BANA Berry Flavored Hydration Drink

Serious hydration is the promise of BANA.  Serious hydration is what has been needed all summer.  I tried out BANA last week on a serious 14 mile run.  I was running with a new friend and he likes to run fast.  I normally run my long runs at about a 10 minute mile or maybe a little slower.  He wanted to “keep it slow” at an 8 or 9 minute pace.  🙂

I drank one bottle (500 ml; 16.9 fl oz) of BANA before we met for the run.  Before you drink it, you need to know what it is:  a drink based on the concept of an IV.  A doctor decided that if dehydrated people needed IV fluids, then serious athletes probably should be receiving the contents of an IV.  He altered the formula a bit and added cherry flavoring.  As you might imagine, it has a high sodium and potassium content as well as many other electrolytes.  This means that the berry taste has a very salty character.

I was wearing my fuel belt with its four bottles full of BANA to drink while we were running.  And run we did!  We covered about 14 miles at a 8:23 pace.  As you might anticipate on an August morning, I was sweating like a pig.  Hence I was very happy to gulp down the salty mix.

Important detail:  I normally use Hammer Endurolyte capsules on a long run to replace my electrolytes.  Without Endurolytes, I get leg twitches at least and my legs just shut down at worst.  On this run, I was testing out BANA as the electrolyte replacement – so I did not use any Endurolytes.

At the end of this very challenging run, I chugged another bottle of BANA as fast as I could.  No twitching muscles, no cramps, and my muscles felt fine.  2 points for BANA!

I had one remaining bottle of BANA that I saved for after today’s run, a 20 mile jaunt.  I did use Eundurolytes, but apparently not enough of them.  About 20 minutes after completing the run, my leg twitches started up.  I had forgotten to drink that last bottle of BANA.  Once I realized what was going on, I wobbled as quickly as I could to get the bottle and downed it in about 20 seconds.  In about 15 minutes, my leg twitches had stopped and my leg muscles were also generally more relaxed.  Thank you BANA.

They call it “Serious Hydration.”  I call it hydration with a serious supply of vital electrolytes.  None of the other sports drinks that I have ever tried have packed such a powerful punch.

Based on these experiences, I would recommend BANA to anyone that has had issues with electrolytes and hydration.  It works on the road and is an effective recovery drink.

Happy Running

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