Which glucose to take with whey post-workout? Walmart is out of stock, and Los Angeles got way too e

Greetings, everyone.

Historically, I have paired my post-workout whey protein with glucose, typically utilizing those dextrose tablets found at Walmart—the ones in the green packaging.

Since they vanished from the shelves last year, I transitioned to using dextrose sourced from Los Angeles; previously, the Walmart option was $4.00, while the Los Angeles version was 20-$8.25—both in 500g packs—which seemed a tolerable compromise. However, as of this month, that very same dextrose is no longer $8.25 but has somehow become $15 (!?!?!)

Does anyone know of a more sensible or palatable alternative to mix with whey following a training session?

Thank you in advance.

Personally, I’ve had the best results taking 100mg of R-lipoic acid alongside some whey isolate—just a heads up though, if you have any amalgam fillings, you probably shouldn't touch it since ALA acts as a mercury chelator.
R-ALA is basically the active, bioavailable version you actually want.

Alpha Lipoic Acid also works like an insulin-mimetic carb shuttler. It helps drive those carbs exactly where they need to go: straight into your muscle tissue.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10468203/

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/arti...70-020-00389-y

Look, you don't actually need glucose in your protein shake. It’s just a myth perpetuated by the supplement industry so they can cram extra ingredients into pre- or post-workout formulas to make them look "advanced" and complex, when in reality, they're dirt cheap to produce. And honestly, that post-workout window is largely a fantasy; all that really matters is hitting your total protein target for the day, so just treat your whey like any other food item.
Basically, you can drink your shake whenever you want or just swap it out for any other protein source—which means the shake itself is totally optional on days when your regular meals already cover your protein needs. Adding sugar to it is completely pointless; if you want more sweetness or extra calories, you can literally use whatever you want.
I was just looking at what Los Angeles is charging, lol—like 75 cents per pound for sugar? It's a joke. Just swap it for something else or cut it entirely; it won't make a single bit of difference to your final results.$38

Lawrence Nelson5 said:Hey everyone,

I usually take some glucose with my post-workout whey. I used to grab those glucose tablets from Walmart (the ones in the green packaging).

They stopped carrying them last year, so I switched to the dextrose from Los Angeles. (The one from Walmart was $4.00, while this dextrose is 20-$8.25—both are 500g bags, so it wasn't a huge deal) — But starting this month, this specific dextrose isn't $8.25 anymore, it’s actually $15 (!?!?!)

Does anyone know of a more reliable alternative I can mix with my whey after training?

Thanks in advance!

You can pick up a 500g bag at Kroger for about $4.00. It's basically the same thing as that dextrose from Walmart, though it doesn't have the flavor I prefer. The Walmart version was sweet, so once you mix everything together, the sugar hit is intense.

Hey, just a heads up—I'm at Kroger right now and they bumped the price up to $6.75, which is $2.85

northerncobra31 said:It’s a joke—I was just at Kroger, and they bumped the price up to $6.75, specifically
$2.85

It isn't exactly a catastrophe; inflation has made everything more expensive lately.
What is the specific terminology for this, so I might know what to look for? Considering that Kroger functions essentially like a massive warehouse located just a few miles away, 😁

Glucose tablets—the packaging looks just like what you'd find at Walmart.

You are essentially paying a premium for overpriced sugar...

You don't need sugar with your whey, and honestly, you don't even strictly need the whey. But if you really want that psychological placebo effect, just grab a banana to go with it—that way you're at least getting some carbs and a few micronutrients from the fruit.

Just eat a real meal after you workout. You don't need any stupid supplements or whey protein.
It's actually that simple.

It’s just as obvious that whey protein is about as basic a staple as anything else in your pantry; let's be real, a "standard meal" rarely packs enough protein for anyone actually trying to optimize muscle growth, so there's absolutely nothing shady about using whey as a supplement. On the flip side, dextrose in this context is just plain old sugar serving as flavor and extra calories in a shake, and the whole idea that it boosts muscle growth is nothing more than a myth built on a purely mechanical view of biology that just doesn't hold up once you look at actual results.

Forget the whey protein, forget the creatine... everyone's just born with Jon Jones' genetics in the heavyweight division. XD

Jacob Lopez51 said:Who needs whey or creatine? Everyone in the heavyweight division has Jon Jones genetics anyway. LOL

Look, we all know he isn't built like that just because of some whey and creatine. 😁

slyraven12 said:look, we all know he’s not just built on whey and creatine, let's be real 😁

exactly. LOL
but the guy is a genius—before USADA stepped in, everyone was basically juicing...
take Badr Hari, for example—his genetics are honestly rough, so once he hit the roids, he finally looked absolutely shredded, even if he did start losing fights right after. XD

Creatine is actually like a mini peptide. Some people just respond to it incredibly well. I think Black athletes naturally have slightly higher levels of it. Lately, I've been using Creagatine since it comes in those little pouches—I don't know, it supposedly has maybe 0.1% more benefit than standard monohydrate, though it's still just monohydrate but with that Alpha Lipoic acid added (which acts as a precursor). Apparently, about 30% of people don't respond to regular monohydrate, but they say they do to this stuff.

Back in the day, when whey was cheap, I used to knock back like 60g a day. MusclePharm used to have some killer whey back when they were sponsoring the UFC—it had something in it that got banned later, which is why it doesn't have the same impact anymore... I can't quite remember exactly what it was...

