Maltodextrin vs. dextrose

TommyGunn69

New Member
I would usually use Ultra Fuel postworkout as a carb source to spike insulin, lower cortisol, and replenish glycogen stores. Ultra Fuel contains mostly maltodextrin and smaller amounts of fructose.
I was viewing the bulletin board/forum on Milos Sarcev's site and he feels that dextrose is the best form of carbs postworkout and recommended a retailer where one can buy 11 lb of it for $10. So I called the retailer and asked him about the 2 forms of carbs. He said dextrose is a simple carb and maltodextrin is a complex carb. I already knew that, I said. Yes malto is a complex carb, but doesn't it have a high glycemic index which would make it act like a simple carb and thus make it a good choice for a postworkout carb? He said he did not know, but he says he sells both in bulk.
Now I am confused. I always thought malto, even though it is a complex carb, was a good postworkout carb because of its high glycemic index. Many people have recommended it as a postworkout carb source. Should I use dextrose instead now? Can anyone please give me their input. Thanks.
Tommy
 
malto is a complex carb with a GI slightly HIGHER than dextrose (dextrose is a simple carb.. as you stated). The difference is that malto has to be broken down one step further than dextrose does.
Either, on their own will get the job done, but from an optimal perspective, a post workout carb source of 60% dextrose and 40% malto is excellent.. some say 50%/50%... doesn't make THAT big a difference IMO.

www.proteinfactory.com will mix any formula for your needs in whatever ratio you want.
 
The concepts of "complex" and "simple" are an outdated concept kept for some reasons by americans.
In the rest of the world Carbs are usually based around their chain length (mono, di, polysaccharides etc) and GI
While it is true that malto is a 'complex' carb, it is a very simple chain of glucose molecules in a chain, the body has no problems ripping (enzymatically cleaving) it to bits very quickly. So the rate of uptake of malto is a little bit higher than dextrose.
This is probably due to the lower osmolarity from a given amount of carbs. 50g of malto will have a lower omolarity than 50g dextrose, helping increase uptake.
but for a given amount of carbs it will make little to no difference in glycogen uptake, as the differences will be v. small.
I generally buy whats cheaper, which is usually dextrose, but the main problem I have with it is that it is very sweet compared to maltodextrin.
 
You'll see no difference between using dextrose (glucose) or maltodextrin. I add about 7tsps (~20grams) of NOW brand dextrose to my Primer before and then 7-14 (~20-40grams) tsps to my Driver afterwards. It gets really really sweet with 14 tsps so I just ad more water. Primer+ and Driver+ will both have glucosepolymers.


Sorry, I was just reading back through that and it began to sound like a commercial or something for HSN.
blush.gif
But its true, that's what I've been doing to up my carbs around my workout.
 
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