# Energy Gels



## Craig12564 (Apr 26, 2020)

Doing a lot of cycling, does anybody know if Energy Gels are good or bad during 25 mile plus bike rides for type 2 diabetes.


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## SB2015 (Apr 26, 2020)

Hi Craig, I have never used the glucose gels.  I think with cycling a long distance some people find that they need to top up, but the only way to know what you need would be to test.  

Do you use a glucose test kit?  I know for T2 people often find that they cannot get funding for the strips, but self fund to give them the information that they need for their day to day management.


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## TrevA (May 5, 2020)

You shouldn’t need to eat anything during a 25 mile ride. I’ve been doing rides up to 40 miles during lockdown without taking any food with me and without a cafe stop. I do take a gel, just in case, but in 15 rides of 30-40 miles, I’ve not had to use it. Take a bottle with some squash or an electrolyte replacement drink, to ensure you don’t get dehydrated.


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## Docb (May 5, 2020)

As an ex-cyclist, ex-bike shop owner and totally confirmed cynic I am sure that "energy gels" are a solution looking for a problem.  Read the ingredients list on the packet.  If you ask the company reps what the difference is between their expensive gel and a bite off a mars bar you will find they have no real answer.


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## Carlos (May 6, 2020)

I agree with @Docb and @TrevA, energy gels are not needed for the distance you are riding. I regularly ride 35 to 45 miles and I have never needed one.


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## sillyme (May 6, 2020)

hi all but doesn't glucogel work more quickly than a mars bar due to the fat in the chocolate and thus perfect for hypos?


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## Carlos (May 6, 2020)

sillyme said:


> hi all but doesn't glycogen work more quickly than a mars bar due to the fat in the chocolate and thus perfect for hypos?


The gels contain glucose, and it is true that they are good for hypos, but the original question seemed to be about having a gel as a top up during a regular ride.

In a ride where everything is ok, the rider should not be having a hypo. The best way to avoid that happening is testing regularly to understand how the levels change during the ride and act accordingly, a gel should only be used in an emergency.


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## TrevA (May 6, 2020)

Do Type 2s get hypos? I don’t. 

25 miles should take less than 2 hours, so you are just using up the glycogen stored in your muscles, which should last 2 hours. You need to eat when you get back from your ride, but shouldn’t  need to eat whilst out for 25 miles, especially if you have eaten before the ride. By all means, take a gel for emergencies, as I do, but I hardly ever use it.


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## ellaw56 (Oct 13, 2022)

my partner uses energy gels when cycling and he has type 2 diabetes


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## rebrascora (Oct 13, 2022)

ellaw56 said:


> my partner uses energy gels when cycling and he has type 2 diabetes


I guess it depends whether he really *needs *to use them or has just been sold by the marketing of these products and if he is using insulin or Gliclazide and therefore uses them to treat hypos. Personally, I would rather chew a couple of Jelly Babies which are undoubtedly a lot cheaper and probably pleasanter.
Interestingly my surgery recently put Glucogel on my repeat prescription list without me requesting it. I have no intent to ever request them, even though I do experience rather too frequent hypos. JBs (apart from the green ones) are my treatment of choice and Lift tablets if things get a bit naughty or a spoon of honey if I am at home. 
If there is no risk of hypo ie a Type 2 not using insulin or Glic, then surely slower release carbs (flapjack perhaps) would be a better option or protein and fat before the ride like an omelette an hour or two before the ride to provide slow release glucose.


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## SimonP (Oct 15, 2022)

I'm type 1 and prefer e.g. jelly babies or Skittles (in an emergency) and biscuits/Twix bars/sour sweets (less sickly when eating during a long ride) for more general consumption while riding.

I would probably need something to eat towards the end of a 25 mile ride, but not for anything much shorter as my blood glucose tends to trend upwards for the first hour or so. It does depend on what you're used to though. 

I've manged to go hypo while out riding on a few occasions (and completely run out of food once or twice, thankfully within a long, cold and slow 10km of home) before I realised I needed to reduce/eliminate my basal insulin as well as taking more food just in case!


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## Drummer (Oct 15, 2022)

Craig12564 said:


> Doing a lot of cycling, does anybody know if Energy Gels are good or bad during 25 mile plus bike rides for type 2 diabetes.


Irrelevant really - Humans can go all day when they have to a short cycle ride should not require glucose, though if it is something done regularly the rider might have trained his body not to draw on energy reserves and need to do some re-education.


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