Just when you think you’re FINALLY safe drinking triple-purified, reverse osmosis, distilled tap water with naturally-occurring fluoride that’s piped straight from the Arctic glaciers into your backyard well, out comes another water claiming to be the holy grail. This time, the new twist is found right in the cap. It’s called Activate and according to the package claim, “Vitamins and other healthy ingredients deteriorate sitting in water. So we keep ours separate in the cap for maximum potency and freshness.”
I had the pleasure of sampling Activate this past weekend after a 4th of July morning run on the beach. Weaving my way through a sea of beach cruisers and bikini-clad drunks along the Manhattan Beach Strand, I bumped into Activate’s street team who explained the benefits of Activate to a curious crowd. Home to AVP tournaments, Manhattan Beach is THE place to pedal novel nutrition and fitness product innovations. We’re quite accustomed to being guinea pigs around here and with the heat of the sun beating down, I was eager to drink just about anything.
Why I’m Thirsty For More:
*Imagine a cold bottle of water giving Emergen-C or an Airborne tablet a piggyback ride. Talk about convenience. All you do is twist the cap and out falls the vitamin mix down into your water. Shake it up and you’ve got “fresh” vitamin water on tap.
*It’s sweetened with all natural stevia. Approved by the FDA for use in food applications earlier this year, stevia is excellent for achieving sweet flavor without the artificial chemicals or a caloric load from all natural sugar.
*Only 5 calories per serving. No preservatives.
*Depending on the flavor, you’ll get a healthy dose of vitamin C, B, Catechins (antioxidants) or electrolytes.
*Variety of flavors including Fruit Punch, Orange, Lemon-Lime, Berry, Grape, Passion Fruit, Lime and Grapefruit.
*A fresh concept with a clean, bright brand look-and-feel (Let’s face it… I’m a sucker for this stuff.)
Things I’m Having Trouble Swallowing:
*The research behind the claims stating vitamins that sit in water beyond 30 days lose anywhere from 22%-88% of their potency (depending on the vitamin). This is where valuable shelf-life testing comes in handy and I’m sure the big boy brands like Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, SoBe Life Water and newbies like Joint Juice Water and Skinny Water might have something to say about this. Stay tuned….
*I’m all over the use of stevia, however, I would say the flavor might be somewhat alienating to the mainstreamers. Properly masking the bitter aftertaste commonly associated with stevia is a food technology art that’s still evolving. I only tried the Lemon-Lime flavor, so I’m eager to check out the others.
*A pack of 4 bottles will cost you $9.00. I may have to save this one for my post-recession party and stick with my Brita and daily vitamin tablet for now.
Check it out and tell me what YOU think!
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