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Vega Sport

For me, switching to a plant-based/vegan diet wasn’t nearly as much of a struggle as I’d imagined it would be. I didn’t really have any trouble giving up meat and dairy and eggs was even easier. But I definitely could not have done it without the use of all the great resources that are out there supporting and encouraging a plant-based diet. My main sources of education, advice and recipes have been Rich Roll and Brendan Brazier. Rich’s e-cook book, Jai Seed eCookbook is $9.99 to download and his new book, Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself comes out in May but is available for pre-order now at Amazon. Brendan’s first book, Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life, is a fantastic read that I would recommend especially for any athlete considering trying out a plant-based diet.

Brendan is also the founder of Vega, a line of supplements that help enable people easily, conveniently and efficiently thrive on a plant-based diet. I started using Vega products in my morning Vitamix shake – I more-or-less alternated days, using either a scoop of the Whole Food Health Optimizer or half a scoop of Vega protein powder. And, as I’ve noted here many times, I’ve had great results from the switch. But while the rest of my diet has greatly benefited, it’s a struggle to find convenient and easy plant-based products to use during training or for recovery.

That’s where Vega Sport came in.

Last fall, in connection with Vega’s launch of their new Vega Sport line of products, they offered to send me some samples to try out. Vega Sport is plant-based and all-natural, so of course the products don’t have any dairy, gluten or soy or any artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. And with Brendan at the helm, I figured the products would have to be effective. It sounded like a great idea.

So in December, I got a cool little box filled with goodies. Each side of the box had a different quote or statement. This one is my favorite:

But this one is pretty damn good too:

Vega Sport is a three-stage system: Prepare, Sustain and Recover, and there are different products for each stage.

I’ve now had a chance to use them all:

Prepare:

The “Prepare” product is a powder called Pre-Workout Energizer that comes in two flavors, Acai Berry and Lemon Lime. You’re supposed to mix it with water and drink it 20 minutes before training for calories and sustainable energy. For all but my longest workouts, my usual pre-workout fuel is a half Clif Bar and half an apple. The Pre-Workout Energizer is 70 calories per serving, which is a little less than I’m used to. My problem with the Pre-Workout Engerizer is the taste. Both flavors tasted pretty similar to me, and neither was particularly good. From the looks of it when mixed with water, I expected it to taste earthy. It doesn’t, strangely it tastes a little sweet and chemically (which I know it isn’t). It’s not squeeze-your-nose-and-choke-it-down, but it’s probably not something I would choose to drink. On the other hand, both times I did drink it all and found that I had good energy for my training. But since the apple and half Clif Bar treat me well, I’ll probably stick with that going forward. FEAR NOT, though, and keep reading. I promise, it gets much much better.

Sustain:

“Sustain” has three products, Electrolyte Hydrolator, Endurance Gel and Endurance Bar. They’re all intended to be used during training.

My favorite product out of “Sustain” was the 190 calorie Endurance Bar. Other than my Clif Bar pre-workout, I don’t usually use bars during training. I tried both flavors on different bike rides. I liked the Acai Berry flavor better than the Mocha flavor, but I liked them both and my preference might be related to the fact that I’m not a coffee drinker. The bars are just sweet enough to taste good and they’re really easy to eat and digest.

I also really liked the Electrolyte Hydrolator. Actually, I really liked the Pom-Berry flavor Electrolyte Hydrolator. I didn’t like the Lemon-lime flavor as much. I use Nuun all the time – both during training and in my water bottle at work. While the Electrolyte Hydrolator and Nuun are similar in function, one nice thing about the Electrolyte Hydrolator is that it doesn’t fizz up in the bottle. Many many times, I’ve gotten a throat or face full of Nuun spray the first time I try to drink from a bottle. Also, I like the fact that it comes in single-use packs, which are easy to throw in a pocket or my hydration pack. I’ll use both Nuun and the Electrolyte Hydrolator going forward.

