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Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > NUUN - Electrolyte Tablets > Test Report by Josh Cormier

nuun Electrolyte Tablets

Test series by Josh Cormier

 

NUUN Tablets and Bottle

 

Initial report:31-May-07

Field report:16-Oct-07

Personal biographical information:

·        Name:  Josh Cormier

·        Age: 27

·        Gender: Male

·        Height: 5’ 11” (1.80 m)

·        Weight: 162 lb (73 kg)

·        Email address:  swifteagle1 at hotmail dot com

City: Los Gatos, California

 

Backpacking background:

I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 11 and have been camping and backpacking ever since. I like to do challenging trips ranging from week long to weekend in mountainous areas. I would classify my gear as mid weight although now I am trying to move more toward lightweight. I now go backpacking at least once a year in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as monthly car camping trips with the Scouts.

 

 

Initial Report - 31-May-07

 

 

Product Information: (information taken from nuun website)

 

- Item Description: nuun Electrolyte Tablets

- Listed tube weight (full): ~ 2oz (57 g)

- Measured tube weight (full): 2.5 oz (71 g)

- Measured tablet weight: 0.2 oz (5.7 g)

- Measured Dimensions:—3 7/8" L x 1 1/8" D (98 mm L x 28.5 mm D)

- Flavors: Citrus Fruit, Tri-berry, Lemon+Lime, Kona Cola

- Serving size: Two  8oz (.24L) servings per tablet

 

- Ingredients: citric acid, sorbitol, sodium carbonate, natural colours flavours, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, polyethylene glycol, magnesium sulfate, sodium benzoate, calcium carbonate, acesulfame potassium, riboflavin-5-phosphate

 

- Active ingredients per tablet:                                        level (mg)

Sodium (carbonates)                                                     360.0
Potassium (bicarbonate)                                                100.0
Calcium (carbonate)                                                     12.5
Magnesium (sulfate)                                                      25.0
Vitamin C                                                                     37.5
Vitamin B2                                                                   500mcg

*Note: Kona cola also contains 40 mg of caffeine per tablet

 

NUUN Nutrition

 

- Manufactures web site: http://www.nuun.com

- Year of Manufacture: 2007

- MSRP: $6.50 (tube)

- Item Received: 23-May-07

- Initial Condition: The product arrived in new, sealed  tubes, and included one tube of each flavor. Also included in the packaging as a bonus was a sporty nuun water bottle included for testing purposes.

 

 

Packaging:

I received four tubes of nuun, one of each flavor and a blue nuun water bottle included for testing purposes. On opening two of the tubes and checking the tablets I found no cracking or excess powder due to storage or shipment.

 

 

NUUN tablets and bottle close

 

 

Initial Impressions:

The tubes that the nuun tablets come in, seem to be pretty sturdy. The website claims that they are water resistant and will protect the tablets from being crushed. I will be revisiting this claim in my final report to determine how durable this tube is and how well it protects the tablets from damage in my final report.

 

The design and color scheme of the tubes makes it seem like a candy container and makes it easy to pick out what flavor I want without needing to read the writing. Looking for Kona cola, grab the brown one, Citrus – yellow, Lemon+Lime – green, Tri-berry – purple. The outside of the tube has a “freshness” ring just under the lid that will break when I first open the tube. The lid is easy to open and just as easy to snap closed, however I don not think I will need to worry about the lid opening on its own. On opening the tube I saw a plastic “spring” that is connected to the lid and hold the tablets tight without crushing them. This “spring” only works until the first two or so tablets are removed.

 

Now I should say here that the serving size information is confusing if I compare the tube to their website. Each tablet makes up two 8oz (.24L) servings so if I drop one tablet into water I should use 16oz (.48L) of water and double the count of all the active ingredients on the tube. If I go to the website it states the active ingredients contained in 16oz (.48L) of water which equals two servings one tablet. The tablets themselves have a line down the middle that should make it easy to split a tablet in half if I don’t want to make a 16oz batch. Each tablet has a slight scent to it, and only a light coloring. I can easily fit one tube in my pocket and can fit more without too much effort.

 

 

NUUN Opened

 

 

First Time Use:

The day after I received these tablets I decided to go ahead and use one on my daily walk over lunch. It was a sunny 78 F (25.5 C) at an elevation of 53ft (16m) in Fremont, California. I filled up the water bottle with 16oz of water and dropped a Citrus Fruit flavored tablet in. Immediately the tablet started bubbling and dissolving. Within 1.5 min the tablet was completely gone, I did not have to shake the bottle to dissolve any leftover. When I opened the bottle to take the first drink I was rewarded with a small spray of fluid that was around the nozzle. When the tablet dissolves it does pressurize the bottle a little but pressure will dissipate soon after opening the valve.

