Energy Gels Built by a Scientist, Easy On Your Stomach

Real food. Real performance.

Energy gels built by a scientist who got tired of racing with a bad stomach.

Rice, fruit and honey instead of maltodextrin and glucose syrup. Carbs your gut can actually process at mile 18, made from ingredients you can pronounce, each one chosen on purpose.

Try the sampler pack See what's different

No maltodextrin. No artificial flavors. No preservatives. Every batch verified by an independent lab. Trusted by ultrarunners, cyclists and triathletes since 2014.

Rafal Nazarewicz, founder of Spring Energy, juggling a banana, an apple, a kiwi and an orange against a wall, laughing — **Rafal Nazarewicz, PhD** · founder of Spring Energy, nutrition scientist and ultrarunner, juggling the ingredient list.

Ultrarunners reporting gut distress on race day 82% 60 km trail ultra, 41 finishers surveyed. Wardenaar et al., 2015 ¹

Across six ultra-trail studies 65 to 82% of athletes had GI symptoms during the race. Arribalzaga et al., 2021 ²

You trained for months. Your fuel shouldn't be what stops you.

More than half of athletes on long efforts deal with stomach trouble, and by the time it hits, there is nothing to do but slow down.

Traditional gels are built from maltodextrin and refined sugar syrups because those are cheap and shelf stable, not because they work with your body. Squeeze a concentrated dose of a single sugar into a gut that is already short on blood flow and somewhere past hour two it turns into sloshing, cramping and the bathroom math nobody wants to do mid-race.

If you have ever dreaded taking your next gel, it's not you. It's the gel.

Why a scientist started making gels

Rafal spent two decades studying how cells make energy and how oxidative stress wears them down. Then he started running ultras, and the fuel on the shelf did not hold up to what he knew about the gut.

He had the lab background to know why. He had the mileage to know it mattered. What he did not have was a gel he could hand to the athletes he worked with and mean it.

So in 2014 he started making fuel in a kitchen, from food, the way his research said energy is meant to arrive: a mix of carbohydrate sources, a little fat and salt, nothing his gut would have to fight. Every recipe was tested on long runs before it was ever tested by a lab. Every ingredient earns its place or gets cut.

"Sports nutrition was made of ingredients that work for manufacturers, just because it is easy and cheap to make energy gels out of sugar. You deserve fuel that works with your body, not against you."

Rafal Nazarewicz, founder

The person behind the recipe

TrainingPhD in food technology and human nutrition (Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 2003). Habilitation in health sciences (Medical University of Gdańsk, 2019).

ResearchTwelve years in US labs: The Ohio State University, Emory University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Stanford University School of Medicine. Focus: mitochondria, oxidative stress and how the body produces energy.

Published28 peer-reviewed papers indexed in PubMed, including work in Hypertension, Circulation Research and the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

AppliedLed an American Heart Association research project. Has advised numerous world-class athletes on their nutrition strategies. Taught sports nutrition and metabolism to university students for over a decade.

AthleteUltramarathon and mountain runner. Kyokushin karate coach. Tests every Spring recipe on his own long days before it ships.

What's different

Three decisions traditional gels never made

Each one comes from the lab and gets confirmed on the trail. Together they are why athletes who switch to Spring tend to stay.

Carbs your gut can process

Instead of one refined sugar at a high concentration, Spring gels carry a mix of carbohydrate sources from rice, fruit, honey and maple. Different sugars use different doors into the bloodstream, so more energy gets absorbed and less sits in your stomach pulling in water.

The result athletes describe most: they can take the next gel without thinking about it.

Built with your microbiome in mind

What you eat during a race is still what you eat. A gel that is one single refined carbohydrate feeds your gut one thing, hour after hour, race after race. Real food brings variety, natural fiber and fats along with the carbs, the way your gut bacteria are used to being fed.

Formulated to support comfortable digestion during and after the effort, not just to hit a carb number.

Every ingredient has a job

Basmati rice for steady carbohydrate. Bananas and fruit for quick sugars and potassium. Honey and maple for fast energy that still tastes like food. Coconut oil or nut butter for calories that last. Salt because you sweat. Nothing added to make it cheaper, sweeter or last longer on a shelf.

Six month shelf life with no preservatives. Real looks a little cloudy. That is the point.

