By Cierra Bloom, ATC, LAT, MS, CES
First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Taste Test event in the kitchen. We hope you all enjoyed our products and you will continue to utilize them to fuel your body and your performance.
Next: The results. It is important to note that many clients may not have tried some products, as they have already had them and/or use them on a regular basis; and we tested different products each day (only 3 flavors of each), and most clients don’t come in every day. Therefore, the results are not a 100% accurate representation of our entire clientele or product repertoire. The flavors from most liked to least liked on the survey are:
Heat - Jackfruit, Blueberry Pomegranate, Cherry Lime
BCAA - Blood Orange Lemonade, Tart Cherry Lime, Tropical Twist
Celsius - Fuji Apple Pear, Grapefruit Melon Green Tea, Orange
Evolve - Mellow Mocha, Vanilla, Chocolate
Muscle Milk - Strawberries & Creme, Chocolate, Vanilla
Now, for the why. Why did we give our clients the opportunity to try different flavors and products? The reason is simple. We buy high-quality products that will help you fuel your body before and after exercise, to help you achieve the best results.
We choose Celsius products, as they contain no sugar, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. They are certified gluten free, kosher, and non-GMO. Celsius products contain purposeful ingredients such as, caffeine, green tea extract, guarana seed extract, ginger root, vitamin B and C, and chromium. These ingredients are uniquely blended to boost metabolism and increase the burning of fat as a fuel, increasing focus and energy, and/or increasing muscular recovery.
Celsius and Celsius Heat are specially formulated to turn on thermogenesis, a process that boosts your body's metabolic rate - When combined with exercise, it helps your body burn more calories and body fat. Celsius Heat also contains 2,000 mg. of L-citrulline and 300 mg. of caffeine - designed to optimize performance and give you a powerful energy boost. Therefore, these drinks are best utilized as a pre-workout drink. Drink 10-20 minutes before a workout to prepare your body and mind for a workout by increasing endurance, focus, and fat loss by boosting metabolism.
The Celsius BCAAs contain a unique blend of BCAAs, tart cherry, vitamin D3, electrolytes, and caffeine to reduce inflammation and help rebuild and replenish your body after a workout. You may be wondering what are BCAAs and how do they rebuild and replenish your body? BCAA stands for branched-chain amino acids, which is a group of three essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine and valine. Essential means they can't be produced by your body and must be obtained from food or other sources. BCAA supplements have been shown to build muscle, decrease muscle fatigue and alleviate muscle soreness by activating specific pathways for muscle protein synthesis - therefore, should be drunk within 20-40 minutes following exercise.
Lastly, protein drinks are typically utilized 20-40 minutes following a workout to promote exercise recovery, build lean muscle, and provide sustained energy. Protein needs depend on age, exercise intensity, duration, and frequency. Consuming about 50-90% of your body weight in grams typically meets your daily needs (50 if mildly active, 70 moderately active, 90 very active). Protein quality also matters greatly, which is why we choose Evolve and Muscle Milk.
Evolve is a Vegan, plant-based protein, contains non-GMO ingredients, is free of dairy, soy, gluten and artificial flavors. Being made with pea protein also makes it more environmentally friendly as it is more sustainable, uses fewer resources, and requires less fertilizer; and also returns nitrogen to the soil, making it more fertile and beneficial to whatever is planted next. These drinks contain 20 g of high-quality protein in each drink. Muscle Milk uses only high quality ingredients, is NSP Certified for sport - so they’re tested for banned substances, and contains 25 g of protein per drink.
I hope that this event and blog has now given you the insight to make the best decisions for your body's needs, and can optimize your health and performance!