 

When I started walking my calves and lower leg muscles and ligaments were aching as I was stretching out at a brisk walk to catch up. As I walked I drank some of the nuun and noticed no ill effects on my stomach. The taste will take a while for me to get used to as I’m not a sports energy drink drinker, I prefer water straight up. The taste was not a bad one, but it did leave me with a somewhat hard, mineral taste at the end of each drink. I know this will be subjective for each user so I do not recommend worrying about the taste to much. By the end of the test I will see if I have become accustomed to the taste of the tablets and what my favorite flavor has become. I finished the bottle in 15 min and in another 15 min my aches were gone.

 

I will need more time testing to determine if this was due to the nuun, warming up or both. For an initial trial I liked the ease at which I could mix up a nuun, it sat well on my stomach and seemed to work well. I will continue testing the nuun tablets as I backpack and am involved in outdoor activities that require staying hydrated. I look forward to getting out there and giving these electrolyte tablets a try.

 

 

 

Field Report – 16-Oct-07

 

Field Conditions:

I used several of these tablets at a 3 day horse show where we were camping down at Salinas. I was judging the event so I was on my feet in the sun for most of the day. The temperature during the day was from 75-85 F (25-29 C) not too hot, but there was no shade except what my hat could provide. During this trip I used nuun everyday to keep my self hydrated. At night sometimes I would have a headache but then I drank some more nuun and eventually my headache went away.

 

I was also able to use many of these tablets on 3 day two night trip to Henry Coe State Park, in Morgan Hill California. The elevation ranged from 1000 – 2600 ft (305 – 792 m) and the temperature ranged from 60 – 95 F (16 – 35 C). It was nice weather with a little wind but warm with few clouds and no precipitation. The hills in the area a mostly grass covered with few oak trees interspersed here and there. Being the end of July all the grass was dead making the hills a kind of brown color, or what those around here call California Gold.

 

It was hot for most of the hike on this trip and so I was mixing nuun with my water for most of the time I was hiking. I did not want to mix it in my 1 quart (1L) water bottle because I had mixed all the flavors into one tube. So instead I broke a tablet in half and used my Nalgene lid to make it really strong. Then I took a sip of the nuun from the lid and a big swig of water from the Nalgene and allowed them to mix in my mouth. This worked out pretty well because I knew ˝ a tablet should make about 8 oz. If this had been powder I would have been guessing on the amount to add and been left with a bunch of empty packets at the end of the day.

 

Usually on hot trips like this I will drink 2-3 quarts (2-3 L) of water without taking in any electrolytes except for the salt in my food. I had experimented with salt tablets but all I can say is yuck, and they usually made me feel nauseated. The nuun helped to keep me from getting dehydrated and kept my electrolyte intake up without making me feel sick.

 

I used the nuun electrolyte tables any time I was going to be outside in the sun all day or during strenuous activities. Doing this I felt less tired at the end of the day and seemed to recover faster. It has been a pleasure to use nuun, they are easy to drop into container of water and leave no mess. I feel nuun is a valuable addition to my pack and will continue to use it on my travels.

 

Below you will find the answers to the questions I was asking throughout the test.

 

What I liked:

Small convenient packaging, easy to grab on the go

Tablets, not powder

 

What I did not like:

Nothing that comes to mind, except my least favorite flavor – Citrus Fruit

 

 

The tube:

The website has a lot of claims about the packaging for the tablets.

 

Is the tube really waterproof?

While I did not test this underwater, I did place it in the shower for several minutes and no water got inside.

 

Does the tube keep the tablets from getting crushed when gear is pressing or lying on the tube?

Yes – The tube does protect the tablets fairly well.

 

If the tube has empty space in it, will the tablets slide around and break if the tube is moving around in my pack?

No – I had no problems with the tablets breaking while in the tube, whether tossed in my pack or rolling around with the rest of my gear.

 

How easy it to get the cap off the tube?

Once I remove the sealing ring for the first use, the cap comes off with some light to medium pressure.

 

How easy is it to get the tablets out of the tube?

Easy – simply open the tube, and shake a tablet out into my hand.

 

 

The tablets:

How long does it take the tablet to completely dissolve?

About 2 minutes

 

Does the nuun drink leave a hard to remove aftertaste/smell in my bottle after it’s gone?

After using many tablets – there is a definite faint nuun odor in my water bottle, however there is no real lingering taste.

 

Is the flavor easily palatable for me?

It takes some getting used to but I found two things: it tastes better if I make it a little stronger than recommended, and Tri Berry is my favorite flavor.

 

Is the flavor hard to get used to?

Some more than others – Now that I found my favorite flavor I’ll stick with that

 

Does the drink leave an unpleasant after taste in my mouth?

No – Once I drank it, the taste disappears pretty quickly

 

Does the drink leave me feeling refreshed or thirsty?

Refreshed

 

Did I have any experiences where I feel the nuun electrolyte drink directly affected my performance?

Several times I drank some nuun because I was feeling the effects of dehydration, headaches, nausea, cramps … After drinking nuun I tended to feel better quicker.

 

This concludes my testing series, thanks to nuun and BackpackGearTest for letting me test this product.


Read more gear reviews by Josh Cormier

Reviews > Food > Energy Bars and Drinks > NUUN - Electrolyte Tablets > Test Report by Josh Cormier



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