REVIEW: IsoWhey Sports Nutrition

IsoWhey produce a line of weight-loss and nutritional supplements that you might find at your local chemist. The sports nutrition arm grew out of this business, but is true to the same ideals of healthy, research-based supplementation.

IsoWhey eschews artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners and added fructose – offering a premium range of nutrition products, with a smart array of well-considered supplements and energy foods. These work best for athletes looking to take a systematic approach to their nutrition and like to keep track of up-to-date research and contemporary trends.

But what else do IsoWhey have to offer the already immensely crowded sports nutrition marketplace? We put a bunch of IsoWhey Sports products through their paces over several weeks of riding and training. Here’s what we found…

IsoWhey Energy Bars

Available in chocolate and berry flavours, IsoWhey bars weigh in at 50g and fit flat and smooth in a jersey pocket or pack. Gluten free, and with a bunch of ‘superfood’ ingredients like goji berries and chia in the mix, as well as other nuts and seeds, they’re a more natural and wholesome source of nutrition than a lot of sports bars out there.

They are made with brown rice syrup – a fructose-free sweetener that is effectively made up of glucose – which will be welcomed by increasing numbers of health-minded individuals looking to limit the amount of fructose in their diets. With 10 grams of protein, these bars have a pretty high protein content for an on-bike ‘energy’ food. They also contain 8 grams of fat, most of it from natural ingredients like sunflower seeds and pepitas.

The bars have a moreish, chewy consistency and best of all they don’t taste overpoweringly sweet. In fact, the berry bars had a slight hint of tartness, while the chocolate version gives a touch of bitter cocoa – both of which were a pleasant departure from the usual cloying flavours of most sports nutrition. Out riding, their 20 grams of carbohydrate and ingredient mix did a good job providing a sustained energy release. For those looking to participate in endurance events like long sportives, though, it might be worth remembering that a lot of competitors’ bars will offer about 30 per cent more carbs and that’s your main fuel out there.

RRP: Box of 12, $41.50 AUD

IsoWhey Electrolyte Formula

Sports nutrition brands are somewhat restricted in what they can do with hydration mixes. There is, after all, a pretty set list of electrolytes and nutrients that are required for optimum hydration and fuel, and a limited capacity for the body to absorb them. IsoWhey’s Electrolyte Formula ticks all the boxes for an effective hydration mix, including pretty high sodium to replace this essential nutrient lost in sweat (if your doctor has you restricting your intake, be sure to read up before you buy).

It’s nice too, for IsoWhey to experiment with flavours and ingredients, most notably coconut water, in their formula. While coconut water is a rubbish hydration fluid on its own (too much potassium, too little sodium), it contributes the required potassium to IsoWhey Electrolyte Formula’s overall balance, as well as a subtle but pleasant mellowness. 

We’ve had trouble in the past with electrolyte mixes containing magnesium. One of our testers suffered an epic mid-ride stomach upset with it about 10 years ago and has never touched it since, but bravely stepped up to give IsoWhey’s drink mix a try. IsoWhey’s claims that their UltraMag magnesium preparation is gentle to the system and easily absorbed rang true, with our tester getting through the entire testing process without any sign of a stomach upset.

A lot of the effectiveness of your sports drinks depends on how you mix it up. It’s nice to see that IsoWhey understand that and supply detailed instructions for making an isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic (use with caution) formula. Our preference for on-the-bike nutrition usually leans towards hypotonic, and we found that even mixed up at the weakest recommended dosage, the taste still packed a big punch.

IsoWhey’s Electrolyte Formula isn’t the sweetest drink mix on the market, with a tart aftertaste (possibly the magnesium?) that some might find takes a little getting used to. We used it during heatwave conditions and found that if we kept our intake up, we withstood the weather over many hours with heavy activity and were very impressed with the overall result. Available in berry and pineapple flavour.

RRP: 500g tub $28.50 AUD

IsoWhey Refuel and Rebuild

It’s a little embarrassing to admit that we at AMB sometimes take a bit of an old-school approach to nutrition, so that even when we manage to eat right on the bike we tend to end up tucking into eggs and bacon, coffee and muffins for our post-ride recovery. 

Designed to fill the body’s demands in that crucial recovery window immediately after exercise, Refuel and Rebuild, which is available in berry flavour, is an interesting mix of protein and carb, plus a bunch of micronutrients which (if they are lacking in your diet) will help with muscle repair and growth. These include branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), magnesium, antioxidants, and amino acids L-glutamine and L-ornithine, which are used in energy production, storage, and delivery.

While the powder is pretty nice on its own mixed with milk or milk substitute (less so with water), we eventually found ourselves getting a bit creative and adding a half-dose of the powder to smoothies of frozen berries, milk, low fat Greek yoghurt, and honey, all of which boost the antioxidant, carb, and protein content of the original mixture and make the drinks so good we considered ditching the magazine business altogether and opening a smoothie bar instead.

And did it work? Well during testing one of us went through a structured phase of training to get fit for a target event, and, anecdotally, recovered better than ever. We’ll still be enjoying our bacon and eggs after weekend rides, but when time is short and the focus is sharp, we’ll be stocking the cupboard with Refuel and Rebuild long after our testing supply runs out.

RRP: 500g tub $41.50

* IsoWhey have an extensive range of products. For more details head to isowheysports.com.au