Energy Gels

What an energy gel actually is

An energy gel is a single-serve sachet of fast carbohydrate, usually 20g to 30g per gel. The carbohydrate comes from glucose, maltodextrin, fructose, or a mix of these. Your muscles hold a limited store of glycogen, the body's own carbohydrate reserve. A gel is simply a way to top that reserve up while you keep moving, without carrying food.

The approved European claim for this category is precise: carbohydrates contribute to the recovery of normal muscle function after intensive or long-lasting exercise that empties glycogen stores in the muscle. That is the honest scope, and it is why gels sit in our wider sports nutrition range rather than among daily supplements. A gel fuels work you are already doing.

Three things separate one gel from another

Flavour gets the attention, but the practical differences are the carbohydrate ratio, the water content and whether caffeine is added.

• Concentrated gels: thick, small sachet, high carbohydrate for their size. Take a few sips of water with them.
• Isotonic gels: already diluted, so no water needed. The sachet is bigger and usually holds slightly less carbohydrate.
• 2:1 glucose to fructose gels: two sugar types use two absorption routes, which is why runners aiming above 60g of carbohydrate an hour tend to pick them.
• Caffeine gels: the same carbohydrate plus roughly 20mg to 100mg caffeine. Most people keep these for the second half of a race.

How we choose the gels we stock

We look at three things before a gel goes live: the form, the dose and the combination. We want grams of carbohydrate declared per sachet, not hidden inside a blend, and we prefer gels that state their glucose to fructose ratio, because that is what lets you plan a fuelling target. Where caffeine is added, it is listed in milligrams. We buy directly from the brands, so what you open is what the brand made, and every product passes our compliance team first. We test products ourselves and independent labs spot-check batches. See how we select brands and products.

Who they suit, and who can skip them

Gels earn their place from roughly 60 to 90 minutes of continuous effort. For a parkrun or a 40-minute gym session you do not need one. For a half marathon, a marathon, a long ride or a day on the trails, they are the simplest way to reach 30g to 60g of carbohydrate an hour. Well-practised athletes go higher, but that takes building up.

Be honest about your stomach. A gel is concentrated sugar, and a gut that has never met one at race pace can protest. Build them into your long runs for two to three weeks before you depend on them, and you will know exactly which brand and texture you get on with. Worth knowing too: gels carry carbohydrate, not much sodium. If you sweat heavily or race in heat, electrolyte supplements do a different job alongside them. And if gels never sit well for you, chews, bars and drink mixes deliver the same carbohydrate in another texture, all of which you will find across our range for endurance sports.