How do I sort through the advertising hype and conflicting information?
Accelerade touts its “patented 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein” and explains that this innovation is “proven” to “extend endurance 24% compared to a conventional sports drink and 57% compared to water.” So let’s seeall of the sudden the endurance required to perform a 3-hour ride gets me to a 4-hour ride because my energy drink contains some amino acids? Not with the hills around my house! Take a step back when you read outrageous claims like that. As Scott Molina commented at a Q&A seminar in 2004 when asked about performance nutrition and heart rate training: “We went pretty fast before that stuff was around.” While the scientific studies lauded in marketing hype are certainly valid and conducted by respected researchers, it’s possible they use oversimplified variables and performance measurement techniques. If you take some untrained college kid and test him on an exercise bike two weeks in a row, it is likely he will extend endurance 24% the following week simply by not partyi
