Skratch Labs: The Exercise Hydration Mix That's Changing the Game for Athletes
By Kate Thornton
With Skratch Labs, we finally have an exercise drink mix with real ingredients that solve problems, make you perform better and encourage you to have a healthier lifestyle.
There’s no doubt that the world of sports drinks has, for many years, been dominated by huge multinational companies that care less about the main issues: real performance and nutrition. Instead, they care more about marketing hype and only offer sugary drinks that are loaded with fake flavors, processed sugars, and other unnecessary ingredients that can negatively impact performance.
With Skratch Labs, we finally have an exercise drink mix with real ingredients that solve problems, make you perform better and encourage you to have a healthier lifestyle. Skratch Labs is a company with a novel concept of how a real performance hydration mix or sports drink should be manufactured to improve your athletic performance.
A Brief Background & Review of Skratch Labs
Based in Boulder, Colorado, Skratch Labs unofficially began a decade ago in 2008 when its founder, Dr. Allen Lim worked as a sport scientist with a Pro Cycling Tour team in the Tour de France. Dr. Lim noticed that many athletes were watering down the high sugar sports drinks they were using, diluting the electrolytes and impairing their ability to hydrate well. Dr. Allen went back to the drawing board and started from scratch until he had the formulation of what became the Skratch Labs.
News about this new electrolyte drink spread like wildfire and in 2012, Skratch Labs officially launched. This is, without a doubt, one of the best electrolyte drinks out there. Skratch Labs Hydration Mix is an all-natural, easy to digest electrolyte drink that has much more to offer than traditional sports drinks. For example, Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Mix has more electrolytes but only half of the sugar and half of the calories.
What is Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix?
Skratchlabs Hydration Exercise Drink Mix
Skratch Labs Hydration Mix is an all-natural sports drink powder that you mix into your water bottle to help you replace exactly what you lose when exercising, without anything extra.
At the heart of Skratch Labs is the belief that you’re better off consuming real food ingredients and nutrients to fuel your sports and exercise activities, rather than a bunch of chemically altered, fake ingredients. Dr. Lim and his team formulated this product to help athletes replace electrolytes lost in sweat during workouts using real fruit for flavor and natural, unprocessed cane sugar for fuel.
It absorbs faster than water alone and will not cause stomach upsets or offend your gut. As an athlete, and when it comes to getting your hydration right, nothing can beat the simplicity and effectiveness of Skratch Labs Hydration Mix.
Skratch provides 80 calories per serving, so although it is not the best option for getting all of your electrolytes and calories in your water bottle, it is perfect for lighter training days or to use in addition to other fuel sources. The concept behind Skratch Hydration Mix is that you get all the electrolytes in your water bottle and all your calories should come from the gels, chews, and bars that you can easily carry in your pocket.
Reasons Why You’ll Love Skratch Labs Sports Hydration Mix
Skratch is one of our favorite brands here at The Feed, and there are many reasons why we think you’ll also love their wide range of awesome sports nutrition products.
Taste & Flavor Review
Available in a variety of flavors, Skratch Labs Hydration Mix is made with natural ingredients, and the result is a light, refreshing flavor that doesn’t offer chemical tastes like many products in the market. It is mildly sweet, but not overpowering so it's easy to get down while exercising. You don’t feel like you have to dilute it down since the flavor levels are always spot on. Not to mention, it still tastes good after sitting on the bike in the warm sun for hours. This is a product that’s made with less sugar, more sodium, and is based entirely on real fruit for flavor!
You Get a Variety of Options
While the ingredients found Skratch Labs Hydration Mix include cane sugar, magnesium lactate, dextrose, potassium citrate, sodium citrate, citric acid, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), lemon oil, and lemon juice, it comes in a variety of fruity flavors.
You can choose to go with fruit punch, orange, passion fruit, lemon and lime, matcha green tea, or strawberries.
