Monday, September 24, 2012

Tailwind Nutrition

I found out about these guys from a podcast I listen to.  While the podcast seemed like a late night infomercial, I liked what I heard and decided to order a sample pack.

Check them out at http://www.tailwindnutrition.com/

Taste

For those of you who have issues with the sticky/syrupy nature of Gatorade, this should be right up your alley.  It has a super light, clean taste with zero aftertaste.  It seems to have just enough flavor added to cover up or mask the sodium (see below for ingredients). 

I mixed it with 50% less water than recommended, mostly because it was just the size of the water bottle I was using (recommend using 1/2 of the single use pouch or 200 calories in 24oz of water, I used 1/2 a pouch in 16oz). Using the recommended amount would probably taste as close to water as you can get in a sports drink.

So far, in warm and cooler weather seems to taste great, but obviously tastes best cold.  We've had some warm days lately and the water bottle has gotten pretty warm, but it hasn't really impacted the flavor at all.

Of the three flavors, Berry is my clear favorite, followed by Mandarine Orange.  The Berry has just enough of a delicuous factor (for me) to keep me interested and wanting to drink more.

Ingredients

The calorie source is all simple sugars (glucose, sucrose) and avoids using the usually problematic fructose (GI issues for many people).  I thought this was a nice departure from the current trends where everyone is using some form of maltodextrin for a better marketing story (complex carbs vs simple carbs).  Personally, I don't care if the source is simple or complex during exercise.  To my knowledge, there really isn't any science out there that says complex is better than simple during exercise.

I love the fact the sodium levels are about 3x more than the Gatorade standard (303mg of Sodium vs 110mg in Gatorade) and cones from two different sources (Sodium Citrate and Sea Salt).  Despite the higher sodium levels, you can't taste it, but it does help to keep the overall taste more "savory" than sweet.

They also include the other electrolytes that come out in your sweat (potassium, calcium, magnesium), which is a nice touch.
Another nice point is the flavors are organic and no colors are added, so it looks like water.  Another huge departure from just about every other sports drink out there.

Other Good Things

Most sports drinks seem to cause GI issues when they are mixed at higher percentages.  I know Gatorade (to me) can be pretty over the top syrupy when the aid station crews mix it incorrectly.  It can be pretty much undrinkable. 

I mixed the sample packs to higher than the recommended level and had no issues and still found it to be light, clean and zero aftertaste.  This is a huge benefit, because it gives you the ability to make a water bottle up with a higher calorie content and you don't have to worry about it tasting terrible or causing you and GI issues. For long distance racing like an ultra marathon or an Ironman, it makes Tailwind an ideal solution.

I also like how they have two packaging options, a single use pouch and  bigger pouch that has about 50 servings.  The single use pouch is just about the right amount for higher volume fluid systems like Camelbaks.

Bottom Line

I think it easily the best sports drink out there, bar none. It is now my sport drink of choice and worth the money to try it for yourself.

Supplement FactsLarge Berry Front









2 comments:

  1. Alright Tim, can't wait to soak up your insights. Thanks for this suggestion.
    Zander

    ReplyDelete