From Protein to Electrolytes to Creatine: 100-Plus Products Tested — Here is Our Shortlist
Navigating the supplement industry is a bit like navigating a foreign city without GPS: challenging at best.
Every brand claims to offer something better, cleaner, or more effective, but what does “clean” even mean?
If you’re going to use a sweetener, is it better to stick with a bit of cane sugar? Or is monk fruit, stevia, or sucralose healthier? There’s no consensus, and there’s no shortage of conflicting advice.
Alas, we think it’s best to get to know the people behind the brand, so we did exactly that.
We spoke with founders of all kinds of brands in the space and tested more than 100 products, looking for three things: brands and ingredients we trust, and products that pass the taste test (because, in our opinion, the supplement industry is generally plagued by bad aftertastes).
If you’re looking for hydration, electrolytes, protein powder, protein bars, recovery products, or quick fuel, here is our shortlist.
Podium Nutrition
Podium Nutrition was founded by Paul Haverland, who has been in the sports nutrition space since 2007, along with five-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser and CrossFit filmmakers Heber Cannon and Marston Sawyers, known as the Buttery Bros.
We highly recommend Podium’s Salt + Electrolytes, their Fuse Pre-Workout, their Hydro Salt + BCAAs hydration and recovery product, and their pink lemonade-flavored creatine. Each has a touch of sweetness, not too much, with no aftertaste.
All of their products are also third-party certified by NSF Sport, and their labels are “fully transparent,” Haverland said.
- “And if people reach out to us directly, we give them all our CVAs and formulas. I’m not afraid of competitors seeing our formulas,” he added.
Xendurance
Xendurance was founded in Europe in 1998, and today it’s a major player in the CrossFit space, largely because of Jason St. Clair, who became one of the company’s owners in 2011.
Remind me: St. Clair is also the founder of LAB MGMT, an athlete marketing and brand management agency representing many elite CrossFit athletes.
St. Clair, a former professional baseball player for the Tampa Bay Rays, started CrossFit in 2010 and was immediately “addicted to it,” he said. At the same time, he learned about Extreme Endurance, Xendurance’s flagship recovery product. It works, he said.
- Twelve clinical studies have examined Extreme Endurance, two of which were published as white papers, and the research suggests taking it twice a day reduces lactic acid in the body (by 26 percent in 10 days), as well as creatine kinase and oxidative stress.
Beyond Extreme Endurance, we love Xendurance’s Globs: energy dummies designed to provide steady, crash-free carbohydrates for endurance athletes. They’re made from organic sweet potatoes, are caffeine-free, and are dangerous because they taste like a delicious gummy candy.
- Finally, don’t sleep on Xendurance’s protein powder. Unlike many on the market, it has no chalky taste or unwanted aftertaste.
Blonyx
Blonyx was founded in 2011 by Rowan Minion, a UK-born exercise scientist and longtime CrossFit enthusiast, who became interested in creatine because it’s the most well-researched supplement in the world. As a result, Blonyx’s flagship product became HMB + Creatine.
For a long time, Blonyx’s main market was CrossFit athletes, who were drawn to both HMB + Creatine and Beta Alanine. Today, as the creatine market has exploded, Blonyx is also big in the broader hybrid fitness space, as well as in cycling and endurance.
Two Blonyx products we especially love for their taste are their egg white protein powder and their Hydra + hydration and electrolyte product. Made from real fruit juice, the product has a hint of sweetness, a bit of saltiness, and, best of all, it tastes like real mangoes.
Drink Hippie
Actress Sasha Pieterse, best known for her role in the teen drama Pretty Little Liars, and her close friend Sai Svoboda founded Drink Hippie.
At 17, Pieterse gained 70 pounds in a year and began experiencing hair loss, acne, and seizures. Doctors told her she was probably just eating too much or not exercising enough, but she knew this wasn’t the case.
Eventually, Pieterse was diagnosed with epilepsy and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects the ovaries, typically during the reproductive years.
