Honey Stinger Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes
Jack Richards, January 12, 2012
As the name suggests, Steamboat, CO-based nutrition company Honey Stinger have a preference for making quality sports nutrition using the natural power of honey. Bars contain over 30% honey and their gels appear to have little in them except honey, with some added salt and vitamins. I’m a big believer in nature providing the best nutritional solutions and would much rather eat a product made of natural ingredients than some synthetic, processed alternative. Nature tends to have a way of knowing what’s good for you, and the combo of glucose (quick absorption) and fructose (slower release) in honey backs up this theory when looking at sports performance.
I was stoked to test out a stash of Honey Stinger products last summer over four days on a MTB expedition around the north of Scotland. With long days in the saddle and a daily diet of assorted high-energy foods, palatable and tasty snacks were essential. I was concerned that the high honey content would make the products unbearably sweet but I was pleasantly surprised to find they went down well, on and off the saddle. Palatability of energy foods is to me the most important aspect and part of the simple fact: if it’s a chore to eat then the chances are you won’t take on as much as you need. Honey Stinger’s products are damn tasty and as a result they helped me keep fuelled up.
Particular favourites are the Peanut Butter & Honey Energy Bar and Cherry Blossom Energy Chews (think turbo wine gums). While the bar has a slight saltiness which tastes damn good against the usual torrent of sweet, sugary foods when on the bike, the chews work well with the packed ripped half open and left in your pocket for convenient drip-feeding on the go.
Despite the effectiveness of Honey Stinger’s bars and chews, I found the Waffles to be a waste of time. They are not sufficiently substantial to satisfy and they are not durable enough to survive a day on the trail, usually being smashed to smithereens by the time I came to eat them. An endorsement by Lance Armstrong isn’t enough to win me over on this one.
That said, the protein bars, energy bars and chews are all a big hit with me. Good work Honey Stinger.
Head to honeystinger.com for more