My Generation UCAN review for Slowtwitch....
In July slowtwitch.com put out a call on the user forum for taste testers for Generation UCAN. I applied and was selected. The below text is the review I posted on the forum on August 31, 2017.
When I first saw that Generation UCAN was included as one of the products in the ST Nutrition Taste Test I was excited. Since early-June, I have been participating in an online course on metabolic efficiency training (MET) lead by Dina Griffin, one of the eNRG Performance’s sport dietitians. And since Generation UCAN is touted as being complimentary to MET, I was very interested to try it and see how it works for me.
Athletic Background: I have been participating in triathlons and endurance events since 2002. I am a solid middle of the pack athlete. I have completed triathlons up to Ironman (X4), ultra runs including 2 100 mile finishes and swim marathons (up to 10k). I am definitely slow and steady type athlete.
For this taste test, I was training for the Swim to the Moon 10K OWS and a HIM. I was averaging 13-15 hours a week including 20,000 yards swimming, 5-6 hours bike and 4 hours running. I completed the 10K swim during the training and used UCAN as fuel (more on that later).
Nutritional Background: I have horrible gut issues. Not just during training but on a day-to-day basis. I seem to cycle between just moderate inconvenience to flares where even getting to work can be challenging. I have very few consecutive days where I can honestly say I have had no stomach issues.
Daily Nutrition – I guess I would call my diet a whole-foods based diet. I eat very few processed foods and eat mainly meats, foods, and veggies with very limited dairy (full fat greek yogurt) and grains (rice). Since 2010, I have experimented on and off with an MET based diet but never felt like I had a good handle on how to periodize my diet with training so I would struggle during long training weeks and get frustrated. However, the online course I took with Dina Griffin helped me get a better handle on MET concepts and it is now working well for me. Both in terms of training (energy/recovery) and a reduction in GI issues.
Training/Race Nutrition- I have used just about every combination of products in the last 15 years – course nutrition of Gatorade and gels, all liquids (infinit, tailwind, efs, carbo pro), bars (picky bars), “real” food (rice cakes, dates, etc) and more. Trial and error has taught me than an all liquid fueling strategy seems to work best. I used tailwind in 2016 but it failed me during races so I switched back to infinit for 2017 with some new custom blends. The infinit seemed to be working ok with only minor bloating during my early season races but am always on the lookout for something that might give me no problems at all which I why I tried the UCAN. I guess I should also note that I did try UCAN in 2010 and thought it tasted horrible. I couldn’t tell you how well it worked for me back then as I couldn’t get enough down due to the taste/texture.
We were given two products – drink mix and bars – with various flavors of each. I’ll review each product independently. We also had the opportunity to chat with Matt Bach, sponsored athlete and Pro Triathlete. I took advantage of this and spoke with Matt via email on how he uses the products in his training/racing, why he started using UCAN, and his favorite flavors.
UCAN DRINK MIX
Product Use: The drink mixes comes in two options: with protein and without protein. For the taste test, we were provided with the orange and cocoa delite flavors that do not have protein and vanilla cream that does. The protein mix is not a protein powder (as it only has 7 g of protein).
The directions suggested drinking 1 serving 30-60 minutes pre-workout, 1 packet every 90 minutes during training, and to use the protein version post workout. For the most part, I tried to follow these instructions. If I wasn’t going to eat a meal/snack close to the start or end of my workouts, I would use the UCAN. For workouts over 2 hours or so, I would then use 1 packet every 90 minutes during training. The main difference between UCAN and the other liquid fuel options is that UCAN is that its recommended to consumed at one time (similar to a gel) and not over time (like infinit). I was worried about having 10-12 ounces of fuel hit my stomach all at once but it seemed to work out fine. No cramping, bloating or GI issues.
For hydration during workouts, I used water or water with electrolytes (Right Stuff or UCAN Hydrate) depending on temperature and the workout. I tend to stay away from “fizzy” electrolytes due to my GI issues.
Flavors: Of the three flavors, the orange was my favorite. I also really liked the cocoa delite but I didn’t like it as much during my workouts mainly as I prefer tart over sweet during exercise. I ended up using pre-workout. The vanilla cream was horrible and I didn’t like it at all. It had a funny after taste that got worse the more I drank. I actually had a hard time getting through a whole serving and usually ended up dumping a few ounces in the sink.
I also wanted to note that the texture of the UCAN is a bit different than other products I have used. It is “thicker”. Think the consistency of skim/2% milk. It isn’t horrible but it does take a bit to get used to as it coats your mouth a bit.
