Are Maurten Products The Best For Runners: Full RevIew
Running boosts are all the rave nowadays and top athletes are always on the hunt for the best products that’ll help propel them to that finish line in record time. Wondering whether Maurten Products are the best for runners? Read on to find out.
As a sports nutritionist, I've analyzed countless products promising to boost your running performance.
Today, we're diving into Maurten – a brand that's gained a lot of attention in the running community. But does it really live up to the hype? Let's break down the science and see if it's the right fit for your training.
Disclaimer: I’m not sponsored or affiliated with Maurten. I’ve used their products before and have bought them with my own money for testing purposes.
What are Maurten Products?
You've probably heard about Maurten – the latest trend in sports nutrition for runners.
Maurten Products are a brand of sports and fitness energy supplements designed to hydrate and provide energy for it’s users without upsetting the stomach. This is a pretty big deal as digestive distress is a major concern among runners and other members of the sport community.
It’s garnered loads of attention recently for a couple of reasons but many sports enthusiasts who are yet to try it or have that are looking for how to boost running performance wonder - is Maurten worth it?
With all the marketing noise, it's hard to know what's truly beneficial for your performance.
Join me as we dissect what Maurten really offers, and whether it's a game-changer or just another product on the shelf.
Maurten Products Overview
As a registered sports nutritionist, I'm always keen to know what the best sports products are. Maurten is a brand that pops up time and time again, with loads of high profile athletes like Eliud Kipchoge, Tigst Assefa, Lucy Charles Barclay all using their products.
Thing is, Maurten is more expensive compared to other nutrition products for runners. This means if you’re investing some pretty bucks into them, you want to be sure they’re worth it.
Paid Maurten reviews won’t give you the full down-low and if you want to know the truth, you have to look for a source like this article. I personally use their products along with others, and I think they're great. But I like facts and that's what I will share with you.
Studies and Research related to Maurten Products Ingredients
Maurten burst onto the scene some years ago now and like many companies had lots of fabulous advertising and elite athletes promoting their brand.
I wanted to know if there was any data available for them so I started researching this.
I came across a review of papers that focused on hydrogels from 2020, and these investigated metrics like performance, exogenous carbohydrate use, and gastro symptoms.
An initial review of hydrogels in 2020 looked at the results of multiple studies using hydrogels and concluded that there wasn’t any benefit to using hydrogels in sport.
I was sure that couldn’t be it, and after looking further I found a study on effects of hydrogel on endurance running performance by Joshua T. Rowe.
This was an important one because he specifically wanted to investigate the effect of hydrogels on runners. He thought that too many studies used cyclists, who typically tolerate nutrition better anyway, so wanted to see if there was a run-specific benefit.
His conclusion was that hydrogel formats improved performance in a 5km time trial, caused higher exogenous carbohydrate rates, and decreased GI symptoms compared to a matched non-hydrogel carb solution.
I found another on the topic, this study suggesting hydrogel solutions caused higher exogenous carbohydrate rates. This paper isn't fair though, because the composition of the drinks was different which means you can't know whether it was the hydrogel element that caused it.
Maurten uses a ratio of 1:0.8 of glucose to fructose, and here’s a paper from 2013 suggesting 1:0.8 of glucose to fructose was the optimum ratio, compared to the classic 2:1 that many sports brands use. However, other brands like Science in SAport, MNSTRY, and Styrkr use this ratio too so Maurten are not unique here.
And, the question as to whether this really makes a difference. Hard to say. I’m not aware of any data to support a comparison in examples such as time to exhaustion or other performance metrics.
What makes Maurten products great
If you look at the costs of different sports products you'll see that Maurten generally far outstrips them for price, and in some cases, it is a huge difference.
So, if I were considering this myself and why I would use them, 3 main reasons come to mind:
Preferences
According to Maurten’s FAQ page, their products are designed to have little or no taste which is the case.
If you’re concerned about this quality and keep on asking yourself “What does Maurten taste like?”, you might be glad to know the energy drink mix has a subtle flavor with hints of sweetness which is pretty much the same case for the Maurten running gel.
Speaking of the Maurten running gel, their consistency is a bit thick and gelatinous which took a little getting used to, but is quite easy to consume which is pretty great. Are Maurten gels worth it in that regard? I’d say yes.
The caffeinated versions of the gel do have a bit of bitterness to it so you should have that in mind if you’d ever consider trying it out.
Overall, if you’re wondering what Maurten tastes like just be rest assured that it’s a bit sweet and the texture of the gel is a little like jelly.
Struggled with GI upset frequently
As someone who has struggled with gastrointestinal issues in the past, hearing about a product that specifically catered to people who frequently encountered those problems kind of had me sold.
I just wanted to try it out for myself and see if they truly deliver what they claim and it turns out, they do.
Their critically acclaimed hydrogel tech combined with natural ingredients in their products potentially reduces the risk of gastrointestinal upset common among bicarb supplement users making this a great alternative.
If you frequently have complaints of gastrointestinal distress during exercise, you should consider trying Maurten products out.
Should you buy into the superior ratio idea
As was mentioned earlier, there’s some convincing evidence that 1:0.8 for glucose to fructose is the more optimum ratio compared to the traditional 2:1 many people are used to in sports brand formulas.
If you buy into the idea that it’s beneficial then that’s a pretty good reason for using products that advertise that in their formula. But Maurten is not alone in this regard, other brands like SIS or Styrkr and MNSTRY also use such a ratio.
Maurten would be a great choice if you prefer the brand over the others and if it suits you better.
Are Maurten products the best for runners?
While Maurten offers loads of benefits and might seem promising to many runners and athletes alike, I would say it is THE best. The drink mixes probably are one of the best energy drinks for running and the gels are definitely up there too.
But at the end of the day, it all comes down to your preferences and what your body seems to prefer.
My general advice is that if you get on well with a product, don’t notice any gastrointestinal issues and you seem to be hitting your targets, there’s no need to change or look elsewhere.
So choosing the right product for you to use during a race is super important.
Next, you've got to make sure you fuel the race well, and I've put a couple of videos up on my nutrition triathlon YouTube channel that’ll help you do just that.
For a full guide on what to have when you’re training for a big race, have a look at this Maurten ironman triathlon nutrition plan if you’d like to incorporate the product into your race-ready meal plan.
FAQs
Why is Maurten so popular?
Maurten is so popular because of all the potential benefits of consuming the product the company advertises.
Their hydrogel tech promises to increase the amount of carbs as well as decrease the risk of experiencing GI issues all while disregarding ingredients that don’t exactly aid one’s performance.
How many Maurten gels do I need for a marathon?
For a marathon, I would highly suggest consuming at least 50g of carbs every hour. That’s equivalent to about 1 sachet of Maurten Gel 160 every 50 minutes or so or two sachets of Maurten Gel 100.
How long does it take for Maurten gel to work?
The peak time is about 45 minutes from ingestion. This time frame varies from person to person though and it could be faster or slower than this.