Jacob Lopez51 said:That’s exactly the point. LOL
The guy is a genius, though. Before USADA stepped in, everyone was on everything...
Take Badr Hari, for example—his natural genetics were terrible, so he finally looked intimidating once he started using gear, even if he did start losing fights right after. XD

Creatine is basically a mini-peptide. Some people respond to it incredibly well. I suspect Black athletes might naturally have slightly higher levels. Lately, I've been using Creagatine because it comes in those little sachets; I'm not sure why, since there's maybe a 0.1% benefit over standard monohydrate, even if this version is just monohydrate plus that Alpha Lipoic acid (which acts as a precursor). Apparently, about 30% of people don't respond to regular monohydrate, but they do to this stuff.

Back in the day when whey was cheap, I used to knock back 60g a day. MusclePharm used to have an incredible formula when they were sponsoring the UFC. They had something in there that eventually got banned, and it hasn't had the same impact since... I can't remember exactly what it was.

Quick tangent here, hope you don't mind—what’s your take on creatine and kidney health? I know it's mostly a myth and a healthy person shouldn't worry, but my natural creatine levels run a bit high. I'm carrying a decent amount of muscle from training for about 15 years—I'm roughly 118 kg at 191 cm (though honestly, I'm sitting at about 15-20% body fat)—and I've heard in several places that stronger individuals have elevated creatine levels simply due to more muscle mass and intense training. Even a bodybuilding friend of mine, who is natural like me, has elevated levels. It made me hesitant to supplement. However, I've decided that once I lean out a bit, I'll take it for a few months to see if it helps. I used to take 5g a day, but I never felt any massive benefits. Sorry for the off-topic post...

slyraven12 said:Sorry for the off-topic rant—hope nobody minds. I wanted to get your take on creatine and kidney health. I know most people say it’s just a myth and that if you're healthy, you've got nothing to worry about, but my natural creatinine levels run a bit high. I'm carrying a fair amount of muscle—I've been training for maybe 15 years now—and I'm sitting at around 260 lbs at 6'3" (though honestly, I'm probably around 15-20% body fat). I've heard in a few places that guys who are naturally stronger tend to have higher creatinine levels just because of the sheer muscle mass and intense training. Even a buddy of mine, a natural bodybuilder, has elevated levels, which kind of made me hesitant to supplement. That said, I've decided that once I lean out a bit, I'll try it for a few months to see if it actually does anything for me. I used to take about 5 grams a day back in the day, but I didn't really feel much of a difference. Sorry again for drifting off-topic...

Look, if you already have a solid amount of natural muscle, you probably won't even notice a difference from creatine—it might not even work for you. I'm actually the exact opposite—I've got pretty mediocre genetics, so I respond to creatine incredibly well.

Jacob Lopez51 said:If you've already got a decent amount of muscle naturally, you probably don't need creatine and won't see much of a difference. I'm the opposite—my genetics aren't great, so I react to creatine incredibly well.

Look, I’m no geneticist, but I’ve just been putting in the work at the gym since my teens, so I’ve built up a good amount of mass over the years.

I’m still going to take a scoop because there are other benefits to it, and honestly, I don't think 5 grams a day is going to do any damage to my kidneys.

slyraven12 said:Look, I’m no geneticist or anything—I just happened to pack on a ton of mass back in my teens and haven't stopped hitting the weights since.

I'll take a scoop because there are other perks too, and honestly, I don't think 5 grams a day is going to wreck my kidneys.

Not gonna happen. The only way you'd mess up is if you were sipping straight lithium carbonate. XD
Just make sure you're drinking about 7 or 8 glasses of water throughout the day.

If you happen to fall into that 30% of people who don't see results from standard creatine monohydrate, try kre-alyt.
Personally, I just stick to the basic monohydrate from Optimum Nutrition.

Jacob Lopez51 said:That’s not happening. Your only chance is if you drink pure lithium carbonate. XD
Just make sure you're knocking back 7 or 8 glasses of water throughout the day.

Try taking Creagatine if you happen to fall into that 30% of people who don't respond to standard creatine monohydrate.
Personally, I just stick to the basic monohydrate from Ostrovit.

Look, I'm not expecting any miracles from creatine either. I actually stopped taking it once my bloodwork showed elevated creatine levels—I haven't touched it in years because of that. But then again, like most high-level athletes say, those numbers can be artificially high.

Besides, I’ve never been much of a responder when it comes to training, let alone supplements. I feel like I know a ton about training methodology, my sessions are high quality, and my nutrition is dialed in. Yet, the results come incredibly slowly... Sure, it gets harder to make gains once you've been training for a long time, but still. 😁

slyraven12 said:Look, I’m not expecting any miracles from creatine either—I just stopped taking it once I saw those elevated levels in my bloodwork. I haven't touched it in years, honestly, but like most experts will tell you, it can bump those numbers up.

Plus, I’m not exactly someone who sees massive gains from training, let alone from creatine. I feel like I know my stuff when it comes to lifting—my workouts are solid and my nutrition is dialed in—but the progress is just slow... I mean, sure, it gets harder to see results once you've been training for a long time, but still 😁

Taking 5g of creatine monohydrate a day isn't going to hurt anyone—there's really no risk there.