- And so began “a two-decade journey trying to get a handle on my health [to figure out] what works for my body and what doesn’t,” Pieterse told The Morning Chalk Up.
Her interest in health led her and Svoboda to develop a healthy energy drink: Drink Hippie, which launched last spring.
Drink Hippie was in vendor village at the CrossFit Games, where we sampled all three flavors — Peach Party, Watermelon Gateway, and Citrus Groove — and couldn’t decide which we liked best. Bottom line: it’s hands down the tastiest energy drink we have ever had.
Worth noting: One 12-ounce can of Drink Hippie is lightly sweetened with 15 percent real fruit juice, contains 75 mg of natural caffeine, sourced from Arabica green coffee beans, 500 mg of functional mushrooms, 50 mg of L-Theanine, 215 mg of potassium, 115 mg of sodium, and 1 gram of prebiotic fiber.
For a 10 percent discount, use code HIPPIECHALKUP10
AMP Hydration
Two young entrepreneurs, Nicolas Curtis and Stefan Vujicic, founded AMP Hydration.
They met at university, and as they began prioritizing their health, they started reading product labels. When it came to electrolytes, “there was nothing that was truly clean,” Curtis said.
That sparked their journey to develop “the cleanest electrolyte on the market.” They admit the process wasn’t easy. It involved testing various suppliers and sampling plenty of real lemon juice sources “that didn’t have garbage in it.”
Last August, they launched their first electrolyte product: an unsweetened electrolyte powder with zero citric acid and zero “natural flavors,” best mixed with 500 mL of water.
We have to say, this is the real deal if you’re looking for something unsweetened, delicious and refreshing. When you drink it, your body genuinely feels more hydrated.
Right now, this is AMP Hydration’s only product, but Curtis and Vujicic have ambitions to develop an energy gel next.
For a 15 percent discount, use code: MCUAMP15
Skratch Labs
The only other unsweetened electrolyte product we liked as much as AMP Hydration was Skratch Labs unsweetened hydration.
- Their lemon-lime flavor tastes quite similar to AMP Hydration, and when you’re particularly thirsty, their salted margarita is the best thirst quencher.
Their energy chews and energy bars also pass the taste test.
Bzzz Bombs
Max Campbell, a father of three who has always prioritized his nutrition, founded Bzzz Bombs and wanted to develop a healthy energy gel.
- “Our goal was to create a minimal ingredient label, and keep those few ingredients top quality,” he said.
One year ago, Campbell launched Bzzz Bombs honey energy gels made with raw honey, as opposed to pasteurized honey, because it holds “all the health benefits,” Campbell said.
- It currently comes in three flavors: lemon, blueberry, and cherry. In addition to honey, the other ingredients include organic lemon, blueberry, or cherry extract and sea salt.
If you’re hitting up a HYROX race, we couldn’t recommend Bzzz Bombs more to avoid a mid-race crash.
O2 Hydration
Founded in 2014 by longtime CrossFit athlete Dave Colina, O2 Hydration has long been in the CrossFit space and is known for giving back to the community. O2 was also the Official Recovery Drink of the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
Today, O2 offers several recovery and energy drink flavors, but our favorite is Orange Mango. “Because it’s the right balance between bright citrus and tropical sweetness, without being sticky or syrupy,” explained Morning Chalk Up managing editor Joe Genetin-Pilawa.
- “Especially on hot, humid days after a tough workout,” he added.
Two Protein Bars We Like
Finally, two protein bars that passed our taste test are JiMMY BARS, which contain 20 grams of protein and 5 grams of creatine (we recommend the chocolate peanut butter flavor), and Unhinged, a new brand that made its mark at WZA SoCal in September. Their bars contain 11 to 14 grams of protein, 7-8 grams of fiber, and 75 mg of caffeine. Again, we love the chocolate peanut butter flavor.
The Big Picture
With so many supplements on the market, it can be hard to know which are worth your money. After testing more than 100 products and speaking with the people behind the brands, these are the ones that stood out for their ingredients, transparency, and taste.
