Dextrose

(Dex4, Glucose)

Evidence: Low
Possible Benefits: Low
Safety: Low

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is dextrose?

Dextrose is a popular dietary supplement mainly used for treating low blood sugar levels and improving exercise performance. This article is about the main benefits of dextrose, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

Possible benefits

All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with most other supplements, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Minor benefits

  • Improved exercise performance – This benefit is relatively small but can be helpful, especially if you are a serious athlete trying to optimize exercise performance.
  • Increased blood sugar levels – While this effect can be seen as negative, some people with dangerously low blood sugar can benefit from acutely elevating their blood sugar levels with dextrose.

Possible side effects

The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

  • Increased blood sugar levels – This can be of benefit for people whose blood sugar levels drop too low but for the majority of us, elevating blood sugar can increase many health problems and contribute to various disease states.
  • Allergic reaction – An allergy to this supplement is rare but possible.
  • Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the supplement on an empty stomach.
  • Diarrhea – You can usually prevent diarrhea or stomach discomfort by taking this supplement with a meal.
  • Toxicity – While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this supplement could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. Regularly taking high doses can also cause the body to develop a tolerance to the supplement. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 10 grams in a day is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
  • Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. Always read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.

Who should not take dextrose?

You should probably avoid taking dextrose if you:

  • don’t have a great reason to take it
  • are inactive and don’t suffer from low blood sugar
  • are allergic to this supplement
  • experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the supplement
  • are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this supplement during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it can put some unnecessary risk to the child)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the supplement if you:

  • have dangerously low blood sugar
  • are a serious athlete and exercise a lot

How much dextrose should you take?

Unless you have a great reason to take dextrose, the best dose is likely 0 grams daily. The side effects outweigh the negatives in most cases.

If you do decide to take the supplement, the sweet spot dose for improving exercise performance typically ranges between 5-10 grams daily for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this supplement for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since it is safer, and you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.

The upper safety limit for this supplement is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than the recommended dose unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle dextrose and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Best time to take dextrose

The best time to take dextrose is right before, during, or right after an exercise session.

Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.

Dextrose is water-soluble, so you don’t have to take it with food to absorb it well.

If you perform intermittent fasting, the supplement can break a fast but is still better to take close to your exercise session, even if you exercise fasted.

Where to buy dextrose?

In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering dextrose supplements. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the Internet.

Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle dextrose and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. That will keep your body sensitive to the supplement and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes time which can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they are often made of bovine gelatine, which rarely comes from ethical sources.

While you could take the supplement at night, the best time to take it is before, during, or right after an exercise session.

This supplement should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date. However, it can lose potency over time. Keep this supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place so it remains as potent for many months or even years.

While acute toxicity is rare, taking very high amounts of this supplement could lead to various problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses.

While you could safely take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 10 grams daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

The half-life of dextrose in the plasma is about 10-15 minutes. This supplement gets metabolized within 60 minutes after you consume it.

Some benefits related to exercise performance happen right after the supplement kicks in. In the long term, you must take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing most of the benefits.

You can easily find vegan-friendly dextrose pills and powders but always check the label to be sure. If you buy the supplement in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.

The supplement can break a fast. However, it is still better to take it during, right before, or right after an exercise session, even if you exercise fasted.

References

Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

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We hope this guide has helped you determine if you should add dextrose to your supplement stack and how to do it right.

If you have any further questions or want to share your feedback, feel free to send us an email!

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