We field a lot of questions from clients who want to know which products are best for their particular needs. Packaged food is usually highly processed and full of additives like stabilizers and preservatives, not to mention stripped of its natural nutritional value. Knowing that it isn’t reasonable for everyone to prepare everything from scratch, we’ve analyzed the current options to find grab and go products we felt good about putting into our bodies and recommending to you. We are excited about the products we discovered!
We’ve analyzed and rated products based on:
- Nutrition: does it have the right amount of carbs, protein, and sodium for the type of activity it is recommended for? While healthy fat and fiber are awesome when it comes to our overall health, products consumed close to or during exercise should be lower in fat and fiber to decrease the chance of gastrointestinal upset.
- Wholesomeness: preferred products are organic, non-GMO, minimally processed, and don’t contain additives like fillers, preservatives, stabilizers, or dyes.
- Friendliness: does it accommodate special diets like gluten-free, vegan, or food allergies (wheat, nut, soy, dairy)?
- Taste: does it taste great?
Each product is rated on on scale of one to five in each of the four categories above (1=not so awesome and 5=soooo awesome!). Each of the scores in the four categories are then averaged for an overall score. Without further ado, here are our current favs:
Recovery Shake:
Organic Fuel by Organic Valley (organicvalley.coop)
Recovery nutrition means getting the right amount of carbs and protein for your body to repair, replenish, and progress post-exercise. We recommend 30 grams of carbs + 20 grams of protein within 45 minutes of working out.
Organic Fuel is simple, clean, and packs a powerful punch with its protein and carb content. Keep a few bottles in stock to take with you to the gym or have chilling at home post-exercise. Organic Fuel does not have to be kept cold, but it tastes better when it is. The folks at Organic Valley earn an honorable mention for their sense of humor. If you haven’t, check out savethebros.com.
Nutrition –With 26 grams of protein, 27 grams of carbohydrates, and 190 mg of sodium, Organic Fuel has an excellent post-workout nutrition profile.
Wholesomeness –This product is about as wholesome as you can get for a ready-to-drink beverage. It is organic, non-GMO, and made from pasture-raised cow’s milk. Plus, it doesn’t have a lot of “other stuff” that you just don’t need.
Friendliness –While this product does contain dairy, it is gluten, wheat, soy, and nut free.
Taste –Tastes just like chocolate milk (or vanilla)!
Where to buy: your favorite health food store or Amazon.com.
Recovery and Snack Bar:
Perfect Bar (perfectbar.com)
Intrigued by this company’s boast of being the only protein bar in the refrigerator section, and surprised by its nutrition profile, we had to test it out. We were not expecting it to be the best tasting and most palatable bar we have tried. It reminded us of homemade peanut butter cookies — you know, the chewy, crumbly kind. We were immediately hooked! These bars can be kept in the refrigerator section to preserve their freshness for longer than seven days, but don’t worry about throwing it in your bag and taking it with you. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Our favorite flavor is almond butter. Other flavors include almond coconut, almond acai, cranberry crunch, fruit and nut, carob chip and peanut butter. This bar would be good for recovery or for a snack.
Nutrition –With 13 grams of protein and 25 grams of carbs per serving, this bar has an almost perfect post-workout nutrient content. We appreciate the whole food powder ingredients which includes kale, flax seed, rose hip, orange, lemon, tomato, cherry, carrot, and more, which means this bar is packed with natural vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
Wholesomeness –No preservatives, no fillers, no dyes. That is why this bar is in the refrigerated section, and why it is especially awesome!
Friendliness –These bars are organic, non-GMO, certified kosher dairy, and wheat and gluten free.
Taste –We love the texture and taste of these bars!
Where to buy: Your favorite health food store, Amazon.com, or shop.perfectbar.com.
Hydrator:
Exercise Hydration Mix by Skratch Labs (skratchlabs.com)
We are obsessed with this company! We searched for years to find the perfect dye-free sports drink with enough sodium for our clients. I accidentally ran across this product when searching for recipes in the book Feed Zone Portables by Bijuk Thomas and Allen Lim (a brilliant book by the way). Apparently, they had the same frustration and turned their homemade mix into a packaged product to share with the world. We found this product hiding in a nearby cycle shop. Flavors include matcha green tea + lemons, lemons and limes, raspberries, oranges, pineapples, and apple + cinnamon. Something else that is genius and worth mentioning is that the apple + cinnamon can be served hot! Ever finish a cold run, cycle, or swim? Warm up AND get your hydration with a hot hydration drink!
