Category: Nutrition Reviews

Thanks goes to Jess, for this great review and reminder to buy local!!

Review: Looking for a Jerky stick that you know is all natural?  Look no further!  Bonus: they are made in New England – buy local!

These sticks come in 6 flavors, each is delicious and it is hard to pick a favorite!  All ingredients are all-natural and you don’t have the ridiculous amount of chewing that comes from eating jerky.   I brought them with me on the Peak Races Snowshoe Championships – they travel well and there is no concern about squishing!

Beef BBQ
Beef-Pork Chipotle
Beef-Pork Cracked Pepper
Turkey Ancho
Turkey Honey Mustard
Turkey Pepperoni

http://www.vtsmokeandcure.com/real-sticks.html

Rating: 4 star (good)

The past year has been a bit of a struggle diet wise. After dealing with some health issues, ie. high cholesterol, and some shifting personal opinions, I went whole food plant based. I have not been perfect, it’s taken some major steps to get where I’m at now. I’m not going to go into that whole thing about plant based, veganism or vegetarianism and try to sway your opinion on it, what you believe is what you believe and you have the right to eat whatever you want. This review, like any other review on this site, is meant to make you aware of a product that has worked for someone. I’m sure with the over 3,600 members that there will be another #WFPB person, so hopefully this review will help them when it comes to supplementation.

PHEW!

Vega has been used far and wide by some of the worlds greatest plant based athletes. Ranging from the NFL, the MLB, the NHL to Triathletes, Runners, Olympians, Ultra Runners and even MMA fighters; Vega has become the supplement of choice for them. These are not the type of folks you think of when you think WFPB athlete, there is still that image in everyone’s mind that we are frail and skinny. It’s not the case, look to your left at Mac Danzig, season 6 winner of the Ultimate Fighter. That guy fights with the best of them now and has been a contender year in and year out.

So, Vega… Yes, if you know anything about this product line one of the first things that jumps out to you is the price. In doing research about Vega I saw all sorts of people talking about how pricey it is and how they can get this or that somewhere else. Having used the product now, and other companies products, there is a major difference in quality. Not only the quality of ingredients, but the quality of taste. There’s a reason why it costs a little more; it works. To hammer home that point, you get what you pay for. Having tested others and dealing with gas, bloating and a general bad gut feeling, I’m going to put down a few extra dollars to make sure I’m getting what I want out of a product.

Lately I’ve been using VegaOne on a daily basis. I have found I have more energy, I’ve been more alert and focused. The biggest thing is my recovery from running has been lessened. I’m not an every day runner, as I sometimes wish I could be. So if I go a couple days between runs my legs are toast. Since using VegaOne that time has been cut in half! That’s amazing results and helps me get out there more. Here just a brief bit of whats in it…

• 50% daily intake of vitamins and minerals
• 15 grams protein
• 6 grams fiber
• 1.5 grams Omega-3s
• Antioxidants
• Probiotics
• 3 servings of greens (the new formula has 6 servings of greens per scoop)

They don’t just make VegaOne though, they have products that every supplement company has, including a pre-workout energizer. I’ve used it a few times to get me out the door when my “Procrasti..N8” brain gets going. It’s a clean energy, as you can imagine. There are no jitters, no sugar crashes. If you’re a gym person looking for a pump, this is not it. If you are looking for a stim, this is not it. It IS clean energy without any artificial stuff, it’s meant to do one thing and that is to help you push through your workout, whatever type of workout that is.

I’ve used a bunch of different products in this genre and have to say, hands down, Vega is my favorite. Not only are the products great, but so are the folks that work for them. Whenever I’ve had questions or concern, whether it be via e-mail or even on Twitter, they are always gracious and extremely helpful.

Find them on the web at http://myvega.com/ or follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/VegaTeam

After running the Leadville 100 and coping with what the founder of Tailwind, Jeff, calls a “gut bomb”; Tailwind was born.

Some of us can cope with just water or electrolytes in our hydration packs and supplement calories with gels, gummies and bars. Hell some guys like Dean Karnazes can run all night, order a pizza  and have it delivered to him while running, and still not puke all over his shoes. For others that dang GI tract is not happy with that mess and can create a mess all of its own.

Tailwind was created to not only hydrate runners, swimmers and adventurers but to also provide clean calories that would settle decently and allow an athlete to perform at their best.

