OLIMP

What is Olimp Carbonox?

Olimp Carbonox is a carbohydrate powder to be mixed with water, intended for training, made by Olimp Sport Nutrition, a Polish brand. It is dosed at 50 g and drunk before, during or after a session.

The body of the formula is a blend of three carbohydrates: maltodextrins, glucose and isomaltulose. To these are added L-arginine hydrochloride, two acidity regulators (malic acid, citric acid), a set of vitamins and minerals, flavourings, two sweeteners (acesulfame K and sucralose) and colours depending on the flavour. The flavours listed: Strawberry, Lemon, Orange, Pineapple and Grapefruit.

A word on method before going further. This page repeats no promise of "two hours of stable blood sugar" and no stated duration of energy: those claims circulate about this product, they are not backed by any verifiable source and they no longer appear here. The net weight of the tub, for its part, does not appear in the product data we hold for this item: it is printed on the packaging, so we work in 50 g servings rather than in servings per tub.

What does a 50 g serving of Carbonox contain?

One serving provides 47.5 g of carbohydrate, of which 12.5 g sugars, for 816 kJ / 192 kcal, 0.5 g of protein, 0 g of fat and 0.025 g of salt. It also contains 500 mg of L-arginine hydrochloride, i.e. 410 mg of L-arginine.

What sets the product apart is its fortification. The vitamins are dosed at a consistent level: each of the ones that are quantified provides 20 % of the NRV per 50 g serving. On the mineral side, chromium reaches 94 % and manganese 50 %, while calcium and magnesium stay below the 15 % that any claim depends on.

* No NRV is established for L-arginine, and no health claim is authorised for it: it appears in the composition, it is not an argument for effectiveness. Two reservations about the table, which we would rather write down than round off. The ingredients list mentions twelve vitamins, but only ten are quantified: vitamin D and pantothenic acid appear in the composition with no content declared. Likewise, the list mentions eight minerals — iodine and molybdenum being added to the six in the table — but only six are quantified. We are not inventing the four missing rows.

The verified levels permit the following European wordings, and only those: vitamin C, B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, biotin, iron and manganese contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism; vitamin C, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folate and iron contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue; vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress; vitamin A contributes to the normal function of the immune system and to the maintenance of normal vision; chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism. The multivitamins department covers the same ground outside a training context.

On the carbohydrates themselves, a European claim does exist, but its conditions of use require an intake of the order of 4 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight after exercise. For a person of 75 kg, that comes to 300 g of carbohydrate, or six servings. A 50 g serving does not meet that condition: we therefore claim nothing on that front.

How do you take Olimp Carbonox?

The manufacturer specifies one 50 g scoop in 100 to 200 ml of water, to be mixed vigorously for at least 10 seconds. The recommended amount is 2 to 4 servings a day depending on training intensity and body weight — that is 95 to 190 g of carbohydrate a day from this product alone.

Three timings are proposed: 30 minutes before training, during the session in small sips, and immediately after. No course length is given by the manufacturer, and there is no reason to set one: a carbohydrate powder is taken according to training load, not as a course.

A practical note on dilution. Fifty grams in 100 ml gives a very concentrated solution, which slows gastric emptying and troubles a lot of athletes during exercise. If you are drinking the mix while running or cycling, go beyond the 200 ml stated and dilute in 500 to 700 ml. The manufacturer's range suits a single drink after the session better.

Who is Carbonox for, and who is it not for?

The product is aimed at adults whose training load is genuine: long sessions, back-to-back workouts, endurance sports, or bulking where calorie intake from solid food becomes hard to sustain. If you train for an hour three times a week, a 192 kcal serving of fast carbohydrate serves no purpose and simply adds to your calorie balance.

The manufacturer states clearly that the product is not suitable for people with diabetes. It advises against it for pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as for the under-18s, and reminds you not to exceed the daily serving. It is made in a factory that handles milk, eggs, soya, nuts, peanuts, gluten, fish, crustaceans and molluscs: traces are possible. Any question relating to a medical treatment or condition belongs with your doctor or your pharmacist.

