PRODUCT REVIEW: I have never been much of a fan of electrolyte products. Just reading the ingredient list should tell you why – lots of unnecessary ingredients and lots of sugar! I am also continually annoyed by the marketing and suggested use of them. Most people really don’t need these drinks, but somehow we’ve got teenagers and adults drinking them as though they were a refreshment not the supplement they are intended to be.
I discovered over a month ago that my body is not a fan of hot yoga. Seems that the heat is causing my body to detox too quickly, the result being that I was getting very ill. Now this is a huge issue as I happen to be doing my yoga teacher training in a hot yoga studio at Power Yoga Canada.
My Naturopath (I love my Naturopath) asked me to start using an electrolyte drink in a very prescribed manner. And she asked that I use a very specific brand of electrolyte – Vega Sport Performance Optimizer.
I am familiar with the Vega line of products and how they were developed by Brendan Brazier, a professional Ironman athlete. I have had the opportunity to sample all the Vega products over the past few years – Whole Food Optimizer, Whole Food Smoothie Infusion and the Vega Energy Bars. They weren’t bad, but truth be told, the taste wasn’t sufficient to convince me to buy them. I really didn’t need these types of supplements, so if I was going to use them they would have to taste really yummy.
So here I was ordered to take Vega Sport Performance Optimizer once a day if I was doing no yoga and multiple times if I was road training or doing hot yoga. I went to the local Planet Organic and picked up a single serving of each flavour – Lemon Lime and Acai Berry. I thought the Acai Berry tasted bad, but it was yummy compared to the Lemon Lime. The lesser of the two evils was clearly going to be the Acai Berry flavour so I went back to pick up a container.
In the beginning, I had to schedule my forced drinking of the Vega Sport Performance drink – each day at 10AM. I would mix it up and swig it down quickly. It made me feel better, but it took a few weeks of use before I truly fell in love with this drink. These days I have to admit I am addicted to this product. It energizes me and now that I have gotten used to the taste I find it a really refreshing drink. My body really seems to love it!
If you are going to use the Vega Sport Performance Optimizer there is a secret that I have discovered – getting it mixed correctly. Here’s what you need to do. Put the powder in your container. Add about 1/4 cup of warm water. Then mix this up. You need the warm water to get the powder to dissolve correctly. Then add as much cold water as you want. I dilute it quite a bit – I use one scoop with at least 2 cups of water. If it’s going into a water bottle it is diluted to almost 750 ml.
On hard training days, I will add it to my post training protein smoothie for an extra boost and to cut down on my liquid intake.
I heartily recommend Vega Sport Performance Optimizer. Over the past two months it has become my saving grace as I get through some intense training weekends. If you are doing long distance training in which you need to supplement with an electrolyte drink give it a try! Thank you Brendan Brazier!
For more information visit Vega