Digestibility: I thought the digestibility was amazing. I had no cramping, bloating or bathroom emergencies while using the products. After consuming, I would burb a few times but I think this was related to quickly drinking the product in 1 setting and not sipping over time.
Convenience: The product is a more challenging to mix than say infinit or scratch. You really do need to use a blender bottle to get the product to mix into the water. I could never get a smooth mix with just hand shaking. It is also very, very fine so it does blow all over the place if you try to pour it outside.
In terms of use during exercise, the jury is still out but this is related to me trying to figure out how to carry the product on long rides and runs. With infinit it was easy – mix bottles and go as fuel as hydration was combined. By switching towards a liquid fuel and needing to have separate hydration, I need more bottles than I can carry (especially on long training rides where I don’t have an option to refuel). With infinit I can carry 3 hours of hydration/fuel but with UCAN I have 2 hours of hydration and 3+ hours of fuel (as it can be concentrated). I haven’t tried a gel flask yet but it is something I am considering so that I can go back to 3 hours of hydration on the bike.
Perceived Energy: I felt that my energy was more consistent during workouts causing them to feel a bit easier. This was especially apparent over my long swims. I was able to maintain my 100 pace even in later parts of 6000+ yard workouts. Some of this could have been related to fitness gains but I did notice that the 100s didn’t feel as easy later in the workouts fueled with other products. And while I was worried that only using UCAN on intervals, I would feel like I did when I used gels – energy swings up/down but that didn’t happen. My energy was very stable and consistent throughout the 90 minutes between feedings.
And in workouts where I used it as a snack, I felt like I had more consistent energy than I did when I had a real food snack such as nuts, avocado and red pepper.
Workout Intensity: For workouts where used UCAN before and during, I did feel like I could sustain a higher intensity that usual. I typically ate my normal pre-workout meal but added a cocoa delite UCAN about 30-45 minutes prior. It could be the UCAN or just the extra calories. I think it is a combination of both the extra carbs and the carb type.
Perceived Effort: I covered this under perceived energy above.
Recovery: I would say that I didn’t notice any noticeable change in recovery. I don’t typically use a recovery product as I usually eat directly after workouts. And as I mentioned, I had a hard time drinking the vanilla so I never actually drank a full serving.
Other Comments: I did use the UCAN powder as my race fuel for my 10K open water swim. I drank 1 packet of cocoa delite about 30-40 minutes prior to the start (about 1 hour after breakfast) and 2 scoops of orange at the 3.1 mile mark (which was about 90 minutes into my race). It worked well and I felt strong throughout. I also didn’t get hungry which is common for me in long swims.
In summary, I would call my taste test with UCAN a success and have purchased some additional quantiles of the orange and cocoa delite. I hope to begin to integrate it more into my training and see if this will be the solution to my GI distress.
UCAN SNACK BARS
Product Use: We were provided with 2 flavors of bars as part of the taste test- cinnamon swirl and coffee bean. Prior to the taste test, I happened to order a trial back when they were on sale so I also had peach passion.
UCAN’s guidance on the bars is to use them pre/post workout. I typically used them between workouts on long training days (8000+yard swim followed by 2-3 hours on the bike). For these workouts, I usually had a short drive from the pool to where I biked so I ate one along the way. I also did a few workouts where they were my afternoon snack prior to a 90+ minute evening workout.
Flavors: The coffee bean was excellent. The cinnamon roll was horrible. It was very bitter and I couldn’t finish it. The peach is also awesome and tastes just like a peach. The texture of the bars is very different to other bars that I have had in the past (picky, rx, cliff, bonk breakers, etc). My best comparison is that it has the texture of dry-ish raw cookie dough. Overall, I like both the coffee bean and peach bars.
Digestibility: Similar to the drink mix, I had no GI issues with the bars.
Convenience: As easy to use as any bar on the market.
Perceived Energy/Effort: Similar with the drink mix, my energy was good and consistent even over 5-6 hour bricks.
Workout Intensity: Most of the workouts that I fueled with the bars were easy to moderate based rides so I never tried them out at intensity. And at the easy/moderate efforts, the product worked amazingly. I was surprised at how good I felt at the end of a 3 hour swim/3 hour ride brick.
Recovery: No noticeable change.
