Isomaltulose – the ideal carbohydrate

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2016-08-03

In this article, I want to talk about a product called isomaltulose. I think few of you know what it is, so I will start from the basics.

Many know that all gainers are made based on maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is a pure carbohydrate with a high glycemic index (GI) of about 110 – 130. For comparison, the GI of sugar is 70.

For those who are not aware, GI is a measure of how quickly our blood sugar level rises after consuming a particular food. The higher it is, the greater the risk of gaining fat. This means that maltodextrin breaks down quickly, providing our body with a large portion of carbohydrates in a short period of time, which can easily be stored as fat since the body rarely needs that much carbohydrate within 40 – 60 minutes.

But why do manufacturers put this maltodextrin in gainers? Simply put, it’s cheap. 1 kg costs 150 – 200 rubles at purchase. That’s why they use it.

So, isomaltulose is the older sibling (or sister) of maltodextrin. It is also a powder that consists 100% of carbohydrates.

However, these carbohydrates have a GI of only 32 (four times lower than maltodextrin!).

That is even lower than buckwheat, oatmeal, any type of bread, yogurt, etc. And what’s good about a low glycemic index? It's that such a product breaks down slowly (four times slower), gradually releasing glucose into the blood. The body has time to utilize this glucose and does not store it as fat.

But why don't manufacturers use isomaltulose in gainers if it’s so beneficial? Because it is about three times more expensive. Would you buy a gainer at the price of protein? No. You want a cheap gainer. So manufacturers are forced to put in what’s cheaper. To be fair, there are gainers that contain isomaltulose, but usually, it is still mixed with maltodextrin. And such gainers cost about 1500 rubles per kg.

What purposes is isomaltulose suitable for?

Essentially, isomaltulose is the ideal carbohydrate substitute. More accurately, it is 100% carbohydrate. It is suitable for both weight gain and weight loss. Because even when you are losing weight, you need to consume about 2 grams of carbohydrates per 1 kg of body weight. And when consuming carbohydrates from regular food, we often encounter those with a GI higher than 32. Even taking the same buckwheat (GI - 50).

And if you add protein to this product, you get a complete meal replacement. Similar to Energy Diet, but four times cheaper.

Having such a product on hand, you can make porridge with milk, add it to protein (creating the perfect gainer), and generally use it as a meal replacement (if you are losing weight). Or make a gainer from it if you're trying to gain weight.

In general, until people are ready to buy expensive gainers, manufacturers will continue to make them entirely from maltodextrin. But I'm afraid this may never happen. People do not want to think and understand all these indices, etc. They understand that this is a carbohydrate, and that is a carbohydrate. So why would they buy another carbohydrate three times as expensive? It's good that there is this website to explain everything to you. May there always be a website, and may I always be here )) Good luck!