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| The next few items I tested were from Skratch Labs. |
As I hinted at last week, my second nutritional item to test out was the Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix, flavored Lemon + Lime. Since there was only one more Skratch Labs item left (boo hoo!) I decided to take the Raspberry Fruit Drops Energy Chews with me to the pool on Saturday.
The Skinny: Skratch Labs is a small independently owned company
located in Boulder, CO that produces drink mixes and food designed for athletes
from “scratch”. Their main focus is to provide products that made from scratch with
real ingredients, not something artificially made in a lab. The two products I
received to test were a hydration mix and some fruit chews. The Lemon + Lime
hydration mix came in a single serve pouch designed to be added to a 16 oz.
bottle of water. It only contains 80 calories and is specifically designed to
replenish the electrolytes to sweat out when exercising while not having so
much sugar. The raspberry fruit drops come in 1.8 oz. single serve pouches and
are 160 calories per package (serving size 2). These can be used for when you
need a quick source of carbohydrates to give you that boost in blood sugar
levels.
Hits and Misses: Wow… I don’t know where to begin. I love
the idea behind these products; real ingredients for real people. Yes they do
have sugar. But they also are flavored with real fruit. The best part about
them is their flavor. Yummy deliciousness is how I would describe it. They have
found the perfect balance between flavor and sweetness.
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| Lemon/Lime never tasted so good! |
The drink mix isn’t sickly sweet like most sports drinks. It
honestly tastes like slightly sweetened lemon/lime flavored water, as is you
squeezed some lemon and lime juice into a glass of water and added just a tad
bit of sugar. I can see why this would work better than other sports drinks
because it didn’t make me feel sick and bloated. It also had enough flavor to
help remove that icky taste from my mouth left over from the Clif Bar oatmeal I
had consumed earlier in the day.
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| The raspberry fruit chews were a welcome relief from the heat. |
The fruit chews are a bit sweeter than the drink mix. But
you don’t get that overwhelming sugary taste as with regular fruit drops. I
honestly found them lighter in taste than say brands like Welch’s. I had these
while out at the pool and they provided just enough of a pick-me-up to not have
me want to run over and get an ice cream (as tempting as that was on a HOT
summer’s day). I could see me packing these, along with the hydration mixes, in
my backpack when I go out hiking with our Scouts.
Compared to my previous testing product these two offerings
faired quite well. I can definitely see myself going online and purchasing some
and sharing them with my Scouts as they prepare for their backpacking trip to
Philmont Scout Ranch. Until then keep taking your kids outdoors…
