CarbMAX is the Strom solution to maintaining glucose and glycogen stores during longer intensive trainings. This is the 4th formula iteration as it has been continuously developed over the years to yield better performance outcomes. #NEVERSETTLE

The feature ingredient of the formula is Palatinose™, which provides a slow breakdown source of both glucose and fructose for your energy replacing needs. CarbMAX also includes Citrulline Malate, Glycerol monostearate, then the electrolytes: sodium, magnesium, and potassium for complimentary intraworkout support.

THE FORMULA

Each tub of CarbMAX includes 50 servings, available in Cherry, Lime Citrus, and Cotton Candy flavours.
Each serve includes the following:

• Palatinose™ (25g)

• Citrulline Malate (2000mg)

• Glycerol Monostearate (500mg)

• Sodium (104mg)

• Potassium (30.6mg)

• Magnesium (18.4mg)

• Calcium (2.96mg)

Palatinose™ itself is just a Beneo Gmbh trademarked isomaltulose, meaning you can have greater assurance that the quality is according to what research has been demonstrated with Palatinose™ interventions. Palatinose™ has been investigated in numerous human clinical trials over the last twenty years, meaning we have a good depth of consistent evidence to reach upon. 
Quality variables would include the purity of the isomaltulose and whether any sucrose, free glucose, or free fructose is remaining from the manufacturing process. Isomaltulose is not a new ingredient and has a good history of use in commercial foods since  as early as 1985, primarily for it’s improved glycemic response, but also due to other food stability properties such as improved shelf life. It is naturally occurring in honey and sugar cane in small quantities.

Palatinose™ is a disaccharide made up of one glucose and one fructose, similar to sucrose.

In fact, Palatinose™ is manufactured from sugar beets, first processing them down to sucrose, then re-arranging the glucose and fructose bond by an enzymic process. Sucrose is bonded with a α-(1→2) link which is relatively easy to break, isomaltulose is a restructured to be bonded with a α-(1→6) link, of which is broken by hydrolysis at approximately 20% of the rate of sucrose. This makes for a more sustained release of glucose and fructose, GI of 32, for uptake throughout the small intestine, rather than the quick release that occurs with sucrose (GI: 67).The flavour of isomaltulose is also altered, having a mild, natural sweetness approximately 50% of that of sucrose but similar in profile. If you're aware of the differences between dextrins and Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrin, you could consider this a similar comparison in flavour and function to sucrose.

What happens when I consume Palatinose™?
Unlike other sugars, Palatinose™ is not fermented in the mouth and so won’t create the acids that cause damage to teeth. Then when entering the stomach, Palatinose™ will also pass unmetabolized, being highly resistant to acidic exposure.
First stages of metabolism and uptake begin in the small intestine, like sucrose, Palatinose is hydrolyzed by sucrase-isomaltase enzymes. But compared to sucrose, the bonding between glucose and fructose is very strong - and as such the enzymatic hydrolyzation (breakdown) occurs at a far slower rate.
Once the glucose and fructose components are released as free units, they’re each taken up by their respective transporters to pass through the intestinal wall into circulation. There they are able to be dispersed to perform their roles as direct fuel or to be stored for future use, the same as any other free glucose or fructose.
This is slower hydrolyzation quality is responsible for the more gradual increase in blood glucose, slowly releasing and then absorbing the glucose and fructose over an extended duration throughout the length of the small intestine. As such this allows for a more moderate insulin release, avoiding dramatic spikes and falls that can lead to insulin insensitivity issues.

Palatinose™ is demonstrated to be fully digested before reaching the large intestine in cases of bolus doses of 50g, but is expected to be fully digestible at doses higher. Hence there is little impact to note for the large intestine, but importantly it doesn’t cause any onset of digestive distress. 