While we love all of these flavors, our favorites are lemon and lime flavor as well as the Passion fruit. No matter what flavor you choose, they all sit easily in the stomach, are refreshing, and will quench your thirst, and keep you hydrated during a hard exercise.
Easy to Use
Using Skratch Sport Hydration Mix is easy, and you can adjust the portions to fit your unique nutrition needs. It comes in powder form and dissolves well in water. There may be some small seeds in certain flavors, but that's how you know they used real fruit! The resealable bags come with a scoop, making it easy to portion out into your water bottle. The drink mix also comes in convenient single-serve packets that are easy to keep in your jersey pocket for long rides or runs.
Effective Source of Clean Burning Fuel
The purpose of sports drinks are to provide you with fast-absorbing carbohydrates and electrolytes to help you retain fluid and prevent cramping. Although many athletes are wary of sugar, it serves a purpose during intense exercise.
Sugar is the most effective source of energy during exercise because it is quickly absorbed and used by working muscles. It also helps promote the ideal timing of fuel and fluid delivery throughout the body. Skratch uses two natural sources of sugar: cane sugar and dextrose. The combination of these two carbohydrates allows for better fuel and hydration during training and races. With 80 calories and 20 grams of carbs, you get optimal hydration without an excess of carbs or calories.
The Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix is fundamentally very effective. In addition to its optimal ratio of natural cane sugar for fast absorption, it also contains sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium to provide an electrolyte profile that better matches what you lose in your sweat. The drink mixes are also verified non-GMO, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and kosher.
Are you a heavy sweater? Do you struggle with cramping and dehydration? Do you live in a hot/humid environment? Check out these higher sodium drink mixes offered by Skratch Labs: Wellness Hydration (725 mg of sodium) and Hyper Hydration (1720 mg of sodium) to further help with hydration.
Other Skratch Labs Products
In addition to their beloved Sports Hydration Mix, Skratch Labs also offers a variety of other awesome products such as Anytime Energy Bars and Recovery Drink Mix.
Skratch Labs Anytime Energy Bars
Looking for a bar made with real food ingredients and still tastes great? Skratch Labs Anytime Energy Bars check all of those boxes, and more! Geared towards athletes and active individuals, these bars contain high-quality carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and healthy fats to provide the perfect balanced snack that will keep you feeling full and fueled.
Whether you like more traditional flavors, like Chocolate Chips and Almonds, or prefer to go with a savory flavor, like the Miso and Crushed Red Pepper flavor, these bars won't disappoint. They taste great, are easy to eat during exercise, and are made with whole food ingredients, giving you a clean-burning source of fuel for long rides, hikes, or a mid-day snack.
With 50% less sugar than traditional bars, they are a great option for pre or post-workout, as well as a grab-and-go snack that you can have anywhere, anytime, throughout the day!
Skratch Labs Sports Recovery Drink Mix
Getting in carbs and protein within an hour of a hard workout is key for repairing damaged muscles, replenishing nutrient stores, and boosting recovery. Because it's not always possible to have quick access to food, having a source of post-workout nutrition with you is the best way to make sure you're getting key nutrients in within that window.
As the ultimate post-workout treat, Skratch Labs sports recovery drink mix offers clean and delicious fuel that can rapidly rehydrate, refuel and rebuild your body when you finish your hardest workouts on empty. Not only does this recovery drink mix have carbs and protein in the optimal ratio to promote recovery, but it also contains probiotics and lactase enzymes to help you efficiently digest these nutrients and get the most from the drink mix.
Overall Review & Verdict on Skratch Labs
Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix is one of our favorite sports drinks on the market, and we think it should be a staple in your water bottle. With a simple ingredients list and natural fruit flavor, this mix is great way to stay hydrated no matter what you're doing.
If you’re sick of the syrupy sports drinks out there and are looking for a better way to get all the electrolytes that your body needs after workouts, Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix is the solution you've been looking for!