Grade School
This is the beginning to your education in recovery nutrition. This section will teach you about basic recovery nutrition principles, as well as explore Fluid Recovery by examining its elements and comparing it to other products in this crazy world.
Lesson Plan:
- Nutrition
- All gains from a workout are made during your recovery
- Balanced diet
- The 30/30 System
- 30 minutes before training
- 30 minutes following training
- Other Recovery Products
- Compare recovery drinks
- Why's Fluid different?
- The Elements
- L-Glutamine
- The Carb:Protein Ratio
- Whey Protein Isolate
- Foundation Carbohydrate Complex
- Electrolyte Complex
Nutrition
We know you spend precious time planning your workouts, but how much time do you spend planning your recovery? All the gains of a workout are made during recovery, the time after a workout when your body grows stronger and regenerates itself. If you can’t recover, you can’t build, you can’t get better. The good news is the body can heal itself and transform more efficiently when nutrients are readily available before and after workout. Nutrient balance and timing are essential to the recovery process.
We at Fluid recommend a balanced diet, loaded with fresh fruits & vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and in accordance with the recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. However, opponents of nutritional supplements often argue if we ate properly, we wouldn’t need food supplements. For the best possible post-exercise recovery, this is simply not true. There is a crucial window of time where the body can repair itself and develop at an accelerated rate after exercise. This is due to hormonal changes within the body during intense exercise, but the changes are temporary and return to normal rapidly.
Everything about recovery nutrition is about the speed at which nutrients can get from the mouth to the cellular level. This window is a roller coaster curve, greatest immediately after exercise, and rapidly declining. Ingestion of solid food can take hours to digest, empty the stomach, enter the blood stream, and arrive at the cellular level. At this point, the hormonal window is long gone, and no added benefits from nutrition can occur. Solid food simply takes too long to capitalize on the window of opportunity. The Fluid drink line is based on supplying the body with the right balance of the right nutrients at the right time.
Exercise can provide wonderful benefits, but it can also be stressful on the body. It can break down muscle, inflame joints and tendons, cause soreness, compromise the immune system, empty glycogen stores, cause dehydration, upset electrolyte balance, and put the body into a needed state of repair. We understand these needs well, and designed Fluid with the athlete in mind. Fluid provides the body with all the essential nutrients to begin the rebuilding process. It is like no other drink on the market because it’s made from the highest quality ingredients available with the sole purpose of replenishing the body to its full potential.
The 30/30 System
The 30/30 system is designed for all athletes to maximize the results from their training sessions. It’s not a gimmick, its just smarter nutrition practice. Professional sports nutritionists agree that nutrient timing is just as crucial as the actual food consumed. Fluid was designed with that philosophy in mind. At Fluid, we like to explain nutrient timing in a series of windows around your training session. We explain it with the 30/30 system.
30 Minutes Before Training
The body should be prepared to begin strenuous exercise with small amounts of readily available carbohydrate, and is best consumed as a liquid to ensure digestion, hydration, and prevent gastric upset. The solution should be between 4-8% carbohydrate with minimal sugar. This way as soon as a training session is starting, nutrients are readily available.
NOTE: WE DO NOT RECOMMEND FLUID RECOVERY DRINK BEFORE TRAINING. The high quality protein in Fluid may be difficult to digest before beginning an intense workout, but is perfect for consumption after completion.
Examples of preworkout nutrition include: 1 serving of your favorite sports drink, 1 energy gel, 1 serving of juice, 1 energy food bar, etc.
Within 30 Minutes After Training
This is the famous "Recovery Window", and the perfect time to use Fluid Recovery drink for the optimal benefits. The body is in a heightened state where it can repair itself and develop at an accelerated rate. If nutrients are not readily available, the body misses the window of opportunity to repair itself faster, and recovers at a lower rate. Research has shown that providing the body with a carbohydrate-protein complex immediately following training will speed the process of restoring glycogen, and rebuilding muscle. Muscle repair cannot occur without available carboyhydrate for the body to use in the repair process. This is why low carbohydrate-high protein recovery drinks are not ideal, and how similar diets make recovery for the athlete difficult.
