nuun Active Hydration Tablets
nuun took a cue from Alka-Seltzer and created a sugar-free, fizzy-dissolving, electrolyte sports drink tablet with just a hint of flavor and easy portability. As compared to bottled sports drink or even the more economical powdered mixes, the nuun tablets are far easier to carry on a long ride and are much more friendly to reusable bottles and hydration packs being that they are sugar-free. Sugar-free means that your bottle will rinse clean and not grow anything funky, which tends to happen pretty fast with traditional powders.
nuun tablets are available in two sizes, one which is made for a 16oz serving, and bigger nuun for a 32oz portion. Each tube has a dozen tablets, do the math and that means the $6.50 tube of smaller tablets makes 192oz of sports drink and the $12.95 tube of larger tablets makes 384oz. Personally, I’d prefer if the tablets were in foil packets for single serve use and overall less waste than that of the recyclable waterproof tube.
Down to the nitty gritty, what’s in the tablets? The usual electrolyte replacement suspects, per 8oz of fluid; 180mg sodium, 50mg potassium, 18.75mg vitamin C, 6.25mg calcium, and 12.5mg magnesium. Pretty well the expected mix for cramp prevention and proper hydration on long, hot rides. The flavor of the tablets is subtle, sweetened with sorbitol and doesn’t leave a syrupy aftertaste even if it does have a bit of that fake-sugar thing going. It can’t be said enough - the flavor is subtle, and is definitely what I prefer on the bike.
Overall, for those who find electrolyte replacement drinks a part of their riding, nuun presents a nice choice with a price competitive with powders and far more economical than individual bottles of sports drink.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:21 am
but they have sodium benzoate. I don’t trust sodium benzoate. I was excited to try the product and I bought it without considering the ingredients. I normally read the label but I bought them in haste at a bike shop. from wisegeek.com: “There have been some health concerns about the combination of sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid or vitamin C. When the two are mixed, they can form the chemical benzene, which is carcinogenic. However, sodium benzoate on its own is not considered a carcinogen, and you would have to consume a huge amount of it in order to have toxic levels in your body. In mice studies where the animals were fed sodium benzoate, no adverse effects were reported, and the mice’s life expectancies were not shortened, nor was their health affected in any way.”
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
hey rayray - nuun does have sodium benzoate and it’s there as part of making the tablet a tablet. it’s in lots of products on the market as well as sports products like GU, powergel (by powerbar) and certain hammer products. there’s some text below about sodium benzoate that may be helpful for you, but let me end by saying this; we made nuun so we could get an electrolyte drink without all the sugars wherever we were, and what’s in nuun is what we want when we’re out exercising. we’re a small company (9 people) and we wouldn’t put anything in it that’s either scary or isn’t the sort of stuff that should be in nuun. any questions…send me a mail at whatisthatingredient@nuun.com and we’ll answer you.
“Benzoate Soda,” or sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of “benzoic acid,” an FDA-approved, polyunsaturated fat that has been used by food manufacturers for over 80 years to inhibit microbial growth. Sodium benzoate can prevent growth of almost all microorganisms (yeast, bacteria, and fungi). It operates best in an acidic environment, and it works synergistically with other food-grade preservatives — most notably potassium sorbate. Sodium benzoate is freely found in nature, and in fact, even organically grown cranberries or prunes can contain levels of benzoic acid that exceed the legal limit imposed by the FDA on U.S. food manufacturers (0.1% by weight), although the level normally found in berries will be in the range of 0.05 to 0.1%. Sodium benzoic, as well as benzoic acid are completely *SAFE*, and like the preservative are have been labeled *SAFE* by the leading food additive authority, Dr. Michael Jacobsen, founder and president of Center for Science in the Public Interest.
tim
ceo and founder
May 28th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Brad,
Thanks for writing about this. I don’t know where to start with all these energy products and this one without sugar is unusual. Being a juvenile diabetic, I’m always looking for a sugarless alternative. I’m doing my first two day ride in a week and just ordered some of these to keep hydrated. Thanks!
June 8th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
[...] bought some of those nuun tablets and I really like them. The have an odd alka-seltzery taste, and thre remind me of Fizzies, if [...]