The Problem with Sweeteners in Sports Nutrition

Performance sports nutrition such as energy gels or drinks are usually extremely sweet. The amazing thing about it is that sometimes the sweetness does not come exclusively from an energy source, but it is added sweeteners. And these sweeteners have been suspected of being harmful to health for years.

The list of such products continues to grow every year and no one seems to care what is added, whether it has a benefit for the athlete and what these additives can actually trigger in the gastrointestinal tract in sports.

There are numerous studies on the subject of "sweeteners" and their health effects, and new ones are added year after year. Important, the studies we know of do not take into account the fact that the body is actually in a state of emergency during stress. Therefore, in our opinion, the dangers are even less to be assessed.

At Squeezy, we have been following this research on this topic for many years and have major health concerns that have always prevented us from using sweeteners in our performance products.

In a nutshell: Squeezy energy gels, liquids, bars, fruitgums or drinks never contain artificial sweeteners!

But we don't just do this because of the potential health hazard. In our opinion, artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, saccharin or acesulfame-K are completely unnecessary in products that are consumed in sports under high physical stress, as they can adversely affect the metabolism and thus ultimately the performance of the athlete. Anyone who has ever had problems with their stomach and/or intestines after consuming sports nutrition should check the food they eat in detail.

For a quick energy supply, most energy gels and drinks always contain a fast-acting sugar content, which should be sufficient for the desired sweetness. It is difficult to understand why so many brands still add more artificial sweetness, although the majority of athletes tend to reject the very sweet products, and the question has never been answered to us.

Our recommendation: When shopping for sports nutrition, read what the product contains in the (printed) food traffic fields and decide on the basis of this information. When shopping online, this information must also always be shown.

Here is a link to a Welt.de article worth reading: Sweets without remorse - That's why you should avoid sweeteners