The Perfect Fuel

It looks like The Run Down’s ultramarathon training and race day carbo load strategy of Jack in the Box tacos and double-stacked Suzi-Qs are under attack. Ultrarunning has exploded in popularity and with that comes nutritional refinement for peak performance; darn, we were just getting accustomed to dirty handfuls of M&Ms (they're all the same flavor!) and Lay’s Potato Chips. However, it looks like there’s a better plan – one that doesn’t require stuffing our face like a crazed homeless person.

In our extensive quest to uncover “The Perfect Fuel,” we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing nutritional guru Anthony Almada. Here’s what we learned or what we could comprehend:

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Anthony Almada walks into the coffee shop wearing a technical shirt, shorts, running shoes and a white cap. He places his Oliver Peoples sunglasses on the table and sips green-tea lemonade. His eyes dancing with enough energy to make Tom Cruise look brain dead by comparison, Almada must have just come from a nice, long run – right? “Actually, I just came from the office,” Almada says, and immediately you think, “Damn! I want his job!” Maybe you could, if you grew up a science geek, earned a master’s degree in nutritional science from UC Berkeley, and developed, like he has, a national reputation as a nutritional and exercise biochemist.

Almada, 47, leads the company GENr8, which markets Vitargo S2, a product generating huge buzz in the ultra-running and endurance-sport community at large. “There’s nothing in it your mother wouldn’t approve of,” he says. Vitargo S2, a powder supplement mixed with water (shaken, not stirred), is the signature product of GENr8 Inc., the Dana Point company Almada co-founded in 2007. GENr8 spun out from a muscle metabolism laboratory within a prestigious university in the UK (the University of Nottingham), which secured exclusive rights to Vitargo in three continents. Three of Almada's partners live in the UK and the rest in the United States.

Perhaps you’ve seen GENr8’s DNA double-helix logo on the jerseys and shorts of elite ultra-runners like Michelle Barton or triathlete extraordinaire Mark Matyazic. Perhaps, as an ultrarunner, you’re wondering: What’s the big deal? Why should I care?  Why can’t I just stick to carbs and multi-vitamins? Well, you can.

But if you train hard, you stand to benefit by drinking Vitargo S2 before, during and after your workouts, according to Almada. Well, of course he’s going to say that. It seems that every week, new “miracle” products sprout up like so many demon weeds on a favorite single-track. Almada, president and chief executive of GENr8, feels your skepticism.

“There are a lot of what I call nutrition evangelists out there saying, ‘Here’s my product. Come to my church, and I’ll take you to heaven,’’’ says Almada. “But only about one in 1,000 products have any scientific evidence behind them to prove they actually work in humans.” Vitargo S2 is one of those products. In development for more than 10 years, there have been three published studies on humans to date to prove the product works. Indeed, Almada offers a lot of hard, cold science to back up his claims – not just misty-eyed proclamations. He adds, "Although we don't yet have university research studies showing Vitargo S2 is a superiour, super-fast fuel during training/competition, we do have university results suggesting that it could be. Moreover, every single person who uses our product during training or racing has remarked on how it provides a 'bloat-proof' fast-fueling effect." 

Sales trends suggest Almada’s no false profit. He says annual sales of Vitargo S2 are on track to reach between $250 million and $300 million in five years — not bad for a product introduced in March. Typical comments from those who have tried Vitargo S2 (like Barton and Matyazic) include “Wow, there’s something going on here!” AND, “This is different –– I feel a difference.”

So far, GENr8 has signed up more than 20 sponsored athletes, including ultrarunners, triathletes, professional surfers and windsurfers – even race-car drivers.

So, what’s the secret? For starters, Vitargo S2 – which comes in tubs that retail for $36.99 – is free of banned substances. So much for my crank-additive theory. A certifying organization, the Banned Substance Control Group, recently gave Vitargo S2 its stamp of approval. Vitargo S2 is a sugar-free carbohydrate supplement. Short of mainlining glucose, it may be the fastest muscle fuel on the market, according to Almada. Unlike with other products, there is little to no risk of bloating or “crashing” from a sugar high, he says.

Wake up and slam two scoops of Vitargo S2 mixed in cold water about a half hour before running, and your glycogen level in your liver will be topped off. This is important because your liver regulates the level of sugar in your blood, and you want blood sugar to be high to perform your best. Almada recommends that you drink 20-24 ounces of Vitargo S2 each hour while running to support fueling/energy needs, and another two scoops immediately after training to aid in your recovery.

Almada did not, like some mad scientist, brew up Vitargo in some laboratory. The product actually was developed in Sweden in the early ’90s. The GENr8 brand holds the exclusive license for it in North America, Australia, South Africa, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Almada does, however, very much know his way around the lab. He co-founded, in 1993, the sport nutrition company EAS — the first company to introduce creatine to North America. Almada grew up in Seal Beach. He was a self-described “geek” at Los Alamitos High School, with zero luck with the girls. He was forced to take the bus to and from school. He excelled, not surprisingly, in math and science.

Almada was a pre-med student at UC Irvine before he transferred to Cal State Long Beach, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physiology and nutrition. Then he headed to Berkeley. Almada has a wife, Darcie, and daughter, Avalon, 4. His workouts of choice are surfing and lifting weights. He also is an amateur car racer.

The man leading the Vitargo S2 team in North America is training for his first triathlon. Come race day, there’ll be no surprise what Almada will be drinking before, during and after: Vitargo S2. “If you train hard, if you want to perform better and the next day not feel exhausted, you need our product,” Almada says.

He then walks out of Starbucks, hops into his white Prius, and is off – a science geek with business smarts who, unlike most of us, never has to worry about slapping on a necktie – let alone pants. He must be doing something right.

Vitargo S2 is available for purchase exclusively through about 1,600 GNC stores nationwide as well as www.gnc.com, through select authorized running and multi-sport retail stores, and directly through www.genr8speed.com. Current flavors are Natural Tropical Fruit, Natural Juicy Orange and Unflavored all as powdered drink mixes. Coming in the latter half of 2008 is a ready-to-drink version. We requested Apple Martini but got shot down due to the alcohol thing; isn't vodka an anti-inflammatory?

Written by OC Register reporter Greg Hardesty.

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