Other Recovery Products
How does your recovery drink compare? Click on the links below or check out The Fluid comparison chart to see where your drink ranks!
- Does it contain all the nutrients for recovery?
- Does it contain whey protein concentrate?
- Does it contain L-Glutamine?
- Does it contain fat?
- Does it contain sugar alcohols, sucralose, aspartame, or acesulfame potassium?
Fluid Recovery Drink is like no other drink on the market. Our granulated corn maltodextrin foundation is a premium complex carbohydrate that isn't sweet and will never cause stomach upset. Many other drinks use dextrose or sucrose as the foundation, which can be very sweet and is more likely to cause stomach discomfort.
When it comes to protein, we use only the highest quality instantized whey protein isolate - no lactose, no fat, no cholesterol, just great quality protein for muscle health. Many other drinks use whey protein concentrate, which is a cheaper alternative that contains only 30-80% protein by weight, with the remainder consisting of lactose and fat. Whey protein concentrate is the reason that many people suffer gas, bloating, or stomach discomfort after ingestion, especially post-exercise when the body is in a greater state of stress. By using only the purest whey isolate protein available, we avoid these issues.
Glutamine is absolutely critical to maximize the recovery process. Other drinks claim the benefits of L-Glutamine, but put only a fraction of the amount needed for its precious benefits. We use 2500mg per 128 calorie serving, more concentrated than any other drink on the market. Why? Because that is what the body needs. You might ask yourself, well, why don't other companies do that? L-Glutamine is very expensive.
Sometimes other companies promote the more is better attitude. More protein, more carbs, more calories, etc. Several competing "recovery" drinks have added fat to their formulas to make them rich, creamy, and higher in calories. From a scientific standpoint, fat will only slow the absorption of nutrients and impair the recovery process, and if they are saturated fats, cause more inflammation! Fluid Berry Treasure and Tropical Escape formulas are 100% fat free. Fluid Chocolate Wave has 0.5g of fat due to the inclusion of natural cocoa.
At Fluid, we are big fans of natural foods. So while many other drinks contain artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, or other unsafe sugar alternatives, we prefer using all natural sugars in very modest amounts. Balance and natural foods will serve the body better than chemical sweeteners. Think about it!
The Elements
The foundation of Fluid Recovery drink is the combination of the 5 elements.
L-Glutamine
This is an extremely important amino acid shown to directly fuel and support the immune system, decrease muscle soreness, act as a potent anti-inflammatory, increase muscle protein synthesis, and facilitate carbohydrate absorption. We use almost 20mg per calorie, which is ten times what competitors have used in other sports drinks, and 50 times the amount in Airborne®.
The Carb : Protein Ratio
Numerous reports indicate that for maximum recovery and nutrition potential, carbohydrate and protein should be available in a ratio between 3:1 to 5:1, carbohydrate to protein. Fluid is balanced in the middle of the two recommended ratios for optimal efficiency and taste.
Whey Protein Isolate
Recovery drinks must contain protein, but what kind? Whey is fast digesting, unlike milk or meat protein, and contains more essential amino acids than soy protein. However, not all whey proteins are the same. Fluid contains whey isolate which is ultra pure, has a better amino acid profile, no saturated fat or lactose, which whey concentrate does contain. What protein are you putting in your body?
Foundational Carbohydrates
Fluid uses multiple carbohydrates to build a well rounded carbohydrate complex that’s more effective in replenishing glycogen stores and fueling the next workout. It contains maltodextrin, a complex carbohydrate, and crystalline fructose, an all natural fruit sugar for light sweetness. There are no artificial sweeteners, no high fructose corn syrup, and no sugar alcohols.
Electrolyte Complex
The most important electrolytes to ingest post exercise are sodium and potassium to regulate heart rhythm and nerve transmission. Both of these are included, while other electrolytes and minerals that can interfere with taste and are not time sensitive are excluded.