What you should not expect from it: this is not a weight loss product, quite the opposite. Nor is it a meal replacement, despite the vitamins: 0.5 g of protein per serving feeds nothing. And it is not a pre-workout, it contains no caffeine. Finally, no promise about how long the energy lasts can be kept: the rate at which you empty your stores depends on intensity, on what you have eaten that day and on your training, not on the composition of a powder.

Carbonox or a plain maltodextrin?

The question is a genuine one, because the price gap per kilo of carbohydrate is significant.

A plain maltodextrin is the better choice when you are consuming large volumes of carbohydrate, when you want to control your intake precisely, or when you are already taking vitamins elsewhere — Carbonox's 20 % of the NRV then adds to what you are swallowing on the other side, and the benefit melts away. It is also preferable if you are mixing your carbohydrate with a protein or with amino acids in the same bottle: the fewer flavourings and acidifiers there are, the better the mix behaves.

Carbonox holds its own when you want a ready-to-use drink that is pleasant to swallow, and when the vitamin content replaces a multivitamin you are not taking. If it is digestive comfort on very long efforts that concerns you, look instead at cyclodextrin, whose osmolarity is more favourable, or at waxy maize. And to cover the calories of a weight gain phase, carbohydrate combined with protein works better than carbohydrate on its own.

Frequently asked questions

What proportion of Carbonox is maltodextrin?

The manufacturer does not publish the split between the three sources. The ingredients list puts the carbohydrate blend first, with the maltodextrins named before glucose and then isomaltulose, which indicates descending order of quantity without giving weights. We are not going to estimate them.

How many 50 g servings can you take a day?

Two to four depending on training intensity and body weight, according to the manufacturer. That comes to 95 to 190 g of carbohydrate and 384 to 768 kcal from this product alone. Count them in your daily balance: this is energy, not a neutral supplement.

Is Carbonox suitable for people with diabetes?

No. The manufacturer says so explicitly, and the composition confirms it: 47.5 g of carbohydrate per serving, of which 12.5 g sugars. No multi-source formulation changes that figure. If this concerns you, the question is one for your doctor, not for a product page.

Does the nutrition table change with the flavour?

The published values apply to the range; only the colours vary with the flavour, as the ingredients list indicates. The flavours listed are Strawberry, Lemon, Orange, Pineapple and Grapefruit. The two sweeteners, acesulfame K and sucralose, are common to all of them.

Does Carbonox contain gluten?

No gluten-containing ingredient appears in the composition, but the factory also handles gluten, as well as milk, eggs, soya, nuts, peanuts, fish, crustaceans and molluscs. If you have coeliac disease, this risk of traces should be taken seriously.

How many vitamins and minerals are actually quantified?

Ten vitamins out of the twelve present in the ingredients list, and six minerals out of the eight. Vitamin D, pantothenic acid, iodine and molybdenum appear in the composition with no content declared. That is a shortcoming of the label, not an omission on our part, and it makes any claim for those four nutrients impossible to use.

Can it be mixed with a protein?

Yes, with no known interaction, and combining carbohydrate with protein makes sense after a long session. Just be aware that Carbonox's acidifiers, malic acid and citric acid, can alter the texture of a whey. A neutral maltodextrin mixes more cleanly if that is your main use.

Should it be taken during or after exercise?

Both are proposed by the manufacturer. During exercise, dilute generously — 500 to 700 ml rather than the 200 ml stated — to avoid the digestive discomfort of an over-concentrated solution. After exercise, the tighter dilution poses no problem since the drink is swallowed in one go.

Where can you buy Olimp Carbonox?

This page lets you order the flavours, and we ship throughout France and Europe. In our Vendargues shop, about ten minutes from Montpellier, this is the kind of product that is better discussed before being bought: the first question we ask is how many hours of training a week, because below a certain volume a carbohydrate powder has nothing to offer. The rest of the department is in our sports nutrition section.

