I am a supplement skeptic. I don’t like pills and am reluctant to take any, including ibuprofen and vitamins. I’ve always been a fan of eating whole foods to get all the nutrition my body needs, even for running ultras.
When I found out about ENERGYbits® I requested a sample, not really knowing a lot about what they were or if they’d help with my training. When they arrived, with a lot of informational literature, I became more intrigued.
I found out ENERGYbits® are made of one ingredient: spirulina algae. They are high in protein and contain over 4o nutrients(including beta carotene, iron, zinc, magnesium, chlorophyll, antioxidants, and an essential fatty acid called GLA that behaves like Omega 3…) and are rich in B vitamins and electrolytes. They contain no sugar, no caffeine, no chemicals, no gluten, no soy, fillers or anything artificial.
Real food for fuel
They are a whole food, packaged to look like a little green “pill” so they are easy to swallow and digest quickly. You can eat them but since they smell like fish food I haven’t tried this. I’ll take it on good authority that they don’t taste like candy (or even a handful of peas).
I started adding ENERGYbits® slowly to my training regimen. First just 8 before a long run and then 8 afterwards. The bag recommends a serving size of 20 Bits but I wanted to see if I saw results and how my stomach reacted. I didn’t have any stomach distress and found my legs were feeling pretty peppy. After a few runs in addition to taking 10 before and 10 after each run, I started taking 8-10 about 2 hours into my long runs.
What I’ve found over the past month is that I’m feeling stronger and recovering faster. This month I’ve logged an average of 56 miles a week with a total of 42,000 feet of elevation gain. While I’d like to attribute my strength to just my awesome running and cross-training, I know better. I’ve spent the past 3 years training hard and still feeling tired and unable to recover fully. For the first time in a long time I’m able to push my legs harder and faster and still recover in a day or two.
While I can’t prove ENERGYbits® is the sole reason for my positive results, I have seen other side effects directly related to what I consider these magic green “pills.” The first one relates only to women (sorry guys) but was the biggest selling point for me.
I found Bits eliminate cramps. When severe cramps kept me in bed for a few hours each month, I tried some ENERGYbits® as a test. Within 30 minutes my pain was gone. Unsure if it was just a coincidence, the next month I tried it again and had the same results. Now that I’m taking ENERGYbits® regularly I’ve found I don’t experience cramps at all. I also gave a sample to my intern who has had terrible cramps for years and never found a product to relieve the pain. She had the same positive results I did.
The second benefit of Bits is that they increase my energy and reduce my hunger. Around 3:30 I used to experience lethargy and food cravings. Taking 8-10 ENERGYbits® boosted my afternoon focus and reduced my snacking tendencies.
I’ll keep taking my ENERGYbits® throughout my Leadville 100 training and beyond. While some of my nutritional choices are geared specifically for my training season, this is one that goes beyond running nutrition.
And while I know nutrition for every runner is individualized and there are thousands of products aimed at improving performance and recovery I encourage friends to try them and see what they think.
If you are interested in trying some, let me know, I’ll send you a sample and if you want to order you can get 30% off your order with the code RUNLAURIERUN.
Guts, Gams and Grit 