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Improved endurance with BENEO’s Palatinose™

Athletes fueling up on game-changing carbohydrates

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Life in the 21st century is often strongly connected to an active lifestyle… and for a while a new trend has arisen: Sportification!

Instantly the term lets you think of shakes, gels and hydration for the sports professionals and gym fanatics – but this trend goes further than that. Boundaries are blurring as sports nutrition continues to move mainstream while functional benefits in active nutrition drive food & beverages towards a more sporty image.
Such products are appealing to the full time athletes and the hobbyists/ regular active people as well as to those less dynamic, but who define their sporty image by the lifestyle choices they make.

Protein is the first ingredient that comes to mind when thinking about “food for the active” as sports-minded products with a protein-related claim grew with 27%. Yet within the range of active nutrition, there is certainly room for functional ingredients, such as functional carbohydrates. In 2017, we saw a 14% growth of sports-minded products with an “energy/alertness” claim and even a 19% growth with “sport & recovery claims”. Innovation is seen in a wide range of applications, depending on the needs of these different consumer groups. Where Palatinose™ in sports nutrition would bring the (endurance) athlete full carbohydrate energy and improved fat oxidation on the one hand, this quality carb also supports healthy weight management goals in the balanced diet of someone seeking the sporty foods, i.e. the active eater.

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Athletes fuel up with low glycaemic carbohydrates

As an athlete you know winning takes more than giving it your all during the race itself. It takes a 24-7 commitment with a strict training routine and selected nutrition to provide your body with the fuel and minerals it needs during training, competition and for recovery. When you give your body the optimal levels of nutrients and hydration, you can get closer to your ultimate goal of championship.

As part of a healthy nutrition, the choice of carbohydrate can make all the difference to an athlete’s success. He knows that the carbs he eats/drinks are used first in the energy supply to his muscle, simply because this allows his body to save the existing carbohydrate and fat reserves in his body for when he cannot load up (like e.g. during a soccer match).

Also, the rate of glucose supply from e.g. his energy drinks determines the extent to which mobilisation and utilisation of internal sources are suppressed. This means that carbohydrates providing fast glucose to the body lead to a more extensive suppression of fat utilisation. And here, the slow-release carbohydrate, Palatinose™ offers the athletes the biggest advantage. It provides its carbohydrate energy more steadily over a longer time, allowing the athletes body to maintain a higher level of fat utilisation in the fuel mix to his muscles. In endurance exercise, a higher contribution of fat oxidation is said to have a glycogen sparing effect and thus a beneficial effect to endurance performance.

Palatinose™ – get more out of your fitness routine

Having a fitness routine can widely vary from exercising once a week to a few times each day. Our reasons for exercising is not mind-blowingly different around the globe; most of us want to maintain a healthy weight, stay fit or remain active at older age. Wanting to look and feel good is a strong driver for exercise, and (dependant on their nationality) for 40 to 60% of these regular actives, this means getting a well-shaped body and building lean muscles.

Overall fitness and healthy eating go hand in hand. Where the exercise routine is often guided by training professionals or gym instructions, choosing the right nutrition is generally not so easy to do. The sports nutrition offered through specialised channels can range from pre-work-out energy bars, to endurance training gels and post work-out protein shakes or re-hydration drinks to recover.

With a smart choice of carbohydrate energy, our enthusiastic sportsmen (and women) can take their fitness routine to the next level!

Lifestylers choose active nutrition to cope with their daily challenges

Magazines, blogs, TV,… sometimes it appears they all gang up on us to push societies expectations for everyone to be fit and active. Still, we don’t all feel like embedding regular jogging, cycling or gym visits into our day. Consumer research across the globe shows that 25% of people rarely or never exercise. And another 15% only builds it in a few times a month. Yet these groups still buy into the sports trend with their lifestyle choices (e.g. running shoes as casual wear, a fitbit for step counting, energy drinks to face a busy schedule,…).Where their activity might be low, a long and healthy life is just as much on their wish list as on anyone else’s.

Across the borders, about 3 in 4 consumers know they can influence their health by the nutritional choices they make. And what worries them most is their weight, low energy levels and dealing with stress. Three concerns the food industry responded to with a wide range of product innovations. But… are all these products containing the best ingredients for that much desired healthy life?

On one hand, we need to stay upbeat and deal with the buzzy day ahead, so we might grab an energy drink (filled with caffeine and fast sugars). On the other hand, we want to keep our weight under control, so we snack on a type of “slim drink or bar”, usually something with limited calories. Then, we face a stressful moment and grab something indulgent to keep the emotional balance. This calorie-up-down yo-yo-life is familiar to many of us; and we know it’s not wise, yet we can’t break the circle.

With BENEO ingredients, the industry can help their consumers to bring more balance into their nutrition, with the slow-released functional carbohydrate, Palatinose™. It offers the same carbohydrate energy as fructose, but is more gently released to the body, thus being available for longer – letting you feel energised for longer.

Our Functional fibres, rice starches and functional carbohydrates also offer different solutions for the weight management segment. In particular, Palatinose™ offers a unique answer to combining our energy need with weight control. Our body is programmed to build energy reserves for times when food is not available (we store fat). The main hormone responsible for such fat storage is the insulin in our blood: high insulin levels block fat burning and promote fat storage, low levels trigger fat burning. Unlike with fast sugars, Palatinose™ induces a low blood glucose response, causing the body to releases less insulin (than with fast sugars). As a result, the body burns stored fat to make the energy we need.