Product Review: The Right Stuff

So a few weeks ago I received an email about The Right Stuff from the President of the company.  The email was asking if /I had heard of the product, which is a NASA developed hydration concentrate.  I had not so I told them if they sent me some freebies I would try it out and write a review on the blog.

They were nice enough to send me some Wild Berry and Citrus flavored concentrate to demo.

So, What is The Right Stuff? 

It is Elite Hydration for Elite Athletes.  A hydration concentrate Developed by NASA.  Yeah, that sounds intense.  But it is pretty much like one of those Crystal Light Iced Tea packets that you put into your water bottles.  Not complex at all.  Here is what the packets look like:

These packets are actually easy to use.  The top twists off and the concentrate quickly and easily pours out.  This could be a very good feature when refilling your Aero bottles during the bike portion of a Tri.

Some beneficial features of the product is that it contains ZERO Carbohydrates and ZERO Calories.  For us endurance athletes this is a huge benefit because it allows us to separate our nutrition from hydration intake.  When I am planning my nutrition for a long day of training or racing there is no need to figure how much of that is coming from my drink.  Also it contains 1625 Mg of sodium so it could conceivably replace salt tablets for us guys who perspire like crazy.

I tried the right stuff a couple of weeks ago when I did 3.5 hours of consecutive training and I also tried it during the Austin 1/2 Marathon.  It works!  I did not suffer from any of the side effects (cramping, nausea, headaches..etc) of dehydration during either time I tried them.  What was really noticeable to me was how good I felt immediately afterward and how well I recovered.

Now this product is not perfect.  In my opinion, it does not taste very good. It isn't bad, just not good either.  More sharp than sweet.  It leaves a rather salty after taste in your mouth.  I would never drink this as a beverage like Gatorade or Powerade.  That being said, I usually do not use Gatorade or Powerade for hydration purposes either.

The cost of The Right Stuff is $8.99 for 3 packs or $26.99 for 10 packs.  For me this makes the product prohibitive for training purposes.  If money were not an issue then I would use The Right Stuff for every intense workout over an hour.

Overall my summary of The Right Stuff is that it lives up to the product claims and is a beneficial product to Triathletes for hydration.  Amazingly I could feel the difference when using The Right Stuff so I am confident saying it really works.  I would choose this over Gatorade everyday and twice on Sundays!   However, for me I feel it is too costly to use in everyday training but I am going to purchase it to be used on race days.  If it was priced more in line with Gels ($1-$1.50) then I would consider using it for everyday training.

I'd like to thank David Belaga from Wellness Brands Inc for letting me try The Right Stuff.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff