Do you find yourself unsure when or how much to drink on a ride or think you can compensate for fluid lost through sweating after a run rather than during? Understanding hydration can be complex, and not overlooking the importance of its role in your performance and recovery is key. Whether you’re a pro athlete or an everyday adventurer, proper hydration is essential. This is why we’ve spent two years creating what we believe is the perfect solution to staying effectively hydrated.
THE FACTS
Faced with the facts, the realities of dehydration don’t make for comfortable reading and these can also have damaging long term effects on your health too:
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A loss of sweat equal to just 2% of body weight causes a noticeable decrease of physical and mental performance. *1
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Losses of 5% or more may decrease performance by as much as 30%. *2
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Dehydration can cause tiredness, mental impairment and hinder performance by reducing strength and aerobic capacity. *3
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Ineffective rehydration after exercise impairs recovery and compounds the impact of exercise stress on your body.
THE JOURNEY
As with all of our products, the starting point was to make the cleanest, healthiest and best tasting hydration drinks we possibly could without compromise. What might seem like a simple thing to achieve turned into a long and complicated development project but we believe it’s been worth the hard work!
We were very conscious that many products on the market claim to provide ‘electrolytes’ to aid with hydration, but very few actually focus on hydration as their main purpose - there are even fewer which do this in a clean and healthy way. This is what inspired us to spend two years researching and developing the first 100% organic hydration drink solely focused on optimal hydration.
Rawvelo Organic Hydration Drink Mix
HYDRATION DRINKS VERSUS ENERGY DRINKS
Our philosophy is that liquid should be for hydration and not used as a fuel source during exercise. There is very good peer reviewed science which backs this up and it shows that ingesting a liquid with a very high carbohydrate content can lead to gastrointestinal upset, which can actually lead to dehydration. The same research also found the optimal concentration of carbohydrate in a hydration drink is around 4%. This level will give the most effective uptake of electrolytes at cellular level and keep your gut happy. Zero calorie electrolyte tabs, which use artificial sweeteners and have no carbohydrate content, do not provide optimal hydration either and have the added downside of nasty chemical sweeteners.
One of our biggest challenges was to find a way to make sure our Hydration Drink Mix had a full range of electrolytes without using chemically derived ingredients such as Magnesium Lactate or Potassium Citrate. We discovered coconut water naturally contains all of the electrolytes needed for hydration and through a gentle process of freeze drying, all of these electrolytes and trace minerals are preserved in the resulting powder. So this became the basis for our drinks.
ATHLETE RESEARCH
Working with our sponsored athletes, we then focused on refining the flavours of the drinks to make something that not only worked to provide optimal hydration but also tasted great and was easy to drink. One early observation was that many of our athletes struggled with the overly sweet taste of other dinks on the market, and what they actually wanted was something subtle and refreshing that was still pleasant to drink several hours (or days!) into an event– even if it was warm. This led us to develop what we call our ‘Neutral’ flavoured drink which is unflavoured and is almost like drinking water but with the benefits of a full electrolyte profile.
Bianchi Dama rider Georgie Panchaud gives her take on our Organic Hydration Mix:
"Rawvelo’s hydration drink mixes have helped me out in many a salty crises. My first experience of them was out in the Omani desert where dehydration really was a worry. There aren’t many hydration mixes that can claim to be free from any artificial sweeteners, flavourings or colourings but the Rawvelo Organic Hydration Mix ticks all those boxes, and tastes fabulous at the same time."
THE PRODUCT
Rawvelo Organic Hydration Drink Mix is free from artificial sweeteners, flavourings or colourings, and is available in three natural flavours - Raspberry, Lemon and Neutral. The product contains on average 400mg of sodium, 22g carbohydrate, and 90 calories per serving, ensuring an optimal balance of ingredients for quick and effective absorption.