I’ve used Tailwind on a couple runs now and tested it to its full capacity at the 2014 Spartan Race World Championship Beast in Vermont. We all know “on paper” it said the race was 13-14 miles, but GPS data shows it was really anywhere from 16-17 miles. Regardless, it was grueling and if you were not prepared it was going to be a long day. Who am I kidding? For those of us that WERE prepared it WAS still a long day ! But I digress…

I filled my hydration pack with 70oz of water and 2 scoops of Tailwinds Organic Berry flavor and headed toward the starting line. Because it was hard to carry around the whole bag of Organic Berry, I brought along a couple sleeves of the one serving pouches to add later on. One of them had caffeine, how exciting! The flavors were clean, not overwhelmingly sweet which can be a detriment at times, I’m not looking for good taste to be honest, I am looking for results.

I was using a different product two weeks earlier and while that product claims it fought off cramps and the like, I still found myself cramping a bit. That worries me as I knew this Beast course was going to be nearly double the distance and a million times harder as far as elevation goes. I had come to terms with the fact I was going to cramp at some point, even with this new product I assumed it had to happen at some point.

Am I glad I was wrong! I did not cramp, not even once!!

How did it settle as far as digestion went? Well I didn’t barf, so that’s a good thing, right? Honestly, I wasn’t sure about Tailwinds ability to supply the amount of calories I was going to need so I did bring a few Quest bars with me. For these types of races ole Quest bars and I have been inseparable so, yeah I had a few. That said, the calories I got from Tailwind helped keep a continuous stream of energy coming. I really only ate the bars when I knew I was going to need them. It took my 10 hours to finish the race, I didn’t think I wasn’t surviving on the liquid alone. Although, it’s been pointed out to me, had I added more scoops throughout the day I could very well have received my caloric needs.

Hydration? I felt great! I did play it safe and started hydrating days before the event, with Tailwind even that way my system wouldn’t be shocked with a new product on race day. Not once during the race did I feel like I was becoming dehydrated or anything, I felt great. Now if Tailwind could only do something about all the downhill descents and the damage it can do to one’s knees, I can dream right?

Like I said though, it was great to have a constant source of energy coming in, so hydration and calories? Yeah, that’s a no brainer!

I like the fact it is a small outfit over there at Tailwind. They take the time to listen and understand what your needs are. Heck, my bag even had my name hand written on it, made me feel all warm and tingly! lol!

I know one thing for certain, Tailwind will have my back this January at the Winter Death Race, it will be the only thing (minus the water) in my hydration pack!

Product info: http://www.tailwindnutrition.com/

Rating: Excellent, highly recommended!

Awesome review from Paul, when I am seriously taking to heart and will be ordering for my pack at the Beast. These sound amazing!!

Juti Bars are an all organic, gluten free, crap free meal bar – made with love in VT 🙂 I first met the man behind Juti Bar at the Unelashed open day, and despite my usual dislike for all things crunchy, healthy, granola’y and such, I really enjoyed the bar, and using our team discount, I picked a bunch of them up for the upcoming race season.

Now, I’m no nutritionist, and barely eat healthy, so this is definitely a laymans opinion. I packed four Juti’s in my pack when we hit the NJ Super, knowing I would be at walking pace for much of it, and likely out there a while. In previous long distance events, my go-to food source was sports beans, so I packed a few of those too. I prefer something I can actually eat, over something like a Gu or gel.

Juti’s are considered meal replacement bars, not snack bars. They are more expensive than a granola bar, but  even I noticed that they are considerably longer lasting. I ate a bar an hour before setting off, and had another one about 4 hours later – and didn’t really need anything else. The bar sits lightly in your stomach, so you don’t need to worry about a full feeling, or food bouncing around inside you, and it isn’t dry, so you don’t really need water to wash it down either.

Overall, I was impressed. I packed four, used two and shared a sportsbeans pack. Last year, I had beans every hour and was famished when I was done – this year, I wasn’t that hungry at the end, and didn’t even bother with the dry, burned burger they gave me.

These will be in my pack again at the Beast, and any longer distance event I hit up.

Product Info: http://www.jutibar.com/ (make sure to use your Spahten discount by typing in NESPAHTENS for 10% off)

Rating: 5 star (amazing)

Took me a couple months to give these products a true test. Pacific Health Labs were extremely generous and I really wanted to put the products they sent through a complete evaluation process. Having enough, I was able to stack them when necessary to see the true benefits.

