Gearing up for a run, race, or adventure is never quite as easy as it should be. What’s the weather going to do? Where’s my hat? Do I need my sunnies? Should I tie a single or double knot? Do I need nutrition today? Do I look as good as I think I do in these shorts? And is that never try something new on race day theory really true and something I should abide by?
Finding the perfect gel and combination of nutrients is no joke and is almost never solved by a simple walk through the grocery aisle. Your body is going to react differently to different products and with the metaphorical or physical finish line in sit, you need to know and trust your nutrition.
And even when you think you’ve found the perfect balance of sugars, electrolytes, and carbs that are going to keep your bowels in check, it makes life that much better when your taste buds are following in stride.
This is precisely why our Real Food Energy Gels are viscous. The few seconds it takes to masticate and ingest MUIR is long enough to allow the natural digestive process to activate and function properly. Your palate will relish our flavorful products, and your stomach will thank you for honoring its digestive process. High fives all around.
Similarly, our Real Food Hydration is clean tasting, low in calories and with no added sugar, you can drink it all day long without taxing your stomach or tastebuds. It’s something water has been asking for and we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t mixed it with some happy hour spirits.
MUIR gels and hydration are meant to complement each other and work as a team to ensure your body’s cooperation regardless of the activity. We’ve found that it’s best to separate your calories from your hydration, because your hydration needs will inevitably vary depending on temperature and intensity, among other factors. When your hydration is in your bottles and calories are in your pocket, you can adjust intake independently.
But as mentioned, everyone is different and we’re to help with some common questions and problems…
The Danger Zone… A Rumbling in the Tumtum
Think back to the last time you truly prepared for an exam. In theory, you spent hours upon hours prepping for those couple of hours where your brain and memory would be put to the ultimate test. The same philosophies come to play when prepping for a long run or race when thinking about the long-standing nightmare of what happens when your GI system says, “um, what’s this, that’s going to work down here!!” And thus why coaches, friends, and most walks of life will tell you to never try something new on race day… because your GI system is an untamed beast.
But MUIR, what’s going on internally? Gels and hydrations are sometimes hard to ‘stomach’ because in the heat of the battle your body is smart enough to know to send more blood to the active muscles, thus leaving your digestive track essentially idle. This makes digesting auxiliary nutrition more hands-on than normal. And to make things worse, over-processed carbohydrates, like those found in many traditional energy gels, tends to play out like eating a buffet helping of fettuccine alfredo moments before you hit the trail.
MUIRnswer
The MUIR family of gels and hydration was formulated from recipes derived from audaciously simple ingredients. Each flavor in the entire product line is made with just 3 - 6 real food ingredients: real fruit, real vegetables, real nut & seed butters, real food extracts, and a hint of salt. When you take in real food, you are not consuming single nutrients, but rather a whole range of vitamins, minerals, co-factors, and enzymes, that allow for optimal absorption and use by the body. For example, it is commonly known that bananas are a great source of potassium. But with each bite, you are also consuming (low glycemic) sugars, vitamin C, B6 vitamins, and magnesium.
This is precisely why our gels and hydration are made from real food with nutrition from Mother Nature. And with great purpose our gels are viscous. The few seconds it takes to masticate and ingest MUIR is long enough to allow the natural digestive process to activate and function properly. Your palate will relish our flavorful products, and your stomach will thank you for honoring its digestive process. High fives all around.
Similarly, our Real Food Hydration is clean tasting, low in calories and with no added sugar, you can drink it all day long without taxing your stomach or tastebuds. It’s something water has been asking for and we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t mixed it with some happy hour spirits.
And aside from doing all your training on the treadmill, in close proximity to the porcelain throne, dialing in the proper portions takes time and should be done in moderation over time. Truthfully, it’s the exact opposite of dialing in your drinking capabilities and the zero to hero to tomorrow morning tactics.
