Let’s talk hydration, shall we? My reason for bringing it up is that it’s summer, it’s hot (sporadically in Vancouver, apparently) and you’re out and about getting your sweat on. You may drink H2O or maybe even have a sugary sports drink if you’re sweating for longer than an hour, but are you really getting the hydration that you need? Coconut water is a good alternative (I personally really like it) but if you do not like the taste or, like me, you sometimes need a little something different you may not have many choices for real, healthy hydration alternatives to help your body recover. Why is hydration so important? Even a small amount of dehydration can cause muscle cramps, headaches, nausea, and fatigue. This is where NUUN comes in.

I discovered NUUN quite by accident when I was looking for energy chews at my local camping and sports surplus store. When I’m not teaching fitness classes I’m either out on a run or trying to keep active and I am often left dripping with sweat, not a dainty “I don’t sweat, I sparkle” type of sweat but an “I’m a horse and just ran a marathon through the desert” type of sweat. I am also one who gets dehydrated to the point of getting bad headaches hours afterwards if I just have water so these tablets immediately caught my eye… and here is why:

1- They are portable! You can keep them in your gym bag, running belt, or purse and you can add them to your water bottle. They dissolve in 16 oz of water. (I use my 500ml bottle for it)

2 – They really are “packed with electrolytes”, have a light flavour (taste great btw!), and no sugars or carbs.

3- They are gluten free and vegan (if you’re into that sort of thing). Plus only 10 calories.

4 – They have different types of Nuun for your preference. Nuun Active is to replenish your electrolytes, like a sports drink but without the added colouring, sugars, or other additives. Nuun Energy gives you a boost of caffeine and vitamin B, I used it as a pre-workout and noticed my energy levels where definitely higher but it didn’t give me jitters or the “HULK SMASH!” feeling.

Nuun also has Plus for Nuun that is made to fuel you faster and Nuun All Day that has all day vitamins and minerals, I’m thinking it’s like a healthier version of vitamin water but I have not tried it or Nuun Plus yet. I’m in love with the product already though so I think I would love these options too.

5 – I already mentioned that they taste great but I also wanted to mention that it comes in A LOT of flavours. I loved the Tea flavour of the Nuun Active and the Cherry Limeade in the Nuun Energy but I have yet to try all the flavours.

Nuun is available online or at several stores in the lower mainland, I have found them at MEC and Sport Chek so far. But if you wanted to check them out online go to https://nuun.com/.

Now you are prepared to get out there and sweat it out!