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How to Use UCAN Superstarch

Written by Christopher Kelly

May 6, 2015

I've been using UCAN for a couple of years now, and I'm not sure I'd still be racing my bike if I hadn't made the switch when I did. At the time, I was pounding down the maltodextrin based sports gels at the rate of one every 40 minutes, and that's on top whatever I mixed in my bottles. I'm not sure how I got to this state of extreme carbohydrate dependence, it just sort of crept up on me. Looking back at my blood chemistry, the warning signs of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes were all there. My fasted blood glucose was around 110-120 mg/dL, and the transaminase enzymes ALT and AST were both around 40 IU/L. I was logging around 20-30 hours a week of endurance and strength training and for that reason my doctor wasn't interested in doing any further testing. Not good.

I first discovered UCAN by way of this fantastic presentation by Dr Peter Attia; it's well worth an hour of your time. I understand that not everyone wants all the information, rather you just want to know how to use the damn stuff. Unfortunately, you must know a few details otherwise you're not going to get all the benefits.

The Basics

We all have lots of stored fat and not much room to store glucose. Most people are unable to tolerate ingesting more than 400 calories per hour of glucose and so frequently you've got a problem of using more than you can take in. For this reason, it becomes extremely advantageous to be able to utilise stored fat for longer events and workouts.

The hormone insulin is the master switch that controls this utilisation of fat. Keep insulin low and you will burn fat. For more information, Google "Hormone-sensitive lipase".

Eating carbohydrate, even most complex carbohydrate, raises insulin and so reduces fat burning.

UCAN is a slow-release source of carbohydrate that keeps insulin low.

Think of UCAN as a glucose drip and a gel as a glucose injection.

What to do

• 45 minutes before your event, take one scoop mixed with 8oz of plain water.
• Take one addition scoop for each 90 minutes of activity.

How do it

• Consume UCAN like you'd down a shot.
• Keep UCAN in a separate bottle or soft flask for use during your event. If you're going to be out there longer than three hours, mix more than one scoop into the container together with an appropriate amount of water. Say you have three scoops in your bottle. Drink from that bottle exactly three times to finish it. Wash down the UCAN with plain water from your other bottle.

What not to do

• Sipping UCAN will make your mouth dry.
• Eating other sources of carbohydrate will raise insulin and defeat the point.

Other foods to eat with UCAN

• Anything that also keeps insulin low, i.e. fat and protein.
• I mix mine with one tablespoon of MCT oil but watch out! MCT oil can cause stomach upset.
• Pemmican.
• Coconut butter.

How you know it's working

• You'll stop being hungry during exercise.
• You'll need less and less UCAN for lower intensity work until eventually you won't need any at all. I only use UCAN now for hard intervals and races, which tend to be more glycolytic (use more glucose).

Are you using UCAN? Is it working for you? Any other tips and tricks? Leave a comment below.