How to use real food to overcome flavour fatigue

Flavour fatigue is similar to other fatigue – something you probably don’t want to experience during your races!

Whilst ‘flavour fatigue’ is the commonly used phrase, it's also known as Sensory-Specific Satiety (SSS) in scientific terms. Whichever phrasing you prefer, they're both referring to the experience of growing tired of the taste, texture or consistency of a sports nutrition product during exercise...

How can you prevent flavour fatigue?

One of the biggest challenges for athletes is that flavour fatigue is a very individual experience, so the products you get tired of might be different to those of the endurance athlete next to you on a start line. And your own fueling preferences can vary as the event goes on.

As the duration of an event increases, so does the likelihood of flavour fatigue, and it's a common reason why athletes fail to stick to their nutrition plan.

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Of course, not hitting your carbohydrate targets means you risk underfueling, hitting 'the wall' and struggling to reach the finish line. So, to ensure you keep fueling, it's likely that you'll need to add some variety to your plan to avoid 'flavour fatigue', especially during longer endurance events...

1. Find your flavour

Athletes can get put-off by extremely sweet or strong flavour profiles, so using milder flavours of carb and electrolyte products can help delay the onset of flavour fatigue.

Many athletes typically favour products from brands that are 'unflavoured' or mildly flavoured. These milder flavours aren’t too extreme on any scale – not too sweet, not too salty, not too strong. Something Goldilocks herself would love!

2. Anticipate flavour fatigue

We ran a survey to find out more about athletes' experiences of flavour fatigue, and 75% said it kicks in after two hours (with 50% saying it was an issue at 4+ hours). So, if flavour fatigue has been an issue for you at hour three in the past, then try eating or drinking something different two hours in to pre-empt the issue.

3. Vary your energy product formats

Whilst the term flavour fatigue suggests only flavour is an issue, the texture and consistency can also be a problem during longer events. So, switching things up by using a mixture of products - gels, drink mixes, chews and bars - can be helpful.

For longer events, adding in foods like fruit (soft and crunchy) and crisps can help to mix the texture up.

Many athletes use carbonated drinks like Coca Cola late on in endurance events - as well as providing a welcome caffeine 'hit', they offer a change in consistency after hours and hours of eating and drinking!

4. Consider sweet and savoury options

Rather than ‘wait’ until flavour fatigue hits, try adding in some salty / savoury snacks every so often. 76% of athletes we surveyed say they use gels and drink mixes to hit a large proportion of their race nutrition numbers. It's worth noting that two-thirds of our cohort complemented these by using savoury foods to help prevent flavour fatigue.

5. Change the temperature

In events where you're likely to be going for a long time and / or getting cold, opt for warmer food options like pierogies, noodles and mashed potato.

How to use real food to avoid flavour fatigue

Given the need for athletes to add some variety to their fueling plans during longer events, we've considered some of the most common food choices that athletes said they use in our survey.

We've detailed their nutritional information below to help you consider how you'd incorporate them into your fueling strategy to ensure you keep hitting your carb, sodium and fluid numbers...

The data is for a typical product, so there may be variance between what is listed here and the specific product you use. Please use this as a guide. The data is taken from the EatThisMuch Database.

I certainly wouldn't recommend replacing all of your sports nutrition with whole food, unless you really want to carry 12-hours' worth of mash potato during your ultramarathon! But you could consider strategically integrating certain foods shortly before the point where you typically start to experience flavour fatigue. That could be:

• Alternating the format of product you use (gels, chews, drink mixes)
• Carry additional fruit and jellies in your pocket / vest or belt
• Carry a treat like mashed potato in a zip lock bag!
• Find out what's at each aid station on course before your race, so you can consider whether you'll be able to pick up some crisps, cola, bananas etc

Key takeaways

• Make training notes. After every training session, write down notes on Strava or record a voice note. Do whatever you need to do to remember how you felt based on the fuel you've used - did your efforts feel easier / harder? When did flavour fatigue hit (if at all)? Did you feel thirsty? And did your gut handle the fuel you took on?
• Use training sessions to try different formats of fuel and even real food options that you might think you'll enjoy on race day. See what works well for you, and what you tolerate less well. This will vary depending on the conditions and intensity
• Prepare and train your gut to tolerate higher fueling needs by gradually increasing the amount you consume during training about 6-10 weeks prior to your event
• Build a plan that factors in your preferences (the type, texture and flavour)
• For longer events, balance your sports nutrition with real food to help avoid flavour fatigue

Further reading

• A pro athlete's tips for beating flavour fatigue
• How much carb do you need per hour?
• Which energy products are right for you?
• How to train your gut (and consume more carb)