"Gu" news and stories

In my everlasting quest to find sports food products that 1) work; 2) taste good;  and -- most importantly -- 3)don't embarass me either while purchasing them or consuming them, I've come to Clif's new Shot Bloks.

The idea here is to avoid messy gels and sticky sports drinks (see my early point about having my foods embarass me), and the Shot Bloks definitely pull that off. A bit like gummi bears, a bit like jello, a bit like jelly beans ... but good for you, definitely good for you: they've got electrolytes, a blend of complex and simple carbohydrates, and -- do you want more? -- they're organic.

Shot Bloks come in five different flavors; of these five, two flavors (Black Cherry and Orange) come with a kick of caffeine.

Truth be told, I like candy and coffee more than I like exercise. But Shot Bloks make me think that maybe, just maybe, everything will work out in the end  ...

New from Jelly Belly -- the company that got Ronald Reagan through all those cabinet meetings during the Iran-Contra affair -- is the sweet tooth's answer to Gatorade: Sport Beans.

The company has been sponsoring a professional bike racing team for the last few years, and working with those athletes, Jelly Belly has developed a jelly bean that's certifiably good for you. It's fortified with electrolytes, carbohydrates and Vitamins B and C.

The idea, apparently, is to provide athletes an alternative to the nutrition products that bike racers and other endurance types use: sports drinks, like Gatorade, which are sticky; and energy gels, like Gu, which seem just plain gross.

A cool idea, to be sure. But when is somebody going to make an athletic version of Snickers?