Fueling the Engine With Energy Foods

Although no Lance Armstrong, Hartley Pond, vice president of technical sales, FutureCeuticals and Van Drunen Farms, Santa Rosa, CA, and recreational road and mountain biker, knows how it feels to bonk.

When you bonk, Pond explains, your body recognizes that youre getting dangerously low on glucose. To save whats essential for your central nervous system and brain, the glucose is actually held back from your muscles. The average person stores enough muscle glycogen to yield about 1,500 to 2,000 kcal of energy, and a brisk bike ride can burn upward of 600 to 800 kcal per hour. So two to three hours rolling around the Solano County hills near his home can leave Pond hitting the wallwith the fatigue, dizziness, and even hallucinations that result. Its an emergency siren going off to tell you to think about what youre doingand to eat. Eat he does, sometimes pounding energy gels whose four parts maltodextrin to one part fructose load the body with quick, digestible carbohydrates. But he could just as easily replenish with a cheeseburger.

Stoking energy

As long as it supplies calories, any food qualifies as energy food. But with more consumers hungry for energy in easy-to-eat form, the market is ripe for these products.

In the past few decades, says Steve Wang, sales manager, Taiyo International, Inc., Minneapolis, food-related research has exploded. We have a wealth of information about the specific functions of active components in foods and how each of these components reacts with the human body to produce a desired result, such as increasing metabolism, improving endurance or staying alert.

Energy means different things to different bodies. The need for energy is universal to sustain life, says Ram Chaudhari, Ph.D., FACN, CNS, senior executive vice president, chief scientific officer, Fortitech, Inc., Schenectady, NY. However, energy foods, he notes, are targeted with different groups in mind, whether children or sports people or middle-aged people, or women vs. men.

Mixed (carb) messages

A quick glucose infusion may revive a marathoner at mile 16, but our need for energy is not that vast nor immediate. Most of us want energy that doesnt just last 10 minutes, but fuels us for a couple hours, says Wendy Bazilian, Dr.P.H., R.D., author of The SuperFoodsRx Diet and a nutrition educator. Sports nutritionists call this a slow, sustained release of blood glucose, and it starts with a mix of carbohydrates.

Both the structure and the form of the carbohydrate ingredient will play a role in the speed of energy delivery, says Heidi Adams, manager, technical sales and application support, Corn Products International, Inc., Westchester, IL. Simple dextrose is very readily absorbed by the body and is known for its ability to deliver quick energy. Fructose, while also a simple sugar, delivers energy much more slowly. Sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup and honey all contain both dextrose and fructose components and release energy in a standard time frame. Longer-chain carbohydrates, such as maltodextrin and fibers, also generally provide more slowly released, sustained energy.

The glycemic index (GI) ranks how a food affects blood glucose levels on a scale of zero to 100. Values of 70 plus are high, 56 to 69 are medium, and 55 and below are low. While Adams notes GI can be influenced by a number of factors, and there is significant controversy surrounding placing too much emphasis on this measure alone as a determination of the healthfulness of a product or its impact on the body, she acknowledges its relevance to energy delivery and release.

Generally, medium- to high-GI foods are more energy-dense and supply the body with higher amounts of simple sugars and/or carbs, Adams says. Because we rapidly digest and absorb them into the bloodstream, high-GI foods can trigger marked fluctuations in blood sugar levelsa potential liability for longer-lasting energy. But, she says, high-GI foods can help supply quick energy if taken when the bodys blood glucose level is very lowsay, first thing in the morning, after a grueling workout or when skipping meals. Medium- to high-GI foods include white rice, refined-flour breads, potatoes, sugary sodas and some fruits. High-GI carbohydrates include tapioca starch, some high-maltose corn syrups and products high in dextrose. Medium- to high-GI ingredients include corn starch, corn syrup solids, some polyglycitol syrups, and high-fructose corn syrups (HFCS) HFCS 42 and HFCS 55.