What is Olimp Taurine Mega Caps?

Olimp Taurine Mega Caps is taurine in capsules, at a deliberately high dose. One capsule provides 1,500 mg of taurine, for 6 kcal, with no carbohydrate, no fat and no salt. The 120-capsule tub covers 60 to 120 days depending on the dose you settle on.

Taurine is a sulphur-containing amino acid, naturally present in the body and supplied by food — above all by fish, seafood and meat. It is widely used by athletes, it is found in most energy drinks, and it is one of those ingredients everyone talks about without ever saying what they do.

The Mega Caps format is the central argument: a single capsule covers the usual dose, where a powder calls for a set of scales and a glass of water. Olimp Sport Nutrition is a Polish brand, established in France for a long time. The rest of the range can be browsed in our Olimp Sport Nutrition section, and the other products in the category in our taurine section.

What is in one Taurine Mega Caps capsule?

** Nutrient reference value not established for taurine.

1,500 mg in a single capsule is the real point of this product. The usual dose among athletes sits between 1 and 2 g a day: one capsule is therefore enough, two at most. For comparison, a standard can of energy drink contains around 1,000 mg, buried in sugar and caffeine. Here you get the molecule on its own, without the rest.

Taurine makes up 88.7% of the capsule's contents; the remainder consists of the agents needed for manufacturing — a bulking agent and an anti-caking agent. That is an honest proportion for a capsule of this size, and the manufacturer deserves credit for publishing it, which few do.

Now for the point this category carefully avoids raising: no health claim is authorised in Europe for taurine. Not for performance, not for recovery, not for concentration, not for creatine transport. Nothing. The applications submitted did not succeed, and everything you will read elsewhere about its “anti-catabolic effects” is commercial extrapolation. What we are selling here is a nutritional intake documented as to its composition, not a promised effect. For any health question, speak to your doctor.

One practical point that matters: the capsule shell is made of gelatine. This product is therefore not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diets, unlike taurine powder, which is of synthetic origin and contains no animal ingredient. It is the kind of detail that decides a purchase and that almost no product page mentions.

Ingredients list

Taurine (88.7%, that is 1,500 mg per capsule), bulking agent: microcrystalline cellulose, anti-caking agent: magnesium salts of fatty acids. Capsule shell: gelatine.

No allergen in the recipe. The manufacturer states that production takes place in a facility handling GLUTEN, MILK, EGGS and SOYA: traces are possible. The detailed composition of the shell appears on the label of the tub you receive. Stated shelf life: 36 months in the unopened original packaging.

How should Taurine Mega Caps be taken?

Dose: 1 to 2 capsules a day. Liquid: 300 to 400 ml of water. Timing: 30 to 45 minutes before intense sessions. Frequency: once a day; a dose on rest days is possible. Duration: at least 4 to 6 weeks, without a break.

The volume of water is not decorative: 300 to 400 ml is a lot for one capsule, and it is deliberate. A Mega Caps capsule is an imposing size, and it goes down far better with a large glass than with a mouthful. If you struggle to swallow capsules, let us know: taurine also comes as a powder, and the problem disappears.

One capsule or two? A single one already covers the usual dose. The second is justified during weeks of heavy training load, or if you want to get closer to the 2 g a day used in the literature. There is no point going higher, and the manufacturer sets the limit at two capsules in any case.

As for duration, allow four to six weeks minimum, without a break. This is not a product with an immediate effect that you take on competition day. If you are going to take it, take it regularly, including on days without training — that is what the manufacturer recommends.

Finally, taurine combines without difficulty with the other training products: a creatine, some BCAAs or an electrolyte can be taken alongside without overlap. None of these combinations creates any demonstrated additional effect, though: they are separate intakes, not a synergy.

Who is Taurine Mega Caps for, and who is it not for?

