Energy gels are expensive as hell, so I decided to cook my own.

Here’s the recipe I used:

  • 200g maltodextrin
  • 50g fructose
  • 10g citrulline-malate
  • 1000mg ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
  • 200mg caffeine
  • 2 salt pill pulverized
    • 400mg Na
    • 80mg K
    • 30mg Mg
  • 2 tsp of cola flavoured BCAA (for the taste 😉)

This can be dissolved in about 3-4dl of water (I used a milk pan to heat them together a bit, but only about at 40C), and it’s still not that gel-like, can be poured into a silicone flask easily.

The final product contain about 200 kcal and 40 mg caffeine per 100 ml. (Common energy drinks - like Red Bull - contains about 46 kcal, 32 mg caffeine per 100ml.)

[Update]

Today (2023-08-20) I went to a 30k trail run into the nearby Pilis hills, and drank about 2/3 of the liquid above during the run - a mouthful about every 5kms - and not used the usual chocolate bars. It worked, I barely got tired at the end despite the heat and high humidity! Need to fine-tune the taste, but it’s already great.