October 29, 2011

NUUN Addiction

Back in May, whilst in New York for the VIVOBAREFOOT Coaching Program, my dear and lovely friend Barefoot Angie Bee introduced me to NUUN. I've been hopelessly addicted ever since.

To begin the tale, I should probably talk about what happened in New York. At the time, Angie was a regional rep for NUUN so had brought a bunch of samples to share with the attendees of the coaching program. I was a little skeptical at first because I had only ever tried Gatorade powder in water and I liked that quite a bit at the time. The day before the coaching program started, Angie and a friend of ours from VIVOBAREFOOT had a lovely day touring New York City. We walked all over Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge, sight-seeing all day long. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time. We finished the day with dinner at a Brooklyn Pub, which was great, until we all got home. All three of us had a touch of food poisoning. The next day, the first day of the coaching program, Angie and I were still feeling the previous night's effects and I didn't think I could keep any kind of breakfast in. Angie suggested I try some of the NUUN she brought so I could at least get in some electrolytes.

So I tried it.

And it was wonderful.

I don't even remember what flavour it was but it tasted great and it stayed in. My belly actually stopped hurting. And I was hooked. I drank NUUN in my water the rest of the trip. And now I drink a lot of NUUN at home, too, and especially when I exercise.

Here are some things I've learned about NUUN since my initial hit in New York:
  • I enjoy all the flavours I've tried and my favourite is probably Strawberry Lemonade
  • Kona Cola is the only flavour with caffeine (that I know of and that I've tried) and it tastes a lot like Coke but without the sugar
  • I drink a lot of NUUN while travelling to stay hydrated and have taken it on every trip I've been on since New York
  • It's super easy to pack in their little tubes and (if I remember) easy to mix and match flavours in one tube
  • I'm convinced that drinking NUUN keeps me from getting 'travel headaches' (which I used to get a lot and was probably due to being dehydrated in an effort to keep from having to find a bathroom in a strange place)
  • While drinking straight water at home, I often find it goes right through me and I have to pee every 20 minutes (I know, a bit of TMI) but if I add some NUUN to my water, over-peeing issues resolve immediately (they're probably due to some kind of electrolyte imbalance, I think)
  • I LOVE that NUUN has no sugar! Not only can I drink it all the time without worrying about calories but I don't have to worry about washing my water bottle out with soap every time I drink it because it doesn't grow bacteria (this is especially nice when travelling where I've found international water alone can make my bottle smelly after only a couple of days)
  • If I have NUUN available while exercising, I tend to drink A LOT (because it tastes so good) so for short hikes or run, I"ll leave the NUUN in the car and bring water so I don't run out on the course
  • I like NUUN so much better than Gatorade now because I can control how many calories I take in separately from my water and electrolytes
  • I don't have any sorbitol issues but have found that some people can have sorbitol intolerance problems (which are apparently no fun at all)
I am grateful to Angie every day that she introduced me to NUUN (thank you so much, Angie!). If you haven't tried it and want to, it's available at a number of sport-related stores or online, of course.

NUUN flavours I've tried