There are a lot of nasty ingredients in most foods for athletes. What we leave out of our products is just as important as what we put in.
Every ingredient has a purpose, and ours are chosen for their natural performance qualities, flavor and sustainability. The energy they offer athletes comes from real food, not artificial additives.
Oats are one of the ultimate endurance superfoods. They offer slow-release energy and taste great.
Steel cut oats come from the same grain as rolled oats, and are nutritionally almost identical. With rolled oats the grain is ‘rolled’ and lightly steamed before packaging, which makes them faster to cook. With steel cut oats the grain is ‘cut’ into 2-3 pieces using ‘steel’ blades. They are lower on the glycemic index than rolled oats, and take longer to digest, which means their nutrients release more slowly into the body.
The oats we use are organic, gluten free and non-GMO.
Performance Nutrients Contributed by Oats
Complex Carbohydrates take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates (sugars), helping to supply the body with sustained energy over a longer period of time. They add to the body’s glycogen stores, which fuel endurance and aid recovery.
Soluble Fiber dissolves in water and binds to nutrients and slows their absorption in to the blood. For carbohydrates, this creates a slow energy release over a longer period. It also regulates digestion and may help to prevent the GI issues common among endurance athletes.
Apples are a natural source of carbohydrates. In addition to their energy content, they also bring a naturally sweet flavor to the recipe for our Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Apple and Cinnamon flavor.
The apples in our product are tree ripened and hand picked. The variety we use depends on the season, but can include Gala, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Topred, Fuji, Cripp’s Red and Braeburn.
The apples we use are non-GMO and sulphide-free.
Performance Nutrients Contributed by Apples
Simple Carbohydrates are digested quickly and help the body supply energy quickly over a short period of time.
Like the apples it comes from, apple juice concentrate is a natural source of carbohydrates and flavor.
The process of making apple juice concentrate is similar to apple juice, but with one additional step. Once the juice has been pressed from the fruit, it is gently heated to evaporate some of its water content.
No chemicals are added to the apple juice concentrate we use, nor does it contain any GMO ingredients.
Performance Nutrients Contributed by Apple Juice Concentrate
Simple Carbohydrates are digested quickly and help the body supply energy quickly over a short period of time, and restore glycogen levels after exercise.
We use cinnamon as a natural flavor.
Cinnamon is a natural ingredient that comes from the bark of the cinnamon tree, which is dried then ground to a fine powder. It is added in small quantities, too low to offer any noticeable nutritional benefits.
The cinnamon we use comes from Indonesia, and does not contain any GMO, artificial or synthetic ingredients.
We use lemon juice concentrate for its natural flavor and preservative qualities.
The quantities added are too small to offer any noticeable nutritional benefits.
Lemon juice concentrate is made by squeezing the juice from lemons, filtering it, then gently heating it to evaporate part of the water content.
Our organic lemon juice concentrate is made from non-GMO lemons. No chemicals are added.
It’s smart to be suspicious when “natural flavors” appear on an ingredient list.
But let us say this. We began this company so we could have a snack option that wasn’t full of processed junk. We would never put artificial or potentially harmful ingredients in our products.
Our ingredients are chosen for their real flavors and nutrients. Some of those flavors diminish during the cooking process, so we add natural flavors in minute quantities to compensate.
Natural flavors can contain one or more of the 1000+ ingredients deemed “natural” by the FDA. All of those ingredients have a “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) classification from the FDA.
The 4 key requirements for GRAS status are:
1. There must be general recognition of safety by qualified experts.
2. The experts must be qualified by training and experience to evaluate the substance’s safety.
3. The experts must base their determination of safety on scientific procedures or on common use in food prior to 1958.
4. The determination of general recognition of safety must take into account the conditions of intended use for the substance, in other words its function in the food, e.g. flavoring.
You can read more about the GRAS program and FDA regulations around “natural flavors” here.
Natural flavors make up less than 0.4% of each pouch, or under 0.009oz/0.25g in total weight.
Our mix of flavor ingredients is proprietary. All ingredients are extracted or fermented from a spice, fruit, vegetable, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material; they all come from real food.
They do not include MSG (monosodium glutamate), hydrolyzed proteins or autolyzed yeast or Propylene Glycol.
So much sports food is full of junk ingredients. We have two simple rules of thumb when deciding what goes into our products.
