Get Your Supplemented Drink On
Just because my diet isn’t always perfect (okay, it’s rarely perfect), I usually pop a multivitamin in the a.m. I’m not a huge supplement gal, but I want to make sure I get my calcium, iron and other important nutrients. However, when I take that pill in the morning and I don’t eat a sizable breakfast, it makes me really, really nauseous for like 10 minutes. Almost every time it happens, I freak, thinking that I’m pregnant. Then I remember. Oh, yea: That dang supplement. For that reason alone—when I can’t chew my vitamins in food—the idea of drinking rather than swallowing my vitamins in pill form is appealing. Very appealing. And that’s what inspired today’s Nosh. My nausea.
FBG contributing writer Tish and I recently guzzled down three new drinks. Tish signed up for this writing assignment because she says that she’s “kind of a spaz about trying to find the best liquid concoction” to help her after a big workout. Hehe. Aren’t we all? She reviewed the first two, and I tackled the last one. For the record, we are NOT nutritionists or registered dietitians, so our reviews are mostly based on taste and our general feeling about the drink. And remember, supplements are not regulated, so it’s a good idea to talk to your doc before taking anything.
Joint Juice
I’d heard of this darn tootin’ stuff for months now on the radio. It’s chock-a-block full of glucosamine (1,500 mg, actually) that is supposed to be great for those with bad knees and achy joints.
There are two problems though. Out here in the good ole land of LA, you can only get the stuff at certain stores and that peeves me off because driving more than 30 minutes for water is just absurd. (The stores are sprinkled across my ‘hood in an annoyingly sparse kind of way.) The second problem is the darn taste. This stuff has different flavors you can choose from, so I assumed getting the berry flavor would taste like watered-down Kool-Aid. I mean that’s what other flavored waters do, right?
Wrong. This stuff tasted like watered-down medicinal liquid. Can you say “ew?” I wouldn’t call it terrible though. If you’re really feeling the joint-feel-better magical powers, then you’ll definitely be able to slam this stuff down. But if you’re like me and you’re trying to find a drink that tastes good AND does a body good, then ya best keep moving.
Alive!
The soy-protein powder mix, Alive! brags that it’s the “ultra shake mix combo,” packing 13 grams of carbs and 16 grams of protein, but the minute I mixed the apple-cinnamon powder in with my juice and berries, it turned a brownish-green color and I KNEW right then that I had been hoodwinked. The thick mix in front of me was about to hurt me—taste-wise—in a cruel, cruel way.
My hunch was correct. The stuff was so nasty that I couldn’t even finish my 8-oz. glass. I took three sips of that chalky, weird-tasting mix and then, sadly, sacrificed the rest down the sink for the sewer gods to play with. I don’t care how much wholesome goodness I’m supposed to get from something, if it don’t taste yummy, it ain’t going in the tummy.
Ola Loa
I’m no dietitian, but Ola Loa sure did fit a lot of vitamins and minerals into one packet. This multivitamin/multi-mineral packet quickly dissolves into 4 to 6 oz. of water and packs quite the punch with most of your nutrients needed for the day and then some.
The multivitamin and “super multivitamin” packets come in all kinds of flavors—orange, cran-raspberry, and Tropicana—to name a few. There are also “sport” packets that claim to help replenish electrolytes and aid recovery after a workout. To fight my morning pill-induced nausea, I started working a packet into my morning routine and was pleased. Much like taking the multivitamin pill, I didn’t notice much of a difference in my energy for the day, but I feel better knowing I’ve hit my recommended dietary needs.
The only way I can describe these packets and how they work is to compare them to Airborne. They dissolve all fizzy like that. And although they’re just about 5 to 10 calories a packet, they are sweetened with Stevia, which leaves that slightly bitter aftertaste. I was able to chug it down, but if you’re not a fan of Stevia, it’s probably not for you.
Would you or do you drink supplemented drinks? How come? —Tish & Jenn