Flavors From the Lab
High in sugar, ingredients no one knows how to pronounce and the aftermath has you with that infamous bitter beer face or like you just chomped down a stick of playground chalk. The colors are pretty on the eyes and pop with the help of the dentist’s light, only furthering the question of what’s in the mixture. Does it have to be nuclear yellow to taste good, if it works for superstar athletes it should work for me, right? And why when your body is craving for nutrients, depleted from strenuous activity would it be plausible to slurp down a gel more fitting to represent silly putty or hydration that gets you all hyped for a split second before you crash like the stock market of the 30s?
MUIRnswer
Thankfully, human digestion has evolved over millennia to optimize the metabolic process of real food consumption. And with a rebellious spirit, we set out to create audaciously simple energy gels and hydration from only 3 - 6 real food ingredients that not only taste great but leave athletes and adventurers feeling energized and hydrated. We know where our ingredients are coming from and often it’s from local farms a few miles from our kitchen. Every gel and hydration is handmade by our staff in San Diego. And never does the product arrive at our kitchen ready for packaging. Each ingredient is measured, mixed, packaged, sealed, and shipped by MUIR.
All Bite and No Bark
Lots of big fancy words, shiny packaging, promises of sustained energy and replenished electrolytes is all too often the tale of nutrition. We’re certainly not going to argue against the predominant fact that energy gels are supposed to get into the body and activate as quickly as possible, but at what cost and with what synthetics to help the magic potion go down?
MUIRnswer
Using just a handful of carefully selected real food ingredients, we have created the MUIR family of gels and hydration. The result is a panoply of flavors to delight your palate (sweet, tart, citrusy, savory), to meet your caloric needs (fast and slow burning), replenish lost electrolytes and provide an immune-boosting supply of Vitamins A and C.
And built on the Audacity of Simple with just 3 - 6 ingredients (real fruits, real vegetables, and salt) across our entire product line, gram for gram MUIR Energy and Hydration provides more nutrition (quality calories, healthy fats, and proteins, vitamins and minerals) than any other product in our space.
Like a Bolt of Lightning
It’s great wonderful when energy gels hit your inner-workings and you feel an instant hype like you’ve just been shocked by a defibrillator. But too often the fuel dissipates quicker than your iPhone’s battery. It’s been frustrating to ride the rollercoaster of sugar highs and lows, where one traverse you’re spiking and on the next peak you might be better off rolling down the trailer. And as it may seem beneficial to hammer down another gel or chug your hydration, you may overwhelm your system and achieve the exact opposite of what you were hoping for.
MUIRnswer
MUIR gels and hydration are meant to complement each other and work as a team to ensure your body’s cooperation regardless of the activity. We’ve found that it’s best to separate your calories from your hydration, because your hydration needs will inevitably vary depending on temperature and intensity, among other factors. When your hydration is in your bottles and calories are in your pocket, you can adjust intake independently.
Our Fast Burning products are made with dehydrated fruits and vegetables (we’ve removed the water to maximize flavor and nutrition density). These simple sugar sources metabolize quickly. When combined with our mineral rich and low glycemic electrolyte base, the result is a clean, fast fuel source for your shorter adventures.
Our Slow Burning products are made with raw nut and seed butters. The healthy fats and protein in these nut butters metabolize slowly. When combined with our mineral rich and low glycemic electrolyte base, the result is a clean, sustained fuel source for your longer adventures.
MUIR gels and hydration are meant to complement each other and work as a team to ensure your body’s cooperation regardless of the activity. We’ve found that it’s best to separate your calories from your hydration, because your hydration needs will inevitably vary depending on temperature and intensity, among other factors. When your hydration is in your bottles and calories are in your pocket, you can adjust intake independently.
And at the end of the day, MUIR Energy was derived from a necessity for simple food that was flavorful, calorically and nutritionally dense, and made exclusively with real ingredients. The MUIR family of gels and hydration are meant for endurance athletes, the outdoor adventurer, and above all else, those who don’t want to ingest a bunch of junk. MUIR Energy is the Audacity of Simple with 3 - 6 ingredients across the product line.
