Sukkie review

I've just come in from 8 hours of chainsawing, felling wild tobacco, mowing and whippersnippering the quarry on our 10 acre property (yes, a mini quarry).

It is full of lantana, wild tobacco and wild rasperry. (Wild raspberries, incidentally, are delicious and nicer than normal raspberries. They get horribly out of control. But the smell of them is divine, as is the taste.)

It is around 33, horribly humid, and I am absolutely stuffed.

In the fridge is cold Cola. I skol (“skull” for us Aussies) a glassful.

Delicious and refreshing, yes.

Satisfying, no.

Perhaps some home brew apple cider will help.

A delicious, refreshing – yet totally unsatisfying – bottle of that disappears.

Hmmm, nope.

How about some Gatorade? Slides down ever so fast but my thirst is unslaked and undiminished.

Hmmmm.

I'm dehydrated, terribly thirsty, yet these cold, sugary beverages did nothing for me.

What is missing?

So, whilst it seems ok to drink a bunch of sugary, ice-cold cola or something like Gatorade ®, this stuff a) does not cut the mustard in terms of replenishing electrolytes and b) is just bad for you.

(Let's go back a bit further, to 2010)

This happens on the bike, too

The weather for the 2010 Etape (Tourmalet) was expected to be hot.

I'd been sick (thanks for that, Bonsoy) and off the bike for 3 months with little training for 6 months.

So, today, I was prepared well. Some electrolyte supplies, plenty of water, good nutrition.

What ensued was a hellish descent into a black hole of pain, cramping and fire and brimstone.

The cause? Too much water, not enough quality electrolytes.

(Turns out this is a common mistake.)

Just not satisfying or healthy

Along with being highly acidic, sports drinks are typically just not refreshing or satisfying.

I don't know about you, but on a hot, long ride, if I drink something like Gatorade® I'll want more right away.

My thirst seems to never be quenched.

You could drink water, which is much more quench-ifying, but then you miss out on electrolytes like magnesium, sodium, potassium and the like.

We're constantly marketed to by sorts drinks companies, and whilst they seem to sound credible, in reality they are not.

The sad reality is that most of these electrolyte products are high in sugar and acidic which is bad for your blood pH (not enough room here to go into why this is a bad thing!) and bad for your teeth.

(There's a reason that lots of triathletes have really bad teeth – lots of sugary energy drinks can cause this.)

Happily, there are healthy alternatives.

So then, what to take?

Thirsty reader, meet Sukkie.

I first happened upon Sukkie at my osteo's clinic. He gave me some to try and at first I didn't like it.

It's nowhere near as sugary as other sports drinks and on a relative basis, is quite salty and tastes alkaline (these are both good things, I promise). In actual fact, Sukkie is pH neutral so is neither alkaline or acidic.

Sukkie's whole ethos is to provide a non-acidic, electrolyte-replenishing sports drink that does not rot your teeth.

It's the hydration drink for people who care about their teeth and body (that should be everyone!).

Started by Leon Harvey, who sold the family home to get it going (read the VeloNomad interview with Leon), it's been tested and formulated to be good for you, not just to sell cr@ploads of cr@p product.

Does it really work

The job of marketing is to sell you something to solve a problem. (That's not entirely true: some marketing is just to sell you stuff you don't need or that doesn't really help you. Please remember – do not buy anything from VeloNomad you do not really need or want and that does not solve a problem!)

So how do you assess whether something works? I have a reasonable protocol I use – it might help you how to tell if a nutrition product works. It's a little subjective but is better than nothing.

…Anyway, back to my kitchen in 2013, post quarry destroying gardening frenzy.

Remember that quarry and 8 hours of hard-as-hell gardening I mentioned?

Recently, I finished a similar amount of work at our place and came inside and knocked off some water laced with a dose of Sukkie.

Thirst slaked.

The other night I was super thirsty and tired after a pre work ride, long day in squalid air conditioned air and run after work. Glass of Sukkie – bam, instantly felt better.

And for the last few months in the super humid, hot sultry conditions of the Northern Rivers of NSW (outside Byron Bay) where the roads are totally dead and it's very hilly, I've been testing Sukkie.

In the stultifying humidity of the hills, where there's no air, and across 100-150km rides, I've been testing Sukkie.

Sukkie really works

Regardless of the length of my rides, the heat, and the consequent need for electrolytes, I've never experienced cramps or dehydration.

Compared to trying to quench your thirst with Coke or even Gatorade, Sukkie is streets ahead.

On the bike, one sip of Sukkie will, assuming you're not already dehydrated, keep you going.

There is no need to drink a whole bottle (like what happens with Gatoride and its ilk).

And best of all, you can ride hard and avoid cramps.

The next day, assuming you recover properly you should be fine to do it all again.

The best part about all this is Sukkie protects your teeth (read the Australian Sports Commission Sports Drink fact sheet). They have a bunch of scientific testing to back it up.

The creator of Sukkie really cares about health, and has spent a lot of time making sure that Sukkie is actually good for you.

Sukkie contains:

• No cane sugar
• No artificial colours
• No artificial flavours
• No Gluten
• No Allergens

So, do I recommend Sukkie?

Absolutely yes. Since using it, I've banished cramps on long hot rides, I've got more energy on rides and I recover better.

It's not as cheap as some alternatives, but I figure it's worth it to protect your teeth and buy something that pH neutral.

More reading:

• Interview with Sukkie founder, Leon Harvey
• Recovering from long bike rides