Make at home Chia Energy Gels

Endurance athlete are no strangers when it comes to energy gels.

There are many different brands out there, and it can be trial and error before you can find a brand/product that works for you.

Personally, I moved away from energy gels, because I found they gave me an upset belly.

Having trialed various products, and also eating real food, I settled on a product called tailwind, and my belly issues were resolved.

I’ve used tailwind for 2 years now without any issue.

However, of late, I have found that I’ve been getting hungry on my training runs, and thus hitting the wall and just feeling really sluggish, even with the tailwind.

So I decided to head back into the kitchen and experiment with the super grain; Chia Seeds.

I remember listening to a podcast by Ben Greenfield during an online summit a few years ago.

He talked about fuelling during endurance events and alternative methods.

One of the things he mentioned was the chia egg.

A chia egg (also known as a flax egg), is a vegan alternative to the (chicken) egg.

Using this as a base, I created a delicious energy gel alternative.

Chia Energy Gels 

Recipe Type: Sports Nutrition
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 4 hours
Total time: 4 hours 1 min
Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of Chia Seeds
• 1 1/3 cups of Mango* Nectar

* Don’t like mango, then select another nectar of your choosing like apricot or guava. It MUST be nectar, and not juice.

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine
2. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight
3. Stir and transfer to your gel container or freeze for future use.

Use reusable food pouch like Sinchies, to store your gels.

They defrost quickly in summer, so you can take them out just as you are heading out the door, and will be ready by the time you need them.

Chia seeds are high in fibre & protein, while the Mango Nectar is high in sugar, giving you a balance of the 3 major macros.

Just one of my chia gels was enough along with my tailwind to fuel me during a recent 20km tempo run.

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How do you fuel during a long run?