I’m always on the lookout for things that are going to help me go faster, farther and hurt less after an adventure.Better food, gear and technique all count. You can be way more fit than the next guy but if you can’t get out of bed for 2 days after then you won’t be on the trail much.I don’t normally get into supplements or tips for eating on the blog just because we’re mostly about gear. Sometimes I get my hands on other things that could improve your hiking in other ways, and I want to let you know what I find.
That thing today is the Rob Keller Glutathione Rapid Boost sports drink that increases an important antioxidant, a pretty major one called glutathione. It does a ton of stuff around your body. I’ll explain in a second.
First, a note about the whole medical thing. I’m not a doctor, just writing about a product today I tried that should be safe for most people. Always ask your health care person, right?Also, it’s got shellfish in there somewhere so not vegan and not for those with allergies.
What is Glutathione?
So back to glutathione. Errr, what is glutathione? And how is this going to help me hike? Ok, let’s back up a little and explain. Whenever you get sick, stressed, work out hard, hike long distances or anything else thats rough on your body, you end up with oxidants floating around in your body. They’re the result of normal processes but they’re unstable and need to be dealt with.
This is where anti-oxidants come in. They bind together with the oxidants and prevent them from causing inflammation. Otherwise the oxidants run around making you feel like crap. Glutathione is one of the best anti-oxidants there is. Best meaning it does a ton of good stuff in your body. It helps with your cells metabolism (power plants), moves things around in the blood, can help with altitude sickness, detoxify things coming into our body and tons of other stuff. I won’t go into all the sciency details here. The Rob Keller site has a ton of info in their Glutathione ebook. But Glutathione isn’t one of the things in the drink. Wait, how does that work?
What is Rapid Boost drink and what does it do?
So, right, glutathione isn’t in the drink. All the ingredients that are in the drink work together to activate all the glutathione-building processes. The theobromine, N-Acetyl Cysteine and L-Glutamine help create more Glutathione in your body. The other ingredients do helpful things as well. You get 15 pixie sticks of powder to dissolve into 8-12 oz of water.
From the Rapid Boost page:
Vitamin C – Reduces oxidative damage from exercise.
L-Theanine – Amino acid found in green tea. Improves concentration and attention span.
Quercetin – Natural flavonoid that increases endurance, exercise recovery and fuels fat burn.
N-Acetyl D-Glucosamine – Increases joint comfort, mobility and flexibility.
Selenium – Antioxidant mineral. Reduces oxidative stress during exercise.
B6, B12 & Niacin – Important to production and repair of cells, including red blood cell.
A whole cocktail of good stuff in there.
One thing to note that glutathione isn’t an electrolyte. It’s not like a Nuun tablet or Clif Shot Bloks. If you need something to replenish those from sweating a lot, you’ll need to bring something more. You will get lots of liquids from drinking all the Rapid Boost though. The glutathione and other ingredients are going to help your body recover from heavy exertions.
Why is that good for hiking and adventures?
So with the other ingredients in the drink, it gives you energy, helps you focus for longer, hike longer, recover faster and get sick less. Good deal if you ask me.Hiking, running and riding can be hard on your body. It has to recover in between bouts of running trails and scrambling mountains. The better your food and drinks are the faster it’s going to recover so you can get at it again.Like sleep, giving your body high quality fuel is going to result in the most energy and focus. Garbage in, garbage out, they say. Feed your body junk and you’ll feel like junk.The better you feel on a hike, the more fun it will be and the farther you’ll want to go. Hiking on a wicked hangover isn’t much fun. Hiking refreshed, full of energy and a clear mind is the best way to a satisfying hike.
The Review
Recovery
I’m not usually sore after hiking. Most of my hikes are long and slow and don’t put a lot of pressure on my body. The fast power hikes can certainly hurt a few days later. Most of my CrossFit workouts lately have been intense and I’m almost always sore from those.The Rapid Boost drink seems to help with the recovery on that. Day 2 after a workout is much less painful. Adding in an extra litre of water certainly helps with recovery as well.
Immune System Boost
Every seems to be sick right now. We’ve had a terrible run right now with my family and everyone in the office sick multiple times so far this year. Some of them are still sick! I’m constantly battling colds I’m sure and trying to keep my head above the sicknesses.A few days now I’ve woken up with a touch of a sore throat but after throwing back some Rapid Boost, I’m good to go again. I’m not sure if it’s the massive dose of vitamin C or the glutathione that does it. Either way I’m happy for the immune system boost.
Energy
It’s been subtle and hard to differentiate from the caffeine boosts of coffee during the day but there’s a nice little boost of energy after a Rapid Boost. Early or late morning on a hiking trip would be a nice time to have one.
Flavours
The flavour is kind of a citrus-berry mix that’s easy to drink. I thought I might have to choke down the drink like some others are but it’s been easy to drink. All except the bits at the end.
Slow to dissolve
There are always some bits at the end that don’t dissolve no matter what I do. Some other bloggers noticed it as well. Shaking and shaking still doesn’t get rid of them. I want all the goodness so usually end up just with a shot at the end with some floaties in it. Not the best but it’s not terrible and I don’t want to waste any of it.
Conclusion
Should you get some Glutathione Rapid Boost?
If you feel great and have tons of energy on the trail all the time then maybe you don’t need any. If you’re feeling a bit sluggish or like you might be sick with your tent mates cold then these are great to have along with you. I’ve been having one of the 15 pixie sticks almost every day but it would be good to tuck a few of these in your pack for a trip. Grab a stick any time you need an energy or immune boost or just a new flavour to the water.
