Friday, February 17, 2012

Generation U-Can


 I have seen on alot of diabetic athlete blogs about these "Ucan" products.  This is a sustained energy super-starch for doing endurance sports.  So reading about this product and seeing how they sponsor diabetic athletic teams I thought to give them an email to see about getting a sample to see how this stuff works for The Diabetic Camper.  Peter Kaufman with Ucan sent me several samples of each flavor. 

There are two products in the Ucan product line.  First they have a sports drink mix that you take something like thirty minutes before a workout.  Then they have a protein enhanced sports drink mix that can be used either before or after a workout.  The sports drink comes in flavors like: Cranberry Raspberry (sweetened with Stevia), Lemonade, Pomegranate Blueberry, and Plain. Now these flavors sound exciting but they are a little low on the taste.  As an adult I thought they were good but my son took one sip if the Pomegranate Blueberry and
  thought it tasted bland.  The protein drink comes in Vanilla and Chocolate and they have more flavor than the sports drinks.

I tried these products in different situations, a couple of times before running six miles, once before a circuit training session, and once before a day long of chain sawing.  These products are really good at keeping your energy levels up.  They don't really feel like those 5 hour energy drinks or a Red Bull.  You get a feeling like you have a bit more energy than normal but you have this feeling for several hours.  I did not have any spikes with my blood sugars, neither did I have any low episodes.  The difference that "Ucan" has over other energy products is that this is a sensible product for the diabetic (like myself).  The website sells these as they will change your life but I would say more on a realistic level is that if you are active they will compliment your activity and assist with balanced blood sugar levels.  On my patented diabetic camping scale I would give the Ucan products 4 syringes out of five syringes.  They could use a little more flavor in the sports drink flavors and they mix really bad.  The company recommends you use one of those mixing bottle things and I would totally agree.  I almost feel this super starch does not like water it mixes so bad.  Then I would like them to expand the line, like adding waterless products such as gels or bars with the super starch in them. 

2 comments:

  1. Wondering how you would bolus for this drink mix. It has 27 grams of carbs, but is slow to digest.

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