What's inside

Ingredients you can pronounce, exactly as printed on the pouch

Strawberry smoothie · vegan

Canaberry

Strawberries, maple syrup, basmati rice, bananas, coconut oil, soy lecithin, lemon juice, salt, citric acid, guarana, vitamin C.

Everyday training

100 kcal17 g carbsNo caffeine

Peanut butter and fruit

Long Haul

Bananas, peanut butter, honey, basmati rice, oil, chia seeds, soybean lecithin, citric acid, salt.

Long efforts

140 kcal19 g carbs6 g protein

Cinnamon apple pie · vegan

Awesome Sauce

Maple syrup, basmati rice, apple juice concentrate, MCT oil, avocado oil, applesauce, sweet potato, cinnamon, sea salt, vanilla powder.

High output

180 kcal28 g carbsNo caffeine

No maltodextrinNo glucose syrupNo artificial flavorsNo preservativesGluten freeDairy free

Macros verified batch by batch by an independent lab. See the lab test results

Athletes who switched, and stayed

What it feels like when your stomach stops being the limiter

★★★★★
"Blocks and other gels would leave my stomach in a knotted mess within 15 to 20 minutes, and I haven't had any issues with Spring Energy!"

Mary Elizabeth · long run fueling

★★★★★
"Completed my last 50K with Spring Energy Gels and never had any stomach or bonking issues."

Caileigh · ultrarunner

★★★★★
"Your product is a game changer for me!"

Heather R. · half marathon PR

Try the sampler pack $25.99, shipped free. Find your flavor before you commit to a box.

Where to start

Not sure which one? Match the gel to the effort.

Want to try everything

Bestseller Sampler

Four bestselling gels plus a Blueberry Endurance Meal, shipped free. The lowest-risk way to find out how your stomach feels about real food.

5 items · $25.99 · free US shipping · limit one per customer Get the sampler

Everyday training

Canaberry

Light, fruity, vegan. The one to reach for on tempo days and the first hour of anything.

100 kcal · 17 g carbs

Long efforts

Long Haul

Peanut butter, banana and honey with a little protein. Built for the hours where sweet stops working.

140 kcal · 19 g carbs

Ultra distance

Peach Cobbler XL

Raw honey, peaches, rice and cashew butter. A double serving for the days that go past dark.

210 kcal · 48 g carbs

Questions athletes ask

Straight answers

Why do regular gels upset my stomach?

During hard exercise your body sends blood to working muscles and skin, leaving the gut with less. A concentrated hit of a single refined sugar on top of that draws water into the intestine and slows emptying. That combination is what most athletes feel as sloshing, cramping and urgency. Spreading the carbohydrate across several sources and keeping the formula closer to real food is designed to make it easier on a gut that is already under load.

What makes Spring different from traditional gels?

Traditional gels are mostly maltodextrin or glucose syrup, water, flavor and preservatives. Spring gels are made from basmati rice, fruit, honey or maple, a natural fat source and salt. There is no maltodextrin, no artificial flavor and no preservative in any Spring gel, and every batch is verified by an independent lab.

Are the gels vegan and gluten free?

All Spring gels are gluten free and dairy free. Canaberry, Awesome Sauce and Speednut are vegan. Long Haul, Hill Aid and Peach Cobbler XL contain honey. Check the allergen line on each product page, since some flavors contain peanuts, tree nuts or coconut.

How many gels do I need per hour?

Most athletes land between 100 and 250 calories per hour depending on effort, body size and how long they have been going. Spring gels come in 100, 140, 180 and 210 calorie sizes so you can build the hour you need. Use the race nutrition calculator for a starting plan, then practice it in training.

Do any Spring gels have caffeine?

Two do. Hill Aid (Mango Mint) has 30 mg and Speednut (Nuts and Berries) has 50 mg, both from added caffeine, clearly labeled. Everything else is caffeine free. Canaberry contains guarana as a flavor and botanical ingredient.

What if my stomach still doesn't like it?

Start with the sampler so you are not committing to a box, and try Spring on a training day before a race. Every gut is different. If something does not sit right, write to us and we will help you find the flavor and the timing that does.

Bring back the joy of training

Fuel that works with your body, not against it.

Reach your results in a way you enjoy. Fuel that tastes like food, holds up when it matters and lets you think about the trail instead of your stomach.

Try the sampler pack