I have mixed feelings about the 100 calorie Endurance Gel. On the nice side they’re not nearly as sticky-sweet and gooey as most gels. I really like the fact that they’re date-based (my new favorite desert is frozen dates) and that they have a little coconut oil in them. They have a decent amount of sodium (60mg) and a ton of potassium (730mg). The Raspberry flavor was much much better than the Orange Zest, which I struggled to get down. On the other hand, I bet the first time I tried a Gu, I choked on it as well.

Recover:

For me, “Recover” is where Vega Sport really shines. And that’s great, because I haven’t found any other vegan recovery products out there – most of them have whey protein, which I won’t do anymore. I’ve purchased more of each of the three Vega Sport Recover products and will definitely continue using all of them.

The Recovery Accelerator is my favorite. It tastes great and has protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, maca, devil’s claw, glucosamine, ginseng, tumeric and cayenne. I really only use it after my long (or long-ish) training sessions, but immediately after I’m done, I mix a packet or a scoop in water and chug it down. That’s 80 quick calories, plus all those supplements. That 80 calories definitely isn’t enough for recovery, but it buys me time to change out of sweaty clothes, let the dogs out, say hi to Elizabeth, stretch, etc. before eating (or drinking) something more substantial. I probably prefer the Apple Berry flavor to Tropical, but both taste good.  Another great thing about the Recovery Accelerator (and most of the Vega Sport powder products) is that you can buy them in either single serving packets or a multi-serving tub.  The packets are less economical, but so much easier for when I’m not finishing a workout at home or for carrying during training.

The Performance Protein is an almost-daily staple for me. As I mentioned above, most days I use about a half scoop of it (equals 13g protein) in my Vitamix shake. If I’ve had a particularly long training morning, I’ll sometimes use more. The protein powder tastes better than the whey protein I used to supplment with and it dissolves nicely in my shake. I haven’t tried drinking it just mixed with water or other liquid, so I’m not sure how it tastes or dissolves on its own. The protein is a mix of pea protein, Savi Seed(TM) sacha inchi protein, brown rice protein, hemp protein and alfalfa protein. It has glutamine and amino acids. I prefer the vanilla flavor and also liked the berry. I’m not much of a chocolate guy, so that would be my third choice.

The Protein Bars are also yummy. I have a slight preference for the Chocolate Coconut over the Chocolate Savi-Seed. I haven’t actually used these bars for “recovery” after training like I use the Recovery Accelerator. When I finish training, my stomach usually isn’t in the mood for solid food, especially not chocolate. Instead, I use these bars as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. The 240 calories (with 15 grams of protein) is plenty to tide me over until the next meal. And the chocolate makes them seem like a “treat”.

In summary, I really like this idea and love – and will use – a bunch of the products. As you probably know, I’ve been a loyal Infinit user for years. And as mentioned, I’m a big fan of Nuun. In general, I’d much prefer to train solely on liquids than on solid food or gels. I will definitely continue to use Infinit for training (my “run” formula doesn’t have any protein and my new “bike” formula has soy – instead of the usual whey – protein). But I will use the Energy Bar for training days when I need something solid, will use the Electrolyte Hydrolator to switch it up from Nuun and can see myself keeping some of the Endurance Gels around. For recovery, I’m a strong Vega Sport convert.

As a final note, Vega Sport is in the middle of a MASSIVE(!) sweepstakes. Go to www.vegasport.com/sweepstakes to enter. You can enter until March 31, but there are weekly prizes, so don’t wait a single second.

Check out the sick prizes:

One Grand Prize
Vega Sport Adventure Trip for 2:
Cycle, raft and explore your way through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama for 15 days
$5,000 in Vega Sport product
($15,000 value)

Ten Runner Up Prizes
$1000 in Vega Sport products

Twenty Finalist Prizes
$200 in Vega Sport products

Five Weekly Prizes (per week for 11 weeks)
1 Vega Sport product
Weekly prize winners will be announced weekly via Twitter and Facebook.

With the addition of these great products to the supplement market, what’s your excuse not to try a plant-based diet? 🙂