Conversely, medium- to low-GI foods are more nutrient- than energy-dense, doling out energy more gradually for smoother rises in blood sugar and insulin levels. Wheat bran, oats, barley, rye-based products, dairy foods, most vegetables, peanuts and meats all qualify, Adams says, as do maltodextrins, HFCS 75 and HFCS 90, agave inulin fiber, and a wide variety of polyols.

Ingredient blends are common, depending on the energy goal of the product, Adams says. An athlete may be looking for high-energy, high-glycemic carbohydrates, but for endurance, they may need a blend of high-energy and slower-release carbohydrates, including some fibers, proteins and possibly sugar alcohols.

To match the carbohydrate to the application, product developers need to understand how the carbohydrate profile impacts the ingredient and finished-product characteristics, Adams says. Longer saccharide chains in corn syrup, for example, have a viscosity that makes it a good binder and body builder, but they dont provide the sweetness of a mono- or disaccharide. HFCS and dextrose supply that sweetness, but their reducing sugars brown more than sucrose or corn syrup. Reducing sugars in syrup will also increase the humectancy of the finished product, Adams adds, while helping to maintain a lower water activity.

For a no-bake or extruded energy bar intended to bring both quick and sustained energy, Adams recommends a mix of syrups. A corn syrup would give a combination of mono-, di- and polysaccharides, both to address energy issues plus bind other ingredients such as rice, soy, oat and fruit pieces, she says. High-fructose corn syrup can be added for a quick energy source and high sweetness, as well as for binding. Both syrups can control water activity for increased shelf stability. A baked bar would do better with dry carbohydrates, like dextrose for quick energy and maltodextrin for binding. Sucrose, HFCS or a high-intensity sweetener increases the sensory appeal, she adds. In both cases, a fiber source can be added to increase satiety, but should be avoided if the target audience is an athlete using the foods solely as an energy source.

Protein power

Carbs share the energy stage with proteins and amino acids. Health-food and sports-nutrition stores do a booming business in protein powders and amino-acid supplements claiming to build mega muscles, and food manufacturers are eager to enter their own energy products into the market.

Yet, while were seeing more high-protein foods on shelves, Bazilian wonders whether all the protein-packing isnt a little overdone. We vastly overstate our protein needs, she says. However, she notes proteins important for satiety, helping extend the digestion and release of blood sugar, or helping the production of enzymes and hormones. She also points to branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in aiding bodybuilding, helping deliver blood sugar to working muscle cells, and helping the repair of tissue or the explosiveness of muscle contraction. Supplementation with BCAAs leucine, isoleucine and valine following resistance training can increase insulin output, thus stimulating metabolic pathways and leading to the production of proteins that build muscle.

L-carnitine aids beta oxidation by moving long-chain acyl groups from fatty acids into the mitochondria for breakdown and introduction to the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Taurine, an organic-acid derivative of the amino acid cysteine, participates everywhere, in terms of brain function and neurotransmission, Chaudhari says. It also acts as an antioxidant, potentially protecting the body from the oxidative stress of exercise. As for creatine, we synthesize what we dont consume from the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. Its popular with athletes, because it acts as a buffer that keeps adenosine triphosphate levels high in places where its needed.

Experts eye protein-pumped snacks, bars and beverages as part of a growth category. These products are the leading edge of a trend that reflects an evolution of the energy drink and food market, says Alan Reed, senior vice president, U.S. manufacturing and ingredient marketing, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), Rosemont, IL. Today, its not just about a quick burst of energy followed by a serious crash a couple of hours later. He suggests whey protein to deliver longer-lasting energy than caffeine, taurine, guarana and sugar alone, as well as other, wide-reaching benefits like satiety, building and maintaining muscle, and helping to maintain lean body mass as people age.

Kimberlee K. J. Burrington, dairy ingredient application researcher, Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, Madison, a member of the DMI-sponsored National Dairy Foods Research Center Program, praises casein proteins heat stability in UHT and retort applications, and notes that whey proteinsthe richest food source of BCAAsoffer good acid stability in the pH range of 3.0 to 4.5. For fortification purposes, she recommends high-protein ingredients like milk protein isolates (90% protein), milk protein concentrates (70% to 80% protein), whey protein isolates (90% protein) and whey protein concentrates (80% protein).

