Update on Sport Jelly Beans

So, as promised, I tried out some of the Sport Jelly Beans made by Jelly Belly. I was on a ride with one of my buddies. We went for 35 miles at a medium pace. I used half the bag of beans at about 18 miles and then the rest at about 33 miles. It kinda sucked because I didn't really get the bag open all the way and was basically sucking the beans out of the bag. (that didn't sound great, but... whatever) So, we were tooling along and I snagged some of the beans to recharge. As I popped them in I noticed, as I began to chew them, that they basically turned into a gel. Which isn't exactly what I expected, but nevertheless I watered them down as you are supposed to do with gel, and as I recommended. I tried the Lemon-lime flavored ones and basically they tasted like gatorade flavored gel. They were sugary, but I didn't really notice any effects other than ones similar to eating regular jelly beans. Just like eating any kind of sugar on the bike. I would rather eat a granola bar or a Snickers Marathon, a favorite of mine.

The beans were as I expected them to be, a meager attempt by Jelly Belly to enter the sport supplement market. They would be better served by remaining in their key demographic (kids) and stick to their main draw: Jelly Beans as candy. It seems that these beans turned to gel immediately. I don't remember the regular Jelly Beans doing that, although, I haven't had regular Jelly Beans in years, so understandably I don't remember the texture of chewing 5 Jelly Beans. I believe the other flavor is orange. If anyone tries that flavor, let me know what you think. I am interested.

Also, if anyone has used Accelerade as a sport drink let me know. I'm interested to see whether people think it makes a difference as compared to other supplements. For those of you that aren't familiar with Accelerade, it has the normal electrolyte composition of sodium, glucose, and potassium. The main difference is that Accelerade also has a protein component to it, albeit a smaller percentage of the total drink than say glucose. Accelerade uses the ratio of 4 grams of carbos to 1 gram of protein. Accelerade claims that the protein content increases the ability of your body to absorb the other electrolytes. It is not a protein drink per se, but their claim is that during a workout the protein is used to actively build muscles. It is also supposed to increase the content of muscle glycogen.
Visit their website at: Accelerade.com
To read more about their "research" visit: Accelerade.com: Studies