Comments: Not sure if I will continue to use these regularly in my training/racing but it is more to do with my preferences than the product. I don’t like to chew during workouts and with my stomach issues, I always just feel “safer” with liquids over solids.
When I first saw that Generation UCAN was included as one of the products in the ST Nutrition Taste Test I was excited. Since early-June, I have been participating in an online course on metabolic efficiency training (MET) lead by Dina Griffin, one of the eNRG Performance’s sport dietitians. And since Generation UCAN is touted as being complimentary to MET, I was very interested to try it and see how it works for me.
Athletic Background: I have been participating in triathlons and endurance events since 2002. I am a solid middle of the pack athlete. I have completed triathlons up to Ironman (X4), ultra runs including 2 100 mile finishes and swim marathons (up to 10k). I am definitely slow and steady type athlete.
For this taste test, I was training for the Swim to the Moon 10K OWS and a HIM. I was averaging 13-15 hours a week including 20,000 yards swimming, 5-6 hours bike and 4 hours running. I completed the 10K swim during the training and used UCAN as fuel (more on that later).
Nutritional Background: I have horrible gut issues. Not just during training but on a day-to-day basis. I seem to cycle between just moderate inconvenience to flares where even getting to work can be challenging. I have very few consecutive days where I can honestly say I have had no stomach issues.
Daily Nutrition – I guess I would call my diet a whole-foods based diet. I eat very few processed foods and eat mainly meats, foods, and veggies with very limited dairy (full fat greek yogurt) and grains (rice). Since 2010, I have experimented on and off with an MET based diet but never felt like I had a good handle on how to periodize my diet with training so I would struggle during long training weeks and get frustrated. However, the online course I took with Dina Griffin helped me get a better handle on MET concepts and it is now working well for me. Both in terms of training (energy/recovery) and a reduction in GI issues.
Training/Race Nutrition- I have used just about every combination of products in the last 15 years – course nutrition of Gatorade and gels, all liquids (infinit, tailwind, efs, carbo pro), bars (picky bars), “real” food (rice cakes, dates, etc) and more. Trial and error has taught me than an all liquid fueling strategy seems to work best. I used tailwind in 2016 but it failed me during races so I switched back to infinit for 2017 with some new custom blends. The infinit seemed to be working ok with only minor bloating during my early season races but am always on the lookout for something that might give me no problems at all which I why I tried the UCAN. I guess I should also note that I did try UCAN in 2010 and thought it tasted horrible. I couldn’t tell you how well it worked for me back then as I couldn’t get enough down due to the taste/texture.
We were given two products – drink mix and bars – with various flavors of each. I’ll review each product independently. We also had the opportunity to chat with Matt Bach, sponsored athlete and Pro Triathlete. I took advantage of this and spoke with Matt via email on how he uses the products in his training/racing, why he started using UCAN, and his favorite flavors.
UCAN DRINK MIX
Product Use: The drink mixes comes in two options: with protein and without protein. For the taste test, we were provided with the orange and cocoa delite flavors that do not have protein and vanilla cream that does. The protein mix is not a protein powder (as it only has 7 g of protein).
The directions suggested drinking 1 serving 30-60 minutes pre-workout, 1 packet every 90 minutes during training, and to use the protein version post workout. For the most part, I tried to follow these instructions. If I wasn’t going to eat a meal/snack close to the start or end of my workouts, I would use the UCAN. For workouts over 2 hours or so, I would then use 1 packet every 90 minutes during training. The main difference between UCAN and the other liquid fuel options is that UCAN is that its recommended to consumed at one time (similar to a gel) and not over time (like infinit). I was worried about having 10-12 ounces of fuel hit my stomach all at once but it seemed to work out fine. No cramping, bloating or GI issues.
For hydration during workouts, I used water or water with electrolytes (Right Stuff or UCAN Hydrate) depending on temperature and the workout. I tend to stay away from “fizzy” electrolytes due to my GI issues.
Flavors: Of the three flavors, the orange was my favorite. I also really liked the cocoa delite but I didn’t like it as much during my workouts mainly as I prefer tart over sweet during exercise. I ended up using pre-workout. The vanilla cream was horrible and I didn’t like it at all. It had a funny after taste that got worse the more I drank. I actually had a hard time getting through a whole serving and usually ended up dumping a few ounces in the sink.
I also wanted to note that the texture of the UCAN is a bit different than other products I have used. It is “thicker”. Think the consistency of skim/2% milk. It isn’t horrible but it does take a bit to get used to as it coats your mouth a bit.
