Homemade Gel Recipe

There isn’t a lot of information on knock-off energy gels on the internet. Every now and then I’ll stumble on a Gu recipe or a Hammer Gel recipe, and I’ll toy with it a bit and add it to my mix of recipes. Most of the recipes out there are some sort of chia/date/raw, whole foods. While these are great sources of energy, and I do love my homemade Lara bars, having a quality, immediately absorbable energy gel that you can rely on is crucial (especially when you run more than 10 hours each week.) I’ve perfected my “base” recipe, which is a combination of a ViFuel knock-off and a Hammer Gel knock-off. I could go into detail about why we add omega-3 fatty acids, why dextrose over fructose, etc… but I’ll spare you the boring scientific details. These gels are roughly a fourth to a sixth of the MSRP price of other gels, and also omit many additives that can cause GI issues.

Homemade Energy Gel, makes 24 1oz servings

• 1 1/2 cup liquid (fresh strawberry juice, or water with extra limeade concentrate are ideas)
• 2 ¾ cup maltodextrin
• 1 cup dextrose
• 2 tsp taurine
• 3 “scoops” of caffeine; or enough for 25mg per gel
• 1 tbsp Udo’s oil or other MCT oil OR 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• pinch of baking soda (opt)
• pinch of pink salt (opt)
• 1 scoop of Hammer Perpetuum (opt)

1. With the fluid first, add everything to a large blender (I use a Blendtec).
2. Puree for 1-2 minutes until thoroughly mixed and chia seeds are ground to a fine powder.
3. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. 1 oz = 1 gel. I prefer to water the gel down 1/3 to 1/2 to make it easier to consume from flasks.

Gel Info: (roughly, depending on variation)

100 calories per gel, 95 from carbohydrates, 5 calories from fat. 25 mg of caffeine per gel.

Where to purchase the ingredients? I purchase my ingredients from Vitacost. Use my referral link to save us both $10 on our next order of gel supplies! https://www.vitacostrewards.com/QcPm0hU

Like the gel? Have your own recipe? I would love to hear about it! Let me know on twitter @jl_e10 or on my blog at jennilyneaton.blogspot.com