Text: Tobias Müller, Sonntagszeitung
In the world of endurance sports, this name has been omnipresent over the past five years and promised miracles: Maurten. The carbohydrate supplier in drink and gel form was dubbed revolutionary. And looking at the successes of the professional athletes sponsored by the brand, one could really get the idea that this was a new magic product on the market: Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge drank the Maurten drink during the 2018 Berlin Marathon and beat the world record by over a minute. Triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt consumed the sticky gels during the Ironman in St. George and was crowned world champion. And many other top athletes swore and still swear by the product’s effect.
Unlike conventional energy suppliers, Maurten’s special formula allows more carbohydrates to be absorbed per hour. With a sophisticated ratio of glucose and fructose as well as the addition of calcium carbonate and alginate, there should be fewer intolerances and stomach problems during sports. So with Maurten, athletes can not only do it longer, but also better – and records are broken and world championship titles are won in the process. At least that promise.
But the proof that cyclists can pedal longer and cross-country skiers can reach the finish line faster with this new product was lacking for a long time. Several studies showed no significant differences between conventional carbohydrate products and Maurten. It was not until the summer of 2021 that an English (and independent) study was able to show clear advantages of the Maurten products for the first time.
The scientists from the University of Leeds had eleven well-trained runners run at high intensity for two hours before they had to complete a 5‑kilometre run at the maximum. Each athlete completed this procedure three times, once with the Maurten products, once with a conventional carbohydrate drink and once with a placebo. With Maurten, the test persons ran the final 5‑kilometre run 7.6 percent faster than with the placebo, and 2.1 percent faster than with the normal sports drink. So Maurten does work better after all, despite the numerous studies that had previously failed to show any positive effect?
Daniel Hofstetter Hofstetter is a sports nutrition expert by trade and training who advises cyclists, triathletes and various team athletes – pros and ambitious amateur athletes alike. He doesn’t want to give too much weight to the one positive study from England, he says: «What many studies have been able to show is that more carbohydrates per hour could actually be consumed with Maurten products than with other brands. The only question is: does this actually mean that more energy is absorbed by the body and used for athletic performance? That could not be shown in a majority of the studies, although that would be decisive.»
Hofstetter finds the development of trying out new recipes and differentiated methods in the production of food supplements positive. And he likes the approach Maurten is taking. But he wouldn’t call the Swedish product a record-braking miracle. Hofstetter says: «If an athlete repeatedly has to struggle with stomach problems in competitions, then maybe this product can help. But most studies in recent years have clearly shown that Maurten has no benefits.»
