I have to be fair...

Since I recently reviewed PowerGel
http://ornito.epinions.com/content_34262781572, I wanted to be fair and compare the competition.

You can read the other review too and see which features and ingredients will work best for you.

How I use GU

I just completed my second marathon, While training for this race it is very important to take some long runs at a sub marathon pace, to get your body used to being out there and working steadily for a long time--we're talking 3 to 4 HOURS of trotting along. GU is a good pick-me-up for a water stop at the halfway point.

A little exercise physiology lesson

Muscles' favorite fuel is a product of digestion called glycogen. They work the best with this fuel, much like some cars need a certain octane rating for optimal performance, though they can burn other fuels in a pinch. A well nourished person typically has enough glycogen stored in their muscles for two hours of unbroken work. When it's gone, you do not experience it as hunger; you experience it as sluggishness. But meanwhile, your stomach and digestive tract are operating minimally. The blood is being channeled to your working muscles. So even though your body is low on fuel, any normal food and a lot of drinks would bounce off the bottom of your stomach at this point.

GU is designed for when you are depleted

Here's where athlete food comes in. It is basically predigested so that your stomach doesn't have to do much to it. If you can manage a few swigs of water you put it into solution and make it work even faster. It is absorbed high in the gut, carried to the blood and pumped to the muscles that need it. The human machine working at that level of intensity really can't tolerate normal food, and you can trust me on this because I speak from experience.

but it even has benefits when you're not

Of course, athlete food is food, so it will work equally well to keep your stomach from growling at 11:00 in the morning. It's definitely healthier than that old stand-by the Snickers bar, and it has only 100 calories plus some antioxidents and herbal ingredients. Anyone who eats GU under any circumstances will get those benefits, but it probably will only enhance your physical performance if you are truly glycogen deprived.

What is in it?

I'm glad you asked. I'm going to core dump from that old GU wrapper that I have been saving : Maltodextrin (glucose polymers) Filtered water, Fructose, Leucine, GU antioxidant Blend™, (Vitamin C, Vitamiin E, Valine, Pectin, Potassium and Sodium Citrate, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium benzoate, Calcium Carbonate, Fumeric Acid, Sea Salt, Histidine, Citric acid, Gu Herbal Blend™ Astragalus, Chamomile, Cola Nut Extract, Ginseng, natural coloring, natural orange flavors. It has 100 calories and no fat. There. Now I can toss the da** wrapper.

The sticky part

After all that, you probably want to know what it tastes like. I tend to favor the citrus flavors. GU tastes very much like PowerGel: sweet and bland with an overlay of icky orange. It's not exactly a coveted treat. GU is also sticky. Of course when you're out on the course in an urban marathon and you realize that you should have stopped at the portapotty five miles back, AND you're female, personal hygiene is not your foremost concern. And besides you're not doing much with your hands anyway. Let me just say that there were much nastier things on my hands during my last marathon than sticky GU residue--until a kindly bystander sloshed a pitcher of water on me.

So... should yu du GU tu?

If you do endurance events, I highly recommend it.
If you just get hungry, and you don't mind sucking it down, this will probably kill your appetite and may prevent you from whorfing a whole pizza later on.

Is it better than PowerGEL?

I believe that both products do basically the same thing and taste pretty much the same. I was unable to distinguish between them in a blind taste test--Yes I saved back a little of each just so I could do that for you.

Recommended: Yes