Next-gen endurance gel

The case put against Cluster Dextrin® is that maximal efforts need rapid carbohydrate breakdown. But this confuses two completely different stages. The stomach is not where energy is absorbed, the small intestine is. The stomach's only job is to empty its contents into the small intestine, where carbohydrates are broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream. Gastric emptying rate is therefore the critical variable, not how quickly something is digested in the stomach. Cluster Dextrin's near zero osmolality (~9 mOsm) means the stomach detects almost no osmotic load and empties rapidly. In a study measuring gastric emptying using real time ultrasound, Cluster Dextrin cleared the stomach in 26.7 minutes vs 39.9 minutes for glucose, 33% faster (Takii et al., 2005). Critically, when Cluster Dextrin was combined with electrolyte minerals, exactly as our Gel, it emptied faster still, significantly faster than any standard dextrin based sports drink tested (Takii et al., 2005). With the minerals in our Gel, Cluster Dextrin reaches the small intestine faster than anything else tested. Once there, it is hydrolysed and absorbed as glucose via SGLT1, the identical mechanism to every other carbohydrate.

Studies referenced
Takii et al. (2005), International Journal of Sports Medicine — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15900642/

Intense exercise suppresses gut motility and reduces GI tolerance, your gut is already under stress before you add a gel. Introducing a high osmolality carbohydrate at that moment is precisely when maltodextrin and glucose cause problems. In a head to head cycling study, the standard dextrin group reported approximately twice the rate of GI disorders, bloating, belching, nausea, compared to the Cluster Dextrin® group, whose symptoms were statistically indistinguishable from water (Takii et al., 2004). A separate systematic review confirmed that GI distress during exercise is mechanistically driven by osmolality and carbohydrate type, both of which Cluster Dextrin addresses (de Oliveira and Burini, 2014). Cluster Dextrin's 30x lower osmolality means it does not draw water into your gut, does not sit in your stomach, and does not compete with your muscles for blood flow.

Studies referenced
Takii et al. (2004), Food Science and Technology Research — https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/10/4/10_4_428/_article
de Oliveira & Burini (2014), Nutrients (PMC) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4210913/
Jeukendrup & Moseley (2010), Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5371619/

Cluster Dextrin® passes through the stomach 33% faster than glucose because of its near zero osmolality (Takii et al., 2005). It arrives at the small intestine earlier than maltodextrin or glucose would. Once there, it is hydrolysed and absorbed as glucose via SGLT1, the identical mechanism to every other carbohydrate. When combined with electrolyte minerals, gastric emptying accelerates even further (Takii et al., 2005). The fructose in our Gel is absorbed simultaneously via GLUT5, a completely separate transporter that runs in parallel, not in competition (Jeukendrup and Moseley, 2010). The result is earlier arrival at the intestine, dual pathway absorption, and fuel in the bloodstream faster than any single source maltodextrin or glucose product.

Studies referenced
Takii et al. (2005), International Journal of Sports Medicine — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15900642/
Jeukendrup & Moseley (2010), Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5371619/

Hydrogel does not actually change the osmotic load, it just smooths it out, so that same load is delivered over a longer period rather than hitting the gut all at once. Choosing a lower-osmolarity carbohydrate circumvents it entirely. Glucose has an osmolality of ~646 mOsm at 10% concentration. Maltodextrin sits at ~269 mOsm. Cluster Dextrin® sits at ~9 mOsm, roughly 30x lower than maltodextrin and 72x lower than glucose, it is gut comfortable by molecular design, without any engineering required (Takii et al., 2005). Hydrogel exists because maltodextrin and glucose needed it.

Studies referenced
Takii et al. (2005), International Journal of Sports Medicine — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15900642/

One reason. Cluster Dextrin® costs roughly seven times more than maltodextrin per kilogram. Every other ingredient in a standard sports gel, maltodextrin, water, flavouring, a bit of sodium, is relatively cheap. Cluster Dextrin is not. That cost difference flows directly into the price of the finished product.

In a double-blind study, cyclists doing the same workout at the same calories reported significantly lower perceived exertion on Cluster Dextrin® than on maltodextrin (Furuyashiki et al., 2014). The mechanism is suspected to be these three things at once:
RPE is not a pure measure of muscle fatigue, the brain integrates everything, including gut discomfort. On maltodextrin, the osmotic load and delayed gastric emptying register as a component of effort. Cluster Dextrin's near-zero GI symptoms remove that signal entirely.
At the same time, Cluster Dextrin clears the stomach 33% faster than glucose, so fuel reaches the bloodstream sooner and produces a more sustained glucose curve rather than a spike and crash (Takii et al., 2005).
Finally, a study in triathletes found lower cortisol and inflammatory markers on Cluster Dextrin versus glucose at the same workload, which under the central governor model means the brain interprets the session as less costly and permits lower perceived effort without any reduction in output (Suzuki et al., 2014). So the same workload feels easier.

Studies referenced
Furuyashiki et al. (2014), Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09168451.2014.943654
Takii et al. (2005), International Journal of Sports Medicine — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15900642/
Suzuki et al. (2014), triathlete study (referenced in NutraBio review) — https://nutrabio.com/blogs/endurelite/king-of-carbs

If maltodextrin really is tougher on your gut than gentler carbs — as a growing body of research suggests — then leaning on fermented foods to offset it means their benefit is partly spent before it even starts. Because Cluster Dextrin® appears to be far kinder to the gut, that benefit goes further. So the live cultures in your kombucha, kimchi and kefir can get on with what they do best, feeding good bacteria, building microbial diversity and supporting digestion, leaving your gut better off overall.

Studies referenced (the maltodextrin gut-health research behind "a growing body of research")
Nickerson et al. (2015), PLoS ONE — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4615306/
Wlodarska et al. (2014), PLoS ONE — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4084946/
Laudisi et al. (2018), Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6369223/
Maltodextrin and colitis (2022), Frontiers in Immunology — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8963984/
Maltodextrin as placebo, systematic review (2022), European Journal of Nutrition — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9835112/

"HBCD" and "Cluster Dextrin" get used interchangeably, but they are not quite the same thing. HBCD (highly branched cyclic dextrin) is the generic ingredient category. Cluster Dextrin® is the branded, premium-grade HBCD, and the difference shows up in four places.

Purity: generic HBCD can run as low as around 80% pure, the rest made up of shorter, more maltodextrin-like fractions that carry the higher osmolality and gut load we are trying to avoid and impurities. Cluster Dextrin is produced to around 98% purity, so far more of what you take is the true high-molecular-weight, low-osmolality branched structure.

Taste: Cheaper generic HBCD tends to carry more off-notesfrom those lower-grade fractions and impurities.

Quality standards: Cluster Dextrin is manufactured to consistent food and pharma-grade specifications with reliable batch-to-batch consistency.

The evidence base: critically, the studies behind the performance and gut-comfort claims, the 33% faster gastric emptying, the lower RPE, the GI distress indistinguishable from water, were run on Cluster Dextrin.

Studies referenced
Takii et al. (2004), Food Science and Technology Research — https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fstr/10/4/10_4_428/_article
Takii et al. (2005), International Journal of Sports Medicine — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15900642/
Furuyashiki et al. (2014), Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09168451.2014.943654
Shiraki et al. (2015), Japanese Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine — https://journalofexerciseandnutrition.com/index.php/JEN/article/download/100/89/104
Suzuki et al. (2014), triathlete study (referenced in NutraBio review) — https://nutrabio.com/blogs/endurelite/king-of-carbs