First, a little about Pacific Health Labs, taken from their site:

Pacific Health Laboratories, founded in 1996 by two prominent scientists, started with a singular purpose – to help athletes achieve their personal goals. We never lost sight of that mission. Collaborating with some of the world’s top nutritionists, biochemists and sports scientists, our research and products have reshaped sports nutrition. Our discoveries help muscles work stronger, faster and longer and are an integral part of the daily training and race regimens of athletes at all levels.

One thing that needs to be said, and probably has your ears perked up a bit, although they are a “lab” and do “scientific research” to develop these products, it doesn’t mean they are synthetic. You can skim their ingredients and see most, if not all, of the ingredients are natural. The last thing I want to put in my body is some unnecessary chemical. Every time I take a supplement that is what concerns me most, as I try to eat as cleanly as I can. With that to the side now…

Let’s get into it with the Body Glove Energy Shots. These look a lot like 5-Hour Energy drinks because in theory, they are. Of course they are exclusive to Pacific Health, and their team came up with the concoction, but the idea is the same. When you need a pop of energy it’s simple, open the top, slam it back and wait. The rush that comes on is clean and non-jittery. For whatever I was doing, whether it was a work-out, a run or headed off to work with a sleepy head – these shots made a difference. Loaded with 140mg of caffeine I sure as hope they would have!! Without the jitters, and not feeling like I was completely tweaked out I could focus and get done the things I set out to do.

Next up we have some gels. At this point I have tried a variety of different gels from a multitude of companies. Some are really thick, some to runny, some are just outright gross! Pacific sent a variety of flavors of their standard gels and a pack of their 2nd Surge gels which were chocolate espresso flavor. The latter was absolutely amazing. Let me stress that, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The flavor was fantastic and the boost was spot on. Consistency was great, nice and smooth and not gritty or to watery. Easily you can take these out of a pack, open them and squeeze em all while running or staying in motion. The flavor variety pack was great and came in chocolate, key lime, citrus orange, raspberry cream, strawberry kiwi and vanilla. The only one I really couldn’t get on board with was the orange which was kind of acidic. I loved the key lime and it was probably my favorite, besides the 2nd Surge chocolate espresso of course!

They sent a bar too, the Accel Recover Bar. They reminded me of a brownie bar. Nice and thick, not extremely dry which happens a lot with packaged bars. They were amazingly nourishing and I felt full after a run or workout. rather than down a recovery drink I had these bars with a glass of water and felt more than happy with them. These are not meal replacement bars, or breakfast bars, they are meant to be eaten after exerting yourself ie. a workout, a run or any other sort of physical activity. They are for recovery and having had a bunch of them, felt like they achieved their goal. I do not have the science to prove it, they are the scientists, but what I can do, and am talking about here, is based on experience.

Some of the products, such as the gels and bars, even made their way to the Winter Death Race via the Spahten Express. I had put some gels in, bars, energy shots and some Accelerade in the care package. Keith Glass, Death Race veteran, had this to say “I consumed everything they (the Spahten volunteers) put in front of my face. They were fantastic… Gels were great on the trail, instant energy boosts…” Death Race tested, Death Racer approved!

One other product worth mentioning is Accelerade. This is a powder and when mixed with water tastes like Tang and is supposed to work like Gatorade or other similar products. Like they say on their site “why waste money on glorified sugar water”. That said, coming from Pacific Health the mix is meant to support you not fatten their bottom line. Here’s a couple bullet points from their site in regards to Accelerade:

• You will have 29% more endurance.

• You will rehydrate 40% better.

• Your muscles will recover 40% faster.

• You will lower your perceived exertion.

It comes in a variety of flavors. Besides mixing in a bottle it can be added to a bladder and I did just that many times in my hydration pack for long runs. With Accelerade added I felt like I could run longer, and did. My longest run to date came when I had this in the pack. Take that for what it’s worth.

As with anything, these products may not be for you. I know lots of people that are all about supplementing and then those that aren’t. You choose. For me, based on my experience with these products, I know they work and will gladly use them again. I hope you found this review helpful. For more info and discount use NESPAHTENS15 for 15% off and free shipping, check out http://www.pacifichealthlabs.com/