Paleo Sports Gel

In my last post I made mention of a home made paleo sports gel I had made and in this post I'll tell you about how I made it and how I went using it as the only fuel source during the AROC Adventure race I did on Saturday.

This paleo sports gel is based on an idea I got from one of Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcasts.  My own recipe for the paleo sports gel is:

1. green apples (450g)
2. sweet potato (125g)
3. raw sugar (2tbs) To make this a better paleo option you should use raw organic honey (I wasn't thinking at the time - doh!)
4. water

It's very simple to make, here's how:

• Peel the apples and sweet potato
• Boil the apples and sweet potato in a pan with the water covering them (add some cinnamon if you want)
• Leave them boiling until they're nice and soft
• Separate the apples and sweet potato from the water and put the water to one side. you'll need that in a minute
• Put the apples and sweet potato into the blender and blend on high until nice and smooth
• This next step is not necessary but I wanted to increase the glucose content.  So, take about 250ml of the water and add some honey. (I added raw sugar but will definitely use raw organic honey next time)
• Add the water into the mixture slowly and blend in.  You want to have the mixture nice and runny so that it flows easily and is easy to eat/drink
• Leave the mixture to cool slightly and then add to small plastic bottles you can take on the trail.

I used this gel during a four hour event this weekend and it worked beautifully.  I had made enough that I also had it for breakfast before the event as well.  It was nice and tasty and gave me the energy I was after.  Right through to the end of the event (3hr57m) I had plenty of "go" in my legs.  I did suffer a rather nasty cramp just 500 metres from the end but this was due to an electrolyte problem.

There's a couple of things I would do differently next time.

1. I'd add some natural Himalayan salt to the mixture to bring up the electrolyte profile; and
2. I would use raw organic honey instead of raw sugar to make it a better paleo option.

I will defiantly use this in the future for any endurance events I do.  It was delicious, easy to carry and easy to digest.

Give it a go yourself and let me know how you go.

Take care until next time.