and the recommendations from the sport energy companies will also be different recommended amounts.
What carbohydrates were contained in each product?
Here are the results shown in line graphs.
Observations:
What does this tell us?
These readings tell us Evan’s glucose and insulin response for each sport energy carbohydrate product at rest. It’s important to note, these products may vary in response for person to person. There are a number of limitations to our Sample Size of One, however, this self-experiment provides a small snapshot about how Evan’s body responds to each product.
What’s the difference?
UCAN SuperStarch had the lowest glucose response.
Why does this matter?
If the carb doesn’t significantly fluctuate or raise blood glucose or insulin, then metabolically, your body should be using a combination of energy sources of fat and carbs.
Low-Carb, Keto or Fat Adapted?
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Go ahead and check the ingredients on your pre-workout energy drink, gel, or fuel source you use for marathon, triathlon, weight lifting training.
Do the ingredients read sugar cane, sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltodextrin?
If so, you are ingesting high glycemic carbs and simple sugars.
When ingesting a pre-workout drink before your training or racing session, your body is most likely in a rested state. So, we were curious to see how the body responds in a rested state.
This project is not a scientific study, rather a story worth sharing from a 'sample size of one'. We realize a number of limitations with this story, however, as Richard P. Feyman once said “the first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you’re the easiest person to fool".
To ensure we are not fooling ourselves, we realize there is a lot of information telling us what, how, why, and when we need to consume pre-workout energy sources before training and racing. To understand the basic science and provide plain language explanations, we hooked up Kevin at Smart Performance Nutrition with a continuous glucose monitor to see what the first 30-90 minutes look like when ingesting different sport endurance energy carbohydrate drinks.
Please note, Kevin was medically supervised throughout this testing.
Just so you have some background about how Kevin, our Sample Size of One, prepared. He fasted for 10 hours after dinner, and then in the morning consumed 50g of carbs from one energy source. The continuous glucose monitor he used was a Dexcom G5®, This device uses a small sensor measuring glucose levels just underneath the skin, while a transmitter fastened on the top of the sensor sends data to a wireless mobile device.
Kevin, our Sample Size of One, self-experimented with five popular sport drinks.
Kevin’s routine was to wake up at 530am and before 6am consume 50 grams of one carbohydrate energy product mixed with 350ml of water. Kevin then rested for two hours and observed his glucose levels with a Dexcom 5 continuous glucose monitor. For more information about the glucose monitor please visit the first blog in this series. Click here.
Each product was consumed once and at least 24 hours apart from one another.
Why 50 grams of carbohydrates?
Consuming 50 grams of carbohydrates is a standard clinical trial amount. We understand the quantity will vary for each person when training, and the recommendations from the sport energy companies will also be different recommended amounts.
What carbohydrates were contained in each product?
Here are the results shown in line graphs.
Observations:
What does this tell us?
These readings tell us Kevin’s glucose and insulin response for each sport energy carbohydrate product at rest. It’s important to note, these products may vary in response for person to person. There are a number of limitations to our Sample Size of One, however, this self-experiment provides a small snapshot about how Kevin’s body responds to each product.
What’s the difference?
UCAN SuperStarch had the lowest glucose response.
Why does this matter?
If the carb doesn’t significantly fluctuate or raise blood glucose or insulin, then metabolically, your body should be using a combination of energy sources of fat and carbs.
Low-Carb, Keto or Fat Adapted?
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What you can you expect in this series?
We’ll be performing simple self-experiments using different carbohydrate drinks, and comparing the results to see the effect on performance.
What questions can we expect you to answer?
Why self-experiment, when you already are selling the product? Don’t you folks have biases?
We are 100% biased about UCAN being the smarter choice, but we are a curious bunch, and interested in replicating some of the studies UCAN company and other medical professionals have done. For example, UCAN has completed studies comparing Maltodextrin and SuperStarch, we are also interested in learning the effect of other simple carbohydrates found in endurance drinks, such as cane sugar, dextrose, and fructose.
So we invite you on our self-experimenting journey, and look forward to chatting with you further!
]]>What is SuperStarch® ?
SuperStarch® is a superior complex carbohydrate delivering a slow release of glucose into the bloodstream, and does not cause a significant rise in blood insulin levels. Benefits include supporting fat breakdown and topping off high end energy stores for intense training and competition efforts.
The key difference between SuperStarch® compared to other low glycemic foods and fibers is the extended stable blood glucose levels, which translates to steady and long-lasting energy.
How SuperStarch® is made
A patented worldwide process is used to cook Non-GMO corn and other natural ingredients to make SuperStarch®. The process requires a 48 hour cooking time of precise heat and moisture.
SuperStarch® compared to Sport Drinks
Simple sugars (cane Sugar, dextrose, fructose, malodextrin, sucrose) are commonly found in commercial and endurance sport drinks. These fast acting carbohydrates cause a high release of blood glucose and insulin, which may lead to slower fat breakdown and unstable energy levels.
Alternatively, SuperStarch® is the smartest and most technologically advanced carbohydrate delivering a slow release of glucose into the bloodstream, and does not cause a significant rise in blood insulin levels. This supports athletes to breakdown fat better and top-off high end energy stores for intense training and competition efforts.
SuperStarch versus Fast Acting Carbs
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