A little boost on the side

Crucial to the energy-harvesting reactions of metabolism are enzymes and cofactors that rely on vitamins and minerals for their efficacy. These are the cofactors that drive those reactions in glycolysis, the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, Chaudhari says. Enzymes need some of these catalystssay, zinc and copper and manganese because the enzymes will not act unless you have these minerals to drive the reaction from A to B.

Also paramount to energy production are B vitamins. Take vitamin B2, or riboflavin. If you dont have B2, Chaudhari says, oxidative phosphorylation will not occur in the cytochrome cycle, and you wont be able to generate some of this energy. Niacin, or vitamin B3, also participates in metabolic redox reactions. Vitamin B1, or thiamin, functions in carbohydrate catabolism to form the coenzyme thiamin pyrophosphate.

Older consumers can benefit from added CoQ10. In the process of breaking everything down and getting it into the right chemical code for the body, CoQ10 is a key factor, says Walter Postelwait, vice president, sales and marketing, BI Nutraceuticals, Long Beach, CA. And, as we age, the bodys ability to produce CoQ10 decreases. So, while its easier to convert nutrients to energy when youre younger, as you age, it becomes harder, because you have less CoQ10 in your system.

Whether delivered via kola nuts, guarana, green tea or its pure crystalline form, caffeine is ubiquitous in energy formulations. Caffeine doesnt actually provide energy, notes Wang, but rather helps our bodies harvest and use the energy it has obtained from foods. It acts as a central nervous system stimulant, giving the feeling of alertness and helping to ward off drowsiness. Studies have shown that caffeine and green tea catechins work synergistically to increase metabolism, too, and burn calories more efficiently.

While caffeinated beverages are commonplace, supplementation of food is rarer because of persistent sensory challenges, particularly caffeines inherent bitterness. When formulating energy foods with green tea and other caffeine ingredients, Wang says, manufacturers must be aware of effects on taste, texture and, oftentimes, color. Now, standardized caffeine ingredients are available that are much less bitter, and are readily soluble for easy and even distribution in food products. Certain flavors, such as citrus or berry, can be used very effectively to mask any unwanted notes.

Like any other supplement ingredient, caffeine demands care during processing to ensure that stated levels remain in the finished product. It is common practice for manufacturers to add an overage amount of caffeine to their products to guarantee that the stated levels are still available in the product at the end of its shelf life, says Wang. The amount of overage for each product formulation may differ, so accurate testing under controlled conditions is very important.

Despite its benefits and established GRAS status, caffeine still courts some controversy. While formulating with natural sources like green tea may sidestep some controversy, caffeine still should be taken in moderation, as with most foods and active ingredients, says Wang. People react to caffeine in very different ways, so a relatively small dose can have a pronounced effect, even causing the caffeine jitters or upset stomach from increased production of stomach acid. It also can enhance the effectiveness and absorption of some drugs.

When determining what levels of caffeine to use in a food product such as an energy bar, snack chip, or breakfast cereal, food manufacturers must take into consideration many factors, such as the target marketkids, women, adults, et ceterathe product serving size, and the consumption frequency, Wang says. Using other products as a benchmarklike a typical 8-oz. cup of coffee at roughly 80 to 100 mg of caffeine, or a can of Red Bull at 80 mg per servingcan give manufacturers an acceptable baseline.

Too much of a good thing

No matter the ingredient, manufacturers should err on the side of caution when designing energy foods. It pays to remember energy equals calories, and in a nation awash in a surfeit of calories, adding too many more to our already hefty stores does us no favors.

Bazilian recommends reigning in snacks to between 100 and 150 kcal for those targeted to females, and to between 150 and 200 kcal for those geared to men. That should hold someones energy in good shape for a couple hours, she says.

Kimberly J. Decker, a California-based technical writer, has a B.S. in consumer food science with a minor in English from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she enjoys eating and writing about food. You can reach her at [email protected] .