I was sent some samples of Elivar – Sports nutrition specially formulate for the over 35s. Firstly, I wasn’t entirely enamoured of being reminded that I was edging towards the ‘veteran’ category. The young and sprightly can take anything, but apparently us old fogies need special nutritional requirements.
I tested these over the weekend during some 4-5 hour rides whilst watching Tour de France
The basic principle behind Elivar is that ‘older’ athletes do better with more slow release carbohydrates, and less ‘simple’ / high GI index food.
The main difference of Elivar brand of sports nutrition is that it contains a higher proportion of protein, and no fructose – but more complex carbohydrates.
The Elivar website states:
The plain fact is that your physiology (not to mention your work life balance) does change. It gets harder to maintain muscle mass, absorb and synthesize vitamins or maintain strong joints and bones. That’s why it can take longer to recover after a hard session or you pick up more coughs and colds.
Elivar Prepare
- One 65 gram serving provides
- 27 gram of carb
- – 14g of which is sugar
- 27 gram of protein
I do like taking energy drinks pre race because it’s a way to stock up on energy without overloading the stomach. For pre-ride, you definitely want slow release carbs, and I would avoid too much fructose at this stage in the day. Often I take a recovery drink pre race as I assume that is a better pre-race drink. This seems to do a good job pre-ride
The only thing with prepare is that it does seem quite similar in protein carb ratio to the recovery drink. I’m not sure how it differs too much.
Elivar Endure
One 45 gram serving provides:
- 32 gram of carb
- – 13 gram of which is sugar
- 8 gram of protein
No fructose. Contains Isomalutose which is a slow release carb.
All products have branch chain amino acids, vitamins and minerals, especially B6 and B12
The main difference to most energy powders is the inclusion of protein (apart from some 4:1 carb / protein, e.g. HIgh 5). I sometimes like this kind of ratio in long rides. Also, there is no fructose. It would be particularly useful to have some of this during super long rides like 100 miles and 12 hour time trials
- Elivar Endure at Amazon.co.uk
Recover
One 65 gram serving provides:
- 28 7 gram of carb
- – 14g of which is sugar
- 27 gram of protein
Elivar Recover has a higher ratio of protein than most recovery drinks. It comes in the ratio of 1:1 ratio, which is unusually high in protein.. It includes fast releasing whey protein and slow releasing casein.
Overall
The drinks were easy to make. Just pour in water mix for 20 seconds and it does a good job. It tastes fine. Not too sweat, but quite pleasant; it makes it easy to drink. I enjoyed them over the weekend.
After researching energy levels, I have found that I only want to take the popular Maltodextrin / Fructose combination on some rides. Recently I was looking at a bike shop and noticed all the energy powder was 2:1 fructose.. Personally, my stomach does OK with fructose, and when I’m racing I don’t feel a problem of sugar rush. However, there is definitely a place for energy powders which don’t have fructose and higher ratios of protein.
I would use these products again. I like the Endure and Recovery products. However, it doesn’t mean I will be giving up on Fructose. For 50s and 100s, it’s good to be able to maximise Carb uptakes. But, I often find myself mixing up energy drinks. e.g. one bottle 2:1 carb / fructose, another bottle with slower release.
Maybe when I get older I will veer more towards this end of the nutrition spectrum. But, I still feel very young, and my metabolism is still super crazy burn up anything and stay 3 stone underweight!
Related pages
External links
- Elivar Products at Amazon.co.uk
- Elivar website
I think Elivar Prepare is a great product and as someone that avoids chocolate or strawberry flavour that’s praise indeed. I generally liquidise with a banana as it makes it taste a bit nicer and use before a race or long ride.
Just a shame the author of this article doesn’t know the difference between ‘poor’ and ‘pour’ but just as well he didn’t type ‘paw.