1. If a child can’t pronounce it, we won’t use it.
2. There is a lot of conflicting information around some ingredients, and the health effects of long term consumption. If there is any doubt, we leave it out.
These are chemicals, not sourced from nature, that are formulated to mimic a given flavor. They are synthetic compounds, and appear on an ingredient list as “artificial flavors”.
Around 15 million pounds of petroleum-based colorings are used in food each year, according to the non-profit advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest. Many food colorings have not been tested enough to reliably determine long term effects on health, but some studies have linked them to cancers and allergic reactions. Some countries have banned certain colorings. They usually appear as Yellow 5, Red 40, Green 3 etc.
BHT is derived from Phenol, which is derived from petroleum. It is a chemical preservative, used to prolong the shelf-life of foods. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, it has the potential to cause serious allergic reactions, endocrine disruption, thyroid and kidney problems and may have carcinogenetic effects on the body.
BVO is a synthetic chemical, created by using a process that bonds vegetable oil to the chemical element bromine. It is used as an emulsifier (emulsifiers prevent ingredients from separating once mixed). BVO has been used in some sports drinks.
Concern exists around this ingredient because bromine appears to accumulate in the body. Memory loss, skin and nerve problems have been reported by people after drinking large amounts (over half a gallon per day) of beverages containing BVO.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed its "generally recognized as safe" classification for BVO, but continues to allow its use in products while toxicology studies are completed. Over 100 countries have banned BVO.
Derived from seaweed, and used as an emulsifier in some products, including protein bars. Found to cause intestinal irritation in some people.
The goal of a filler is to add a cheaper ingredient to a costlier one, to bulk up the final product and lower ingredient costs (or increase the selling price). Examples of fillers are microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carboxymethyl cellulose and carrageenan.
HFCS is a sugar substitute. It is generally used because it is cheaper than sugar, and is found in many sports snacks.
The protein isolates found in most sports foods usually come from soy, milk, peas or egg whites.
Not all protein isolates are created equal. The clean ones can be a good source of protein for athletes. The not-so-clean ones can offer the same protein, but with unwanted extras.
A 2018 study by the Clean Label Project, a non-profit that examines label safety issues, found that some protein powders contain trace amounts of heavy metals that can be harmful to organs when consumed in large enough quantities, including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.
As an oil for human consumption, some nutritionists say that palm oil is no better or worse than most other oils. But non-sustainable palm oil is currently one of the leading drivers of deforestation; some of the world’s most biodiverse forests are being cleared, usually burned, to create space for crops. The crop itself is high yield and good quality when grown sustainably, and more and more food manufacturers are using this type of palm oil.
Propylene glycol is used to help distribute the flavoring evenly throughout a food product. It is also widely used in beauty products. Derived from either vegetables, petroleum or natural gas, it is generally recognized as safe by the FDA, but a small number of people have experienced a mild reaction to it.
A common ingredient in sports nutrition products. Technically a complex carbohydrate, it can be quickly absorbed by the body, offering an energy boost. Maltodextrin is usually made using the starch of wheat, maize, tapioca or potato, and is highly processed to get to the ingredient that is found in most products. Opinions are split on this ingredient. While it offers fast energy, we’re leaving it out for now.
Also known by its brand names, Sun Crystals, SweetLeaf, Truvia and PureVi, among others. Stevia is derived from a member of the chrysanthemum family of plants, a subgroup of the Asteraceae family (ragweed family), and is made from a highly refined leaf extract.
Also known by its brand names Splenda, Zerocal, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren, and Nevella. The manufacturing of sucralose begins with sucrose (table sugar) and the addition of chlorine atoms. The sugar disappears during the process, and bulking agents are usually added to create the final product that gets used in food.
Also known by the brand names Sunett and Sweet One, it can appear on ingredient lists as acesulfame K, acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K. Acesulfame is a synthetic substance, made by combining acetoacetic acid with potassium.
Also known by its brand names, Sweet and Low, Sweet Twin and Necta Sweet.
Its manufacturing process involved the oxidation of the chemicals o-toluenesulfonamide or phthalic anhydride.
Also known by the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, and Canderel. Aspartame is made from aspartic acid and phenylalanine, which are both are naturally occurring amino acids. It is manufactured using a synthetic chemical process.
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