Ideal glucose to fructose loading with Palatinose™
Having a 1:1 yield of glucose to fructose, Palatinose™ by itself is within the optimal range of glucose to fructose ratio for optimal saturation of transporters and performance benefit.
A recent study has found a maximally effective ratio of 1.25:1 glucose to fructose in a group of eight cyclists, but it's important to acknowledge significant individual variation does occur according to person to person enzyme differences and this was a small and selected population group. Hence if you do want to load carbohydrates 90g per hour (or more) and are looking to optimize maximum digestion capacity and performance benefit, we'd suggest using Palatinose™ (or CarbMAX) as your base and then test adjusting glucose sources up to a maximum of a 2:1 ratio to assess where in the range your best outcomes are gained. This is real 1% improvements type situation for competitive contexts, and Palatinose™ alone will meet needs for standard training.
​For example, split dosing 75g Palatinose™ (3 scoops CarbMAX) alongside an additional 15g glucose source such as maltodextrin or Cluster Dextrin™ will yield 47.5g glucose, and 32.5g glucose, making for a 1.46:1 glucose to fructose ratio. Important to acknowledge is that the maximal performance point carbohydrate loading per hour being approximately 90g per hour is also a figure subject to variance person to person. The key lesson here, we encourage you to experiment with your protocol to find your optimal ratios, and that the Palatinose™ in CarbMAX can provide a foundation by which you can do so.   

The 2g dose of citrulline malate is intended to act as a "topping-up" dose to sustain nitric oxide production throughout the entire training session. It's expected that most athletes will be using some for of nitric oxide enhancing preworkout prior to training, and so this is a compliment to ensure a steady enhancement throughout the training session. However even if no other nitric oxide modulators have been implemented, this addition citrulline malate will facilitate more production.  

Nitric oxide signals for vein walls to expand, expanding the pipes of our blood circulation system, decreasing blood pressure and allowing for a greater rate of flow with less strain on your cardiovascular system. This supports delivery of nutrients, such as the glucose and fructose broken down from Palatinose™. Aiding in performance, recovery, and healthy blood pressure - of which is vital to all organ health. 
​

CarbMAX includes a 500mg dose of Glycerol monostearate, like the citrulline malate, also intended to act as a "top ping-up" dose as the training session continues and any initial glycerol loading as part of your preworkout begins to break down. Glycerol is shown to support the retention of water within cells to create a state of "hyper-hydration". This is hypothesized to be responsible for the improvements in aerobic power by improving thermo-regulation, thus delaying onset of muscle fatigue. Glycerol is a great ingredient if you expect to be sweating, as it will help you retain a higher water content, allowing a greater buffer to lose. For particularly significant hyper hydration states, as often used in endurance sports additional glycerol loading may be relevant.
​

Within CarbMAX is the Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Calcium electrolyte complex originally intended to be a compliment alongside ESSENTIALMAX as the full intra stack. Their combined dosing is intended to be relevant to the scope of sweat losses that may occur for a bodybuilding or powerlifting athlete, of which is the main user group for CarbMAX currently. It is expected that if an athlete is utilizing CarbMAX on top of EssentialMAX, then their electrolyte replenishing needs will be slightly greater due to greater duration of training, in which additional carbohydrates lend well to.

All four minerals are essential, and well known for, maintaining hydration status by managing intracellular (within cells) and extracellular (in between cells) water status.
If you are an endurance athlete or doing activities that encourage a high rate of sweating, an additional electrolyte donating supplement may be necessary.
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F.A.Q.

I'm a larger strength athlete and need more carbohydrates, can I adjust dose accordingly?
Absolutely, in fact CarbMAX was formulated specifically with capacity for varying doses in mind.
Depending on your needs, it is expected that CarbMAX could be double or even triple scooped for particularly large persons, depending on the duration and intensity of the given activity. It is partially for this reason that the electrolyte, citrulline, and glycerol doses are kept on the lower end, thus ensuring when multiple servings are required or CarbMAX is used alongside a preworkout, no ingredient is being overdosed.
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I'm an endurance athlete, is CarbMAX suitable for me?
Yes - however you will also need to include an additional electrolyte source as with your higher sweat rates will also come higher demand. Depending on total duration of the activity, and intensity, use of multiple serves, up to 2.5 scoops per hour would be valuable to contribute a slow releasing carbohydrate source of both glucose and fructose. When seeking particularly high carbohydrate intake in the realm of 90g/hr, other food sources of glucose only should be incorporated due to it's higher saturation capacity than fructose. If you require a lightweight option on race day, CarbMAX can easily be made into a more viscous like gel by mixing with a very low quantity water or glycerol. This is a good solution where water is available at checkpoints and a minimalist carry is desired.

