Maltodextrin – popular with athletes

What is maltodextrin? Maltodextrin is a carbohydrate mixture that is mainly obtained from corn starch. The carbohydrate mixture contains monomers (simple sugars) and dimers (double sugars), but also oligomers (short-chain multiple sugars) and polymers (longer-chain multiple sugars). Depending on the proportion of different sugars, there are different forms of maltodextrin, namely maltodextrin 6, 12 or 19. Depending on the type, 100 grams of maltodextrin contain around 400 calories.

Use of maltodextrin

Maltodextrin is mainly used in food production. Here it is used in a variety of ways:

• For example, it is used as a  thickening agent  for baby food and confectionery, meat and sausages, and instant soups.
• Maltodextrin is also used as a  fat substitute  , especially in light products. Fat substitutes can significantly reduce the calorie and fat content of food.
• Maltodextrin is also used as an  energy  source in artificial nutrition. With artificial nutrition, the food is either fed directly through the gastrointestinal tract by means of a tube (enteral nutrition) or infused into the bloodstream (parenteral nutrition).
• Finally, maltodextrin is also used in the coffee industry as an  extender  . Diluted  coffee  is not 100 percent coffee powder, but instead is diluted with cheaper fillers. Such fillers include, for example, caramel, but also maltodextrin. For example, processed coffee contains up to ten percent maltodextrin.

Maltodextrin im Sport

In addition to all of these uses, maltodextrin is also  extremely popular with endurance athletes. Due to its positive properties, it is often a component of isotonic drinks or energy gels.

Maltodextrin is often used by endurance athletes because it is  nutritionally particularly valuable compared to other carbohydrate mixtures  . For example, maltodextrin is absorbed more slowly than other carbohydrates. Due to the slower absorption, the blood sugar rises   less quickly than with pure dextrose. Since blood sugar levels rise more slowly, only as much  insulin  is released as is needed.

When glucose is absorbed, on the other hand, large amounts of insulin are released, which can lead to hypoglycaemia. How much maltodextrin causes the blood sugar level to rise always depends on which form of maltodextrin is used.

While short-chain carbohydrates have a sweet taste, maltodextrin is rather  tasteless  and is therefore not perceived as too sweet during high physical exertion. In addition, maltodextrin binds less water than other carbohydrate mixtures. As a result, maltodextrin prevents excessive water inflow into the small intestine and is therefore better tolerated. In addition, drinks with maltodextrin – in contrast to other carbohydrate mixtures that bind more water – are perceived as pleasant, especially by dehydrated athletes.

Gain weight with maltodextrin

Among athletes – especially in weight training – maltodextrin is also known as a means of gaining weight, as a so-called  “weight gainer”  . After training, bodybuilders often drink a shake that   contains maltodextrin in addition to protein . Maltodextrin releases insulin, which is also considered a transport hormone, in the body. Building materials for the muscles such as  creatine  or  amino acids can then be  quickly transported into the muscle cells via the insulin.

In addition to bodybuilders, some people who have a very low weight also take maltodextrin to gain weight. In such cases, however, it is better to resort to ordinary foods with a high calorie content. Under no circumstances should maltodextrin be used as the sole measure for gaining weight.

Maltodextrin: side effects and contraindications

The most common side effects of maltodextrin include  belching  and  heartburn . Serious side effects are not known to date. However, when taking maltodextrin, one should always remember that it is a dietary supplement. Therefore, maltodextrin should only be taken in limited amounts  , regardless of whether you want to gain weight or pursue sporting ambitions  . Depending on the origin of the products, it is also possible that the corn starch used was obtained from genetically modified corn.

If you are sensitive to maltodextrin, for example with  nausea , vomiting or  diarrhea , you should stop taking it immediately.

People  suffering from diabetes  should avoid taking maltodextrin. Because maltodextrin is broken down in the body into glucose and thus causes the blood sugar level to rise.

What is maltodextrin?

The term maltodextrin is derived from the two words maltose (malt sugar) and dextrose. A maltose molecule consists of two glucose molecules and is therefore a disaccharide. Dextrose, on the other hand, is a special form of glucose – namely D-glucose – and is therefore a simple sugar. Dextrose is better known under the name grape sugar.

Maltodextrin is water soluble, almost tasteless and only slightly sweet. The degree of sweetness is indicated by the so-called dextrose equivalent. Depending on the composition of the maltodextrin, it fluctuates between three and 20 units. For comparison: Starch has a sweetness of 1 unit, pure glucose of 100 units. Incidentally, the higher the degree of sweetness, the better the solubility of maltodextrin.

Maltodextrin 6, Maltodextrin 12 and Maltodextrin 19 are commercially sold. The individual products differ in the chain length of their sugar molecules. Maltodextrin 6 has more long-chain carbohydrates than maltodextrin 12 and 19. The sweetness of maltodextrin is also influenced by the chain length: maltodextrin 6 is less sweet than maltodextrin 12 and 19.