Digestibility: I thought the digestibility was amazing. I had no cramping, bloating or bathroom emergencies while using the products. After consuming, I would burb a few times but I think this was related to quickly drinking the product in 1 setting and not sipping over time.
Convenience: The product is a more challenging to mix than say infinit or scratch. You really do need to use a blender bottle to get the product to mix into the water. I could never get a smooth mix with just hand shaking. It is also very, very fine so it does blow all over the place if you try to pour it outside.
In terms of use during exercise, the jury is still out but this is related to me trying to figure out how to carry the product on long rides and runs. With infinit it was easy – mix bottles and go as fuel as hydration was combined. By switching towards a liquid fuel and needing to have separate hydration, I need more bottles than I can carry (especially on long training rides where I don’t have an option to refuel). With infinit I can carry 3 hours of hydration/fuel but with UCAN I have 2 hours of hydration and 3+ hours of fuel (as it can be concentrated). I haven’t tried a gel flask yet but it is something I am considering so that I can go back to 3 hours of hydration on the bike.
Perceived Energy: I felt that my energy was more consistent during workouts causing them to feel a bit easier. This was especially apparent over my long swims. I was able to maintain my 100 pace even in later parts of 6000+ yard workouts. Some of this could have been related to fitness gains but I did notice that the 100s didn’t feel as easy later in the workouts fueled with other products. And while I was worried that only using UCAN on intervals, I would feel like I did when I used gels – energy swings up/down but that didn’t happen. My energy was very stable and consistent throughout the 90 minutes between feedings.
And in workouts where I used it as a snack, I felt like I had more consistent energy than I did when I had a real food snack such as nuts, avocado and red pepper.
Workout Intensity: For workouts where used UCAN before and during, I did feel like I could sustain a higher intensity that usual. I typically ate my normal pre-workout meal but added a cocoa delite UCAN about 30-45 minutes prior. It could be the UCAN or just the extra calories. I think it is a combination of both the extra carbs and the carb type.
Perceived Effort: I covered this under perceived energy above.
Recovery: I would say that I didn’t notice any noticeable change in recovery. I don’t typically use a recovery product as I usually eat directly after workouts. And as I mentioned, I had a hard time drinking the vanilla so I never actually drank a full serving.
Other Comments: I did use the UCAN powder as my race fuel for my 10K open water swim. I drank 1 packet of cocoa delite about 30-40 minutes prior to the start (about 1 hour after breakfast) and 2 scoops of orange at the 3.1 mile mark (which was about 90 minutes into my race). It worked well and I felt strong throughout. I also didn’t get hungry which is common for me in long swims.
In summary, I would call my taste test with UCAN a success and have purchased some additional quantiles of the orange and cocoa delite. I hope to begin to integrate it more into my training and see if this will be the solution to my GI distress.
UCAN SNACK BARS
Product Use: We were provided with 2 flavors of bars as part of the taste test- cinnamon swirl and coffee bean. Prior to the taste test, I happened to order a trial back when they were on sale so I also had peach passion.
UCAN’s guidance on the bars is to use them pre/post workout. I typically used them between workouts on long training days (8000+yard swim followed by 2-3 hours on the bike). For these workouts, I usually had a short drive from the pool to where I biked so I ate one along the way. I also did a few workouts where they were my afternoon snack prior to a 90+ minute evening workout.
Flavors: The coffee bean was excellent. The cinnamon roll was horrible. It was very bitter and I couldn’t finish it. The peach is also awesome and tastes just like a peach. The texture of the bars is very different to other bars that I have had in the past (picky, rx, cliff, bonk breakers, etc). My best comparison is that it has the texture of dry-ish raw cookie dough. Overall, I like both the coffee bean and peach bars.
Digestibility: Similar to the drink mix, I had no GI issues with the bars.
Convenience: As easy to use as any bar on the market.
Perceived Energy/Effort: Similar with the drink mix, my energy was good and consistent even over 5-6 hour bricks.
Workout Intensity: Most of the workouts that I fueled with the bars were easy to moderate based rides so I never tried them out at intensity. And at the easy/moderate efforts, the product worked amazingly. I was surprised at how good I felt at the end of a 3 hour swim/3 hour ride brick.
Recovery: No noticeable change.
Comments: Not sure if I will continue to use these regularly in my training/racing but it is more to do with my preferences than the product. I don’t like to chew during workouts and with my stomach issues, I always just feel “safer” with liquids over solids.
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