In the pursuit of a PB, we obsess over the details. We analyse our power phases, we agonise over tyre pressure, and we track our sleep cycles down to the minute. Yet, when it comes to the fuel that actually powers the engine, many athletes are still reaching for shiny packets filled with ingredients they can’t pronounce.

At Veloforte, we believe that "performance" should never be a trade-off for health. At Project REDs, we believe the same: fueling is not separate from training, it is part of training. The right fuel at the right time supports not just performance on the day, but recovery, hormones, energy availability, and long-term health.

The sports nutrition industry has long been dominated by the ultra-processed and the synthetic, mainly because it’s been the only way. Now the tide is turning. It’s time to look under the hood and ask: What is your fuel actually doing to you?

Most sports gels and bars aren’t really ‘food’ in the traditional sense. They’re built using ultra- processed food (UPF) ingredients, designed for long shelf life, specific textures, and low cost.

Common culprits include maltodextrin (a fast-digesting carbohydrate),, and processed oils to keep bars soft, and additives like preservatives and artificial sweeteners.While these ingredients are considered safe and can provide quick energy, they’re far removed from whole foods. They’re designed for convenience and storage, not necessarily for long-term health or how our bodies naturally like to fuel.

That doesn’t mean sports nutrition has no place. Convenient, fast-acting fuel can be useful, especially during long sessions, races, or when appetite and logistics make real food difficult. The key question is whether your fuelling strategy supports your body consistently, not just whether it gets you through one session.

Using synthetic sports nutrition can be a bit like pushing an engine hard on low-quality oil. You might get through the race, but over time, you have to ask what the longer-term impact might be? 

Emerging research is starting to look at the cumulative effect of regularly consuming multiple additives together, sometimes referred to as the “cocktail effect”, and how this could relate to a range of health concerns.

From a REDs perspective, the bigger concern is not just what athletes consume during training, but whether their overall fueling pattern supports adequate energy availability across the whole day. You can technically eat “enough” in 24 hours, but still spend long periods under-fuelled between sessions, meals, or recovery windows.

(1-6).

1. Gut Health & Intolerance 
   
   The most immediate impact is GI distress — that’s poor digestion to you and me. Synthetic gels often rely on a high concentration of lab-made sugars that when consumed in succession sit in the gut, drawing water into the intestines. This can cause bloating, cramping, and the dreaded "runners' trots."
   
   The long-term risk, however, is more concerning. Frequent exposure to artificial sweeteners and emulsifiers can degrade the protective lining of the gut. This leads to increased intestinal permeability, increasing what’s known as “leaky gut”. This allows undigested food particles and toxins to enter the bloodstream, which can reduce nutrient absorption and contribute to ongoing low-grade inflammation, ultimately affecting recovery.
   
   For athletes at risk of REDs, gut symptoms can also become part of a difficult cycle: under-fuelling can affect digestion, poor digestion can make fueling feel harder, and reduced intake can further compromise recovery and health.
   
   
2. Energy Highs and Lows
   
   Some sports fuels are designed to be absorbed very quickly, which can lead to sharp rises and drops in blood sugar. For some athletes, this can feel like an energy rollercoaster, especially if fueling isn’t consistent. Building good endurance is about finding a fuelling approach that supports more stable energy and helps you sustain effort over time.
   
   But this isn’t just about avoiding a mid-session crash. It’s also about reducing long gaps in energy availability. Regularly going into sessions fasted, delaying recovery fuel, or missing snacks between training can leave the body in an energy deficit for hours at a time, even if total daily intake looks adequate on paper.
   
   
3. Recovery and Inflammation
   
   Artificial sweeteners and preservatives can contribute to low-grade inflammation in some individuals. For an endurance athlete, inflammation is the enemy of recovery. If your body is busy dealing with the chemical load of your nutrition, it has less energy to repair the micro-tears in your muscles.
   
   Training is the stimulus, but adaptation happens in recovery, and recovery is fuel-dependent. Carbohydrate helps restore glycogen, protein supports muscle repair, and overall energy availability allows the body to prioritise adaptation rather than simply coping.
   
   
4. Cognitive Fog
   
   We often forget that the brain is the primary consumer of glucose during exercise. Artificial sweeteners, colours and flavours have been linked to cognitive "fuzziness" and mood swings. Some athletes find that simpler, more familiar foods sit better both physically and mentally, helping them feel more stable and clear during training or racing.
   
   Low energy availability can also affect concentration, mood, motivation, and decision-making. So when we talk about fuelling well, we are not just talking about muscles. We are talking about the brain, hormones, bones, immunity, and the whole athlete.

Contrast this with a "food first" approach. Real food ingredients like dried fruits, roasted nuts, natural botanical spices, and unrefined plant syrupsdon't just provide calories; theyoffer a broader mix of nutrients and may be easier for some people to tolerate.

The key point is that fuelling should work with your body, not against it. What that looks like will vary between athletes, but finding a strategy that supports energy, recovery, and consistency over time is what matters most.

Food-first does not mean food-only. It means building a fuelling foundation that is regular, adequate, varied, and practical, then using sports nutrition intelligently where it helps.

Performance is built over time. While quick fixes can have a place, long-term progress depends on fuelling strategies you can rely on day after day.

The goal isn’t perfection, it’s finding an approach that supports both performance and health, so you can keep showing up and getting the most from your training.

For Project REDs, this is the heart of the message: eat enough, eat early, eat often, and eat in a way that supports the whole athlete. When fueling is inconsistent or insufficient over time, the body may begin to down-regulate key systems, affecting menstrual function, hormones, bone health, immunity, mood, recovery, and performance.

At Veloforte, our philosophy is simple: If we can't find it in nature, we don't use it. We replaced synthetic maltodextrin with delicious, unrefined plant syrups. We replaced artificial electrolytes with pink Himalayan salt and dried coconut water. We replaced chemical preservatives with the natural antimicrobial properties of spices and natural sugars.

The result isn't just a "healthier" product; it’s a more effective one. By removing the synthetic noise, we allow your body to focus entirely on the effort at hand. You get stable energy, a happy gut, and a palate that doesn't feel coated in plastic by the fourth hour of a run or ride.

Ultimately, the best fuelling strategy is one that helps athletes train, recover, adapt, and stay healthy. Because the goal is not just to perform today, but to protect the body that makes performance possible.

Your fuel matters because you matter. Don't build a high-performance body out of low-grade materials. Feed the fire with what nature intended, and watch how much further you can go..

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2. Debora Rondinella, Pauline Celine Raoul, Eleonora Valeriani, Irene Venturini, Marco Cintoni, Andrea Severino, Francesca Sofia Galli, Vincenzina Mora, Maria Cristina Mele, Giovanni Cammarota, Antonio Gasbarrini, Emanuele Rinninella, Gianluca Ianiro.The Detrimental Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on the Human Gut Microbiome and Gut Barrier. Nutrients. 2025 Feb 28;17(5):859. doi: 10.3390/nu17050859

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6. Salame C, Javaux G, Sellem L et al. Food additive emulsifiers and the risk of type 2 diabetes: analysis of data from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort study. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 12, 339-349