The Fuel Mix: Foundation Fuel

How our new Fuel Mix completes the Dual Fuel System, and why your training needs both.

Endurance athletes understand that carbohydrate fueling matters. But very few understand how to align the right carbohydrate strategy to the right training context. That is the exact problem that the Cadence Dual Fuel System is designed to solve, and the launch of our new carbohydrate-electrolyte mix completes it.

The Science Behind the System

We comprehensively summarised the research around carbohydrates and fueling within previous blogs. But as a reminder your body stores carbohydrate as glycogen in the muscles and liver, providing roughly 400–600 grams in total. Imagine them as petrol tanks or reservoirs, it’s a finite store. As you put your foot down on the accelerator pedal and the running intensity rises, glycogen becomes the primary fuel and it depletes these stores faster than most athletes realise, often within 70–90 minutes of sustained effort. The result is that familiar drop in pace and power commonly referred to as "hitting the wall".

The solution is exogenous carbohydrate - additional fuel consumed during exercise. But how much, and in what form, depends on the intensity and duration of your session. 

A critical breakthrough in fueling occurred following the discovery of multiple transportable carbohydrates. This concept demonstrated that fuel absorption in the gut occurs via unique transporters, they serve as the gateway to the body essentially. Glucose is absorbed via the SGLT1 transporter, which is completely saturated at approximately 60 grams per hour. Fructose uses an entirely separate pathway, GLUT5, allowing you to absorb more total carbohydrate by using both simultaneously. 

Initial research set the fueling limit at 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. But that limitation can be overcome with glucose-fructose combinations, enabling intakes up to 90 grams per hour and beyond. What's become clear through more recent research and what underpins the entire Cadence Dual Fuel System — is that the optimal glucose-to-fructose ratio depends on how much carbohydrate you're consuming per hour. This single insight changes everything.

Two unique ratios. Two unique roles.

When carbohydrate intake sits below 90 grams per hour, a 2:1 ratio of glucose-to-fructose is the well-established, evidence-based approach. The glucose transporters aren't saturated, so the additional fructose is absorbed comfortably alongside it. This ratio maximises carbohydrate oxidation rates while keeping gut stress to a minimum, making it ideal for training scenarios where you're fueling steadily but not pushing to the absolute ceiling.

When athletes target 90 grams per hour and above, the domain of intense, race pace sessions or competition optimization, that picture changes. A 2:1 ratio starts to leave carbohydrate residue in the gut, increasing the risk of GI distress. At these intakes, a ratio closer to 1:0.8 glucose-to-fructose becomes advantageous, as it better utilises both transporter systems at high throughput. Research by Hearris et al. (2022) demonstrated that this shift can increase carbohydrate oxidation rates by 18% at intakes above 90 grams per hour.

This is exactly what we describe in our Core Gel Science article: the Fuel Gel is built on a 1:0.8 ratio specifically because it's designed to be stacked at race-intensity intakes.

Each product has a distinct physiological role within the Cadence Dual Fuel System, grounded in fueling research.

Introducing the Cadence Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Mix, The Fuel Mix

The Fuel Mix has been formulated with one clear mission: to serve as the intelligent, flexible foundation of your fueling strategy.

Each serving delivers:

• 25g of carbohydrates via the Cadence Carbohydrate Blend: Cane Sugar, Maltodextrin, and Fructose

• A 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio, scientifically matched to training-intensity fueling

• The Cadence Electrolyte Blend: Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Citrate, Calcium Citrate, and Potassium Chloride: for hydration support and muscle function

• 250mg Sodium per serving, supporting fluid balance throughout your session

• 100 calories: clean, fast energy

The carbohydrate blend is deliberate. Maltodextrin provides glucose polymers that digest smoothly and absorb quickly. Cane sugar provides a natural glucose-fructose pairing, while fructose completes the 2:1 ratio. Together they deliver fast, efficient fuel with precision across the intestinal glucose and fructose transport pathways, without overstressing either.

Fueling Across the Training Spectrum

The Carb Mix was developed with scalability and practicality in mind. it delivers 25g of carbohydrate per scoop, you can dial your intake to reflect the demands of training.

The evidence-based framework for carbohydrate intake looks like this:

 

This flexibility is exactly why we call it the Foundation Fuel. Whether you're ticking over on a recovery run, building your aerobic base on a long steady run, or working through a hard tempo block, the Carb Mix adapts to your needs. A half-scoop provides a gentle top-up. Three scoops per hour takes you right to the 75g mark — backed by the 2:1 ratio, within the zone where this formula is optimally effective.

The research in this space is clear, when using glucose-fructose blends, the correct dosing matters. Getting it wrong can reduce plasma glucose and total carbohydrate oxidation rates, leading to lower fueling and impaired performance. The Cadence Carb Mix is formulated to ensure every gram works.

The Dual Fuel System

The Foundation Fuel concept makes full sense when you understand how it pairs with the Cadence Fuel Gel.

The Core Gel delivers 24g of carbohydrate per sachet in a 1:0.8 glucose-to-fructose ratio. As explained in The Core Gel — From Science to Strategy, this ratio is optimised for high-throughput fueling — when you're consuming 90 grams per hour and above, the 1:0.8 ratio better saturates both intestinal transport systems, increasing oxidation rates and reducing gut residue.

This is how the Dual Fuel System operates in practice:

The Carb Mix is your foundation fuel. It scales from low-intensity recovery fuel all the way up to 90 grams per hour for hard training sessions. Its 2:1 ratio is ideal for this range. It also integrates hydration support, making it a complete, single-product solution for most of your weekly volume.

The Core Gel is your amplifier. When the pedal hits the metal and targets exceed 90 grams per hour, the domain of demanding training and competition fueling, the Fuel Gel's 1:0.8 ratio takes over. At this ratio athletes can push fueling to 120 grams per hour in a format that requires no mixing and can be consumed in seconds.

Used together, they cover the entire fueling spectrum, from the first easy kilometres of a long training week to the final kilometres of a race. The Cadence Dual Fuel System is refined and delivered with precision. 

Daily Electrolytes

It's tempting to focus exclusively on carbohydrates in endurance nutrition, but the electrolyte blend in the Carb Mix deserves equal attention.

Sodium Citrate is the primary electrolyte: 250mg per serving supports fluid retention, drives thirst regulation, and helps replace the most abundant mineral lost in sweat. Magnesium Citrate supports muscle relaxation and energy metabolism. Calcium Citrate contributes to muscle contraction and signalling. Potassium Chloride works alongside sodium to maintain cellular fluid balance and nerve function.

This is our core electrolyte blend, designed to support hydration during training and to reduce the cumulative deficit that builds across high-volume weeks. Combined with the precision fuel, the Carb Mix functions as true all-in-one session fuel.

Backed by Science. Built for Every Day.

The Cadence Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Mix represents the logical completion of an evidence-based fueling ecosystem. The 2:1 glucose-to-fructose ratio is not marketing, it is the ratio validated across two decades of intestinal transport research as optimal for carbohydrate intakes up to 90 grams per hour. The electrolyte blend reflects the mineral complexity of real sweat, not a simplified formulation. And the 25g-per-scoop format gives every athlete the flexibility to match their intake precisely to their training context.

From 30 grams per hour easy runs to 90 grams per hour race simulations, the Carb Mix fuels it all. And when race day demands more, the Fuel Gel is ready to take you to the limit.

That's the Dual Fuel System. Foundation fuel for every session. Maximum fuel when it matters most.