The post-exercise recovery drinks market is awash, if you’ll forgive the expression, with products and For Goodness Shakes have been around for some time serving up nutritious (and mostly yummy) solutions. But now, according to their publicity, after a challenge thrown down by The English Institute of Sports and two years of research and development they have unveiled their new Sports Recovery powder mix.
In Cyclo’s opinion the first hurdle at which this kind of recovery powder normally falls is in its ability (or otherwise) to mix well, but on this point the FGS powder performs well, dissolving almost completely for a non-gritty milkshake-style drink.
So, let’s crunch the numbers:
FGS Sports Recovery delivers a 3:1 carbohydrate to protein mix (pretty much standard and recognised as the optimum ratio for absorption) but unlike many of its competitors this drink mixes both fast- and slow-release proteins (whey and casein). The bulk “carrier” is skimmed milk (so lactose intolerant cyclists be warned) which will give around 80% of your RDA along with around 6g of essential amino acids for muscle repair. Like all FGS products this is based on the “NutriMIX” formula which combines a mix of vitamins and “salts”. The vit break-down includes A for general muscle repair, D largely for bone benefit, E – an antioxidant that also aids muscle repair and growth, C (a symbiotic vit that works with E) and B6 which aids the body’s absorption of both carbohydrates and proteins. Potassium and Sodium (along with, but to a slightly lesser extent, Zinc and Magnesium) are also in the mix which work to replace “salts” lost from sweating – but if you’ve been careful with your hydration strategy during exercise, maybe using Elete, nuun or similar electrolytes, then this is really belt and braces stuff.
Phew! That was a lot to take in. But easier to digest is the product itself which is available in Banana, SuperBerry, Vanilla and ChocMalt flavours and retails at around the £1.60 per sachet mark. This could well be Cyclo’s recovery drink of the summer…