Nutrition –With 360 mg of sodium (a good amount considering 500 mg of sodium is recommended per hour of exercise, with heavy sweaters needing up to 1,000 mg of sodium per hour of exercise in hot environments), 21 grams (g) of carbohydrates per serving (25-60 g of carbs per hour is recommended for exercise lasting less than three hours), and other minerals lost in sweat like potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium, this product will pretty much mirror your needs for hydration during or after exercise. Plus, Skratch uses a combination of two carb sources – sucrose and glucose – which not only helps with gastric emptying (equating to less gastrointestinal distress and diarrhea), but it also optimizes energy availability (two carb sources are better than one). In addition, these mixes contain vitamin C, an antioxidant helpful for recovery during exercise (exercise creates oxidative stress, thus antioxidants are a big plus). Matcha green tea + lemons contains extra antioxidants from matcha and a little caffeine to ignite those boosters.
Wholesomeness –Skratch doesn’t contain stuff you don’t need like dyes. It is flavored with real fruit rather than artificial flavoring and is non-GMO.
Friendliness –Hydration mix is your new best friend! It is vegan and kosher as well as soy, gluten, wheat, dairy, and nut free.
Taste –Skratch passed our athletes’ taste test and was recommended for its light taste, and lacking a syrupy mouth feel. We love that apple + cinnamon tastes like fresh apples sprinkled with cinnamon.
Where to buy: Check your bicycle shops. Also: amazon.com and skratchlabs.com.
Endurance Gel:
Organic Energy Gel by Honey Stinger (HoneyStinger.com)
Endurance athletes love their gels! Easy to squeeze in, no chewing necessary, and quickly absorbed, it is no wonder they are a favorite energy source. Honey Stinger has a good selection of organic products and, because it is a popular brand, it is easy to find. In flavors like acai pomegranate, fruit smoothie, vanilla, caffeinated strawberry kiwi, caffeinated chocolate and mango orange, there are plenty of flavors to prevent taste burnout.
Nutrition –Honey Stinger gels have a good amount of high glycemic carbs (24 g) with no fat, fiber, or protein, making them a good quick energy source.
Wholesomeness –With only a few ingredients and an organic certification, these gels are as wholesome as a honey bee.
Friendliness –Vegan, free of major allergens including gluten (label reads “may contain milk”).
Taste –These gels have a pleasant flavor and are sure to be a welcome sweet treat during your long journey.
Where to get: your favorite health food store, amazon.com or honeystinger.com
Endurance Chew:
Fruit Drops Energy Chews by Skratch (skratchlabs.com)
Again, I have rave reviews for this company (see “Hydrator” above if you missed it). If you are a chew fan, test these out during a training that lasts over an hour. Available in raspberry and orange. If you find it difficult to chew chews during a race, these also make good energy boosters at the start line.
Nutrition –With 20 g of carbs for 5 pieces, from multiple quickly absorbing sources, its energy sources are right on target.
Wholesomeness –Free of all that “other” stuff and flavored with real fruit.
Friendliness –Vegan and kosher as well as gluten, wheat, dairy, nut, and soy free.
Taste –Sweet, slightly tart with a light flavor. We dig the outer sugary texture.
Where to buy: Check bicycle shops. Also: amazon.com and skratchlabs.com.
High Carb Energy Bars:
Larabar Organic with Superfoods Turmeric, Ginger & Beet (larabar.com)
We are skeptic when it comes to popular brands of health products. The hype on the front of the package is usually short lived when the package is turned over and we read the ingredient list and nutrition facts. We were delighted to find Larabar’s Organic with Superfoods. Not only is this line organic, but the products have a very minimal number of ingredients and an excellent high carb energy profile for those times when you need carbs and a little protein, like during carb loading, pre-exercise or during exercise. This product was my first choice because of the functional food ingredients turmeric, ginger and beets that help fight inflammation and boost athletic performance. As an added bonus, ginger has anti-nausea properties, which is another plus for this bar being a good pre-event fueling source (https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/ginger). Other flavors include Hazelnut, Hemp & Cacao and Coconut, Kale & Cacao.
Nutrition –With a carb count of about 27 grams per bar, a few grams of protein, and some minerals, these bars will provide energy to get you through your workout and their functional ingredients will help you recover from the after-math.
Wholesomeness –Certified organic and only six ingredients.
Friendliness –vegan, gluten, wheat, soy and dairy free
Taste –the texture of this bar is derived from its date base. The turmeric and ginger complement each other and the overall flavor of the bar well.
Where to buy: Your favorite health food store, amazon.com or larabar.com.
Other products in this category worth mentioning are Larabar Uber Cherry Cobbler and Betty Lou’s Snow Angel organic candy bar.
There you have it; our current favorite products! This list is highly competitive and we update it whenever we discover fresh new products. If you run across an awesome grab and go option that you think could go head-to-head with one of the products listed here, share it on the Facebook page with the title, “Scout Alert!” and email scout@rockitcoaching.com. If your product bumps a current product out of its reigning seat, you will be named a Rock It Scout and earn a Rock It Social Media Scout Badge. Even if the product isn’t chosen, we will send you our feedback on the product.
Let’s get fueling!
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