How does Palatinose ™ compare to Cluster Dextrin ™?
Both Palatinose™ and Cluster Dextrin™ are slow release, low GI carbohydrates. The differences lie in that Cluster Dextrin™ is a larger compound of 60-70 glucose units, with a complex cyclical branching that lends to a pipe like structure that slows rate of breakdown. Palatinose™ is a modified sucrose molecule of one glucose and one fructose, with bonding that is highly resistant to breakdown. They have very similar rates of glucose uptake, both having a Glucose Index score (GI) of 32. The reason Palatinose™ is our preference fuel source is that it also utilizes fructose as an additional fuel source - being more valuable for direct liver glycogen replenishment on a gram for gram basis.

Due to it's larger molecular structure, Cluster Dextrin™ does have a lower contribution to osmolality. Hence when creating very low water volume isotonic or hypotonic beverages is a goal (for faster gastric emptying and hydration effeciency), then a combination of the two might have most value.
However in the case of CarbMAX the expectation is that water volume is not a restricting component, such that any less than 275ml per scoop is required. Palatinose is isotonic (300±10 % mOsmol/kg) at approximately 9g per 100ml, hence an isotonic or hypotonic beverage is easily achievable.

Want to try CarbMAX for yourself?

See our CarbMAX product page in store here.

 [1] Changes in Blood Glucose and Insulin after an Oral Palatinose Administration in Normal Subjects (1985, Kawai)
[2] Isomaltulose (Palatinose): a review of biological and toxicological studies (2002, Lina)
[3] Oxidation of Combined Ingestion of Maltodextrins and Fructose during Exercise (2005, Wallis)
[4] The Ability of the Normal Human Small Intestine to Absorb Fructose: Evaluation by Breath Testing (2007, Rao)
[5] Novel findings on the metabolic effects of the low glycaemic carbohydrate isomaltulose (Palatinose) (2010, Holub)
[6] Fructose–Maltodextrin Ratio Governs Exogenous and Other CHO Oxidation and Performance (2013, O’Brien)
[7] Normal Roles for Dietary Fructose in Carbohydrate Metabolism (2014, Laughlin)
[8] Fructose–Glucose Composite Carbohydrates and Endurance Performance: Critical Review and Future Perspectives (2015, Rowlands)
[9] Substrate Utilization and Cycling Performance Following Palatinose™ Ingestion: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial (2016, Konig)
[10]  Metabolic, hormonal and performance effects of isomaltulose ingestion before prolonged aerobic exercise: a double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial (2021, Notbohm)
[11] The clinical consequences of sucrase-isomaltase deficiency (2016, Cohen)
[12] A comparison of isomaltulose versus maltodextrin ingestion during soccer-specific exercise (2017, Stevenson)
[13] Studies on Biological Production of Isomaltulose Using Sucrose Isomerase: Current Status and Future Perspectives (2020, Liu)
[14]  Effect of Isomaltulose on Glycemic and Insulinemic Responses: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (2022, Xie)
​[15] Osmolality of Components and Their Application in the Design of Functional Recovery Drinks (2020, Sadowska)
[16] What is Palatinose™ (isomaltulose)? - Beneo.com (Accessed 2024)

17.07.2024 -This article was originally published at stromucation.com, with additional media graphics.

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This content is for educational purposes only and does not intend to cure or diagnose disease, nor make any health claims. There is no intent to slander in any way, but rather produce an informed and accurate third party perspective on the product. Always consult your accredited medical professional before introducing a new supplement. This content is not to be copied or repurposed in any form without express permission from the author.