Reddit poster shares a DIY Maurten Gel 100 clone

One r/running poster says they have reverse-engineered Maurten Gel 100 at home using the same internal-gelation chemistry the brand built its hydrogel around.

The post lays out a ten-serving batch that yields 500g total. Each 50g pouch, the poster says, holds 25g of carbohydrate at a 0.8 to 1 fructose-to-glucose ratio, "with that identical slippery, jelly texture." The ingredient list is 139g dextrose, 111g fructose powder, 3.8g sodium alginate, 0.6g calcium carbonate and 1.2g glucono-delta-lactone, better known as GDL.

How it is supposed to set

The poster explains the mechanism as internal gelation. GDL slowly drops the pH of the mix, which releases calcium ions from the calcium carbonate, and those ions cross-link with the sodium alginate to form a cold-set gel. No heat, no cooking the mixture into shape. The alginate base goes in the fridge overnight, the sugar syrup has to cool to room temperature before it is folded in, and the calcium carbonate and GDL are dry-mixed and stirred in for 30 seconds.

After that, the poster says you have a five-minute window before it gels, so the 50g portions go straight into pouches. Then an hour undisturbed at room temperature and at least two hours in the fridge to set.

The two rules the poster flags

Water volume is fixed at 242ml for the whole batch. That is what hits 50 percent carbohydrate by weight and packs 25g into a 50g pouch, and the post says not to change it.

The other warning is about electrolytes. "never add sodium citrate to this recipe. It strips the calcium ions and completely kills the gelation process," the poster writes, and caps any salt additions at 0.5g across the full ten-serving batch. For a caffeinated version, they add 1000mg of pure caffeine powder with the sugars, which works out to 100mg per serving.

The poster credits Rob Dalto's videos as the inspiration and links an earlier recipe post that circulated on the subreddit. They say that one never worked for them because they could not source calcium gluconate locally, so they swapped in calcium carbonate plus GDL. The sugars and water stayed the same.

What it actually means

This is one person describing their own test batches. Nobody in the source has independently verified the 25g carb count, the ratio, or how the gel sits in the gut at race pace. Treat it as the most specific public attempt so far to copy a gel plenty of marathoners pay a premium for, not as a validated product.