It is aimed at an adult who trains and wants an isolated taurine intake, without going through a sugary energy drink or a caffeinated pre-workout. It is a simple product, frankly dosed, and the capsule format makes it easy to carry.

It is not suitable for under-18s. Pregnant and breastfeeding women must not use it — that is the manufacturer's wording, with no qualification. If you are on any medical treatment, ask a healthcare professional for advice before use.

It is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, since the capsule shell is made of gelatine. If that applies to you, go for a taurine powder. And if you are sensitive to a major allergen, be aware that the product is made in a facility handling gluten, milk, eggs and soya.

What you should not expect from it, and it needs saying plainly. No claim exists for taurine in Europe: this product does not improve performance, does not protect muscle, does not speed up recovery and has no demonstrated effect on alertness. If you are after a stimulant, what you need is a booster, not taurine — and the effect felt after a can of energy drink comes from the caffeine, not from the taurine it contains.

Taurine in capsules or as a powder?

This is the only real choice to make on this product, and it comes down to three concrete criteria.

Powder costs distinctly less per gram. That is mechanical: you pay for neither the encapsulation, nor the gelatine, nor the bulking agents. Over a daily 1.5 g dose for several months, the gap becomes significant. It also suits vegetarian and vegan diets, which the gelatine capsule does not.

The capsule wins on simplicity and on taste — or rather on the absence of it. Taurine powder has a bitter, slightly sulphurous taste that few people enjoy in a glass of water; you have to bury it in a flavoured drink. A capsule settles the question in three seconds, with no scales and no scoop. For long-term daily use, that is often what makes the difference between a tub you finish and a tub you forget.

A third case comes up regularly: if you already take a pre-workout or an intra-workout drink, check what is in them before adding this one. Taurine appears in most formulas in that category, often between 500 mg and 1 g per serving. Our EAAs and our session drinks frequently contain it: there is no point stacking.

Frequently asked questions

How much taurine per capsule?

1,500 mg, that is the usual dose among athletes in a single serving. Taurine makes up 88.7% of the capsule's contents, the rest being a bulking agent and an anti-caking agent. The 120-capsule tub covers 60 to 120 days depending on whether you take one or two a day.

Does taurine improve performance?

We cannot state that and nobody legally can: no health claim is authorised in Europe for taurine. Not for performance, not for recovery, not for concentration. It is a nutritional intake, and it should be bought in full awareness of that.

Are the capsules suitable for vegetarians?

No. The shell is made of gelatine, which is of animal origin. If you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, go for taurine powder, which does not pose that problem. It is a point rarely mentioned on product pages in this category.

One or two capsules a day?

A single one covers the usual 1.5 g dose. The second is justified during heavy training weeks, to get closer to the 2 g a day. The manufacturer sets the limit at two capsules a day: there is no point going beyond that.

Should it be taken on rest days?

The manufacturer allows and suggests it, the course being designed to run without a break over four to six weeks minimum. This is not a product with an immediate effect that you would take only on the day of an important session. If you take it, take it regularly.

Can it be combined with an energy drink?

It is possible, but often pointless: most energy drinks and pre-workouts already contain taurine, between 500 mg and 1 g per serving. Check the label of what you already take before adding a 1,500 mg capsule.

Are the capsules easy to swallow?

They are an imposing size, which is the whole principle of the Mega Caps format that allows 1,500 mg to be packed in. Take them with 300 to 400 ml of water, not a mouthful. If you struggle with large capsules, the powder version is a better choice.

Where can you buy Olimp Taurine Mega Caps?

You can order the tub on this page, and we ship throughout France and Europe. In the Vendargues shop, about ten minutes from Montpellier, this is a product we sell without making a fuss about it: taurine has no authorised claim, and we would rather say so before the purchase than let anyone believe in an effect. We also check what the customer already takes, since taurine is in almost every session drink. The rest of our selection can be browsed in the sports nutrition section.