Sports Nutrition Trends 2026: Carbs, Sweat Data and Fuelling

Three shifts define sports nutrition trends for endurance runners in 2026: athletes are taking in more carbohydrate per hour, measuring their own sweat, and letting a written plan, often on a watch, replace fuelling by feel. Each shift has real research behind it, and each has a limit that most trend roundups skip. This guide sets out what the evidence supports today and where it stops.

The wider backdrop is a market that cares about nutrition more than it used to. McKinsey's 2025 survey of more than 9,000 consumers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China names functional nutrition as one of six high-growth wellness areas, with energy and gut health among the most sought-after benefits, as reported by NutraIngredients in June 2025. That finding covers wellness as a whole, not sport alone, so read it as context rather than proof of anything on the road or trail.

Why are endurance athletes eating more carbohydrate again?

Because the evidence now supports higher hourly intakes for trained athletes than the old ceiling allowed. The shift swings back from the low-carbohydrate enthusiasm of a decade ago, when paleo and keto ideas were everywhere at the start line, toward fuelling the work with carbohydrate during the work.

Most coaches’ reference point is the 2016 sport nutrition guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine, which recommend up to 90 g of carbohydrate an hour, from multiple transportable sources such as glucose and fructose blends, for exercise lasting beyond 2.5 to 3 hours. A 2026 review in the Journal of Nutrition by Morton and colleagues concludes that contemporary research suggests the upper limit could rise from 90 to 120 g an hour, at least for trained participants. The reasoning is that both exogenous and whole-body carbohydrate oxidation rates can be raised at those higher intakes.

The same review is just as direct about the other end. Field observations show some athletes taking 120 to 200 g an hour during training and racing, but the authors say current research has not yet substantiated the efficacy of such doses. That honest ceiling is the most useful sentence in the paper for an amateur, because it separates what is studied from what is merely fashionable.

For the everyday runner, Australian guidance sits lower and is more practical. The Australian Institute of Sport sets out its figures by event length in its guidance on how and when to use sports gels. The table below puts those figures beside the research frontier described above.

Read the table as a map of confidence rather than a prescription. The first two rows are established guidance and a well-argued research direction for trained athletes, while the last row reminds you that a number on social media isn't the same as a number the evidence supports. If you want to see what these amounts look like in a pack, the Fixx range of energy gels lists the carbohydrate per serve on each product page.

What can wearable sweat and sodium monitoring actually tell you?

It can show how much you differ from the average, but it is not yet a number you can bet a race on. Sweat rate and sweat sodium vary widely from one athlete to the next, which is why testing your own is so appealing.

A 2026 controlled study by Atkins, Chopelas, and McDermott in the Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine tested a commercial at-home microfluidic sweat patch. Twenty-two adults, 11 men and 11 women, completed two matched cycling trials in an environmental chamber set to 30 degrees Celsius and 55 per cent relative humidity, wearing the at-home patch beside a standard lab-based absorbent patch. The full paper is available through its DOI record.

The results were sobering. The at-home patch failed to return a sweat rate in 9 of 44 trials (20 per cent), and its sodium-loss failure rate was 43 per cent. When it did return values, they were lower than the lab method: a sweat rate of 0.53 L/h versus 0.96 L/h, and a sodium loss of 729 mg versus 1,053 mg. The authors concluded that athletes and sports scientists should use caution when assessing sweat rate and sodium loss with at-home microfluidic patches.

What should an amateur do with that? Repeat any test in similar conditions before you change a race plan, because a single reading, particularly from one patch on one outdoor session, is a ballpark at best. Use a wearable result as a prompt for a conversation with a dietitian or a trial in training, not as a verdict. The reason sodium matters to hydration at all is covered in our explainer on why electrolytes matter for hydration, and the hydration fuel range is where to read product detail.

This section is about measurement and mechanism only. No sweat test, patch or product changes what your body does on its own, and none of the figures above should be read as a promise of any outcome.

How is endurance fuelling changing for amateur runners?

It is moving from eating and drinking by feel to a written plan that is practised in training. The old method relied on instinct in the middle of a long effort, when instinct is least reliable.

Watches now carry part of that load. In a conversation with Fixx, Ross Dougall of Polar, Sports Channel Manager for Australia and New Zealand, describes FuelWise as a feature that creates a personalised nutrition plan on the watch based on your intensity and event duration. You can enter how many grams of carbohydrate are in your mix, for example Fuel X Pro, and the watch calculates how many packets or scoops you need and sets reminders to take them. Michelle Buchegger of Fixx points out why that matters on a long day: 'race brain' sets in and people forget to eat. The full exchange is in Fixx and Polar on fuelling.

A plan is only as good as your practice with it. Dougall advises avoiding anything new on race day and training your stomach, which matches AIS guidance that athletes should practise finding a fuelling plan that suits their goals, hydration needs, and gut comfort. A sensible approach is to start at the lower end of the range for your event length and build up across your long sessions. It is general training practice, not a guarantee, and a dietitian can tailor it to you.

Where is sports nutrition heading next?

Based on what we've sourced, the direction is toward personal data and personal plans, set against a broader consumer interest in functional nutrition. McKinsey's wellness findings, as reported by NutraIngredients, point to energy and gut health as the benefits people want most. Those are wellness-wide results, so they say nothing specific about any one sport.

Sport-specific research adds a clearer sense of what remains open. The carbohydrate ceiling for trained athletes is under active study, the accuracy of at-home sweat sensing has yet to be established, and plans built on a watch are only as useful as the inputs you give them. We will refresh this guide as the 120 g an hour and sweat-patch literature moves.

FAQ

What are the current trending topics in nutrition?

Broadly, functional nutrition is one of six high-growth areas identified in McKinsey's 2025 consumer survey, with energy and gut health among the most sought-after benefits. For endurance athletes specifically, the live topics are higher carbohydrate intakes, personal sweat testing and watch-based fuelling plans.

How many carbohydrates should I take an hour when running?

Australian guidance is 30 to 60 g an hour for events of 1 to 2.5 hours, and up to 90 g an hour beyond 2.5 to 3 hours. Research suggests the upper limit could rise to 120 g an hour for trained athletes, while 120 to 200 g an hour is not yet substantiated.

Do I need a sweat test before a marathon?

No, a sweat test is not a requirement for a first or second marathon. If you do test, repeat it under similar conditions, because the 2026 patch study found at-home results varied from the lab method and often returned no value.

Are wearable sweat patches accurate?

Not yet reliably, based on the evidence of one controlled 2026 study. A commercial at-home patch returned no sweat rate in 20 per cent of trials and no sodium value in 43 per cent, and read lower than the lab method when it did return values.

Conclusion

Three takeaways from the research are worth carrying into your next training block:

• Carbohydrate guidance is moving up for trained athletes, with 120 g an hour under study, but 120 to 200 g an hour is not yet substantiated.

• Wearable sweat testing is a prompt to look closer, not a number to bet a race on, so repeat it before changing a plan.

• A written fuelling plan that you have practised in training beats fuelling by feel on the day.

Plan your fuelling before race day. More guides are on the Fixx blog.