The 3Carb Experiment (part 3)

In part 1 of this series we took a look at intracellular versus extracellular hydration. In part 2 we covered an experiment where one of our coaches used 3Carb and hooked himself up to a machine that measured his intra- versus extra-cellular hydration. This experiment told us that when we ingest a 3Carb drink as our carb source, the water from the beverage overwhelmingly hydrates our cells instead of spilling over into extracellular stores, ending up in the stomach, or getting removed by the bladder.

So why is this happening? Ingesting carbohydrates aids in the hydration by providing a rise in glucose and subsequently insulin, both of which help shuttle water into the cells. The problem with traditional sports drinks is the spike in blood sugar – because the door is only open while those carbs are active. When the carbs start losing their acute physiological effect (which is rapid with sugar), the door closes and the cells can’t take up hydration as readily. Because 3Carb is a (very) complex carbohydrate, it provides a sustained blood sugar response for an extremely long time – and throughout that time, your cells are more receptive to water uptake.

Let’s break this down with an analogy:

Imagine a runner going past you with a bag of money, and you’re allowed to grab as much as you can. If he sprints by, you can probably grab a handful. If he jogs slowly by, you might be able to grab a few handfuls. But if he jogs slowly by, and you run alongside him at the same pace, you can keep pulling money out of the bag until you’ve got as much as you can hold.

That’s what 3Carb does – it allows hydration to take place at a steady rate, and the cells to keep grabbing as much water as they need, for as long as they can. At least, that’s what we learned through this (admittedly small) experiment.