Hi everyone,
Happy February! I hope that 2022 has been treating you a bit better than the last year, so far! :) We’ve got some mildly good news to share:
- Super Micros and strawberry are back!
- Glycine: (probably) coming soon!
- Inulin: volunteer testing underway…
- Beetroot: strawberry’s savior? (take the survey!)
Before all that, I wanted to let you all know that we’ve pretty much caught up with our backlog, and you can expect orders to ship within a few days, for the most part! Yay! :D Thanks to the team for working hard, and you all for not overwhelming us with orders this month! ;p I even logged a few weeks in the manufacturing room, getting my (nitrile-gloved) hands dirty to help clear the backlog, and it looks like it’s paying off. :d
Anyway, we got our vitamin mix back, so Super Micros is available again and most of our product inventory (except for samples) at this point has turned over to our custom mix instead of the NATURELO vitamins we were using in January. Also, we got our strawberry resupply a little earlier than expected, so you may have noticed the strawberry flavors are back in stock on our website as well! It’s good to be back on track! :)
We got a lot of responses to our survey on glycine and inulin, thanks to everyone who participated! :D
The response in favor of glycine was overwhelmingly positive, which doesn’t surprise me as I’ve been adding it to my daily Super Fuel for months now at 2g per meal, and it’s been great! :D Some of you have asked for more of the science behind it, so here’s a review paper discussing the benefits of glycine. As far as I’m concerned, it’s no more controversial than the lysine that we already add to balance out the amino acid profile of the rice protein. Glycine is just a piece of that puzzle that I’d overlooked until recently.
We haven’t started adding it to our formulas yet, but we’ve got 50kg of the stuff in our warehouse, ready to go. If you have any concerns or caveats to share, this is your chance! Reply and let us know. :)
The response to inulin was much more mixed. My guess is that it’s not going to make sense, honestly, given the number of people with sensitive digestive systems who would not be able to tolerate it. But we’re running some experiments with the many brave volunteers who have stepped up to try it! :) If you’ve added your email address to the last survey, you will (or may already have) receive a packet of 1g of agave inulin in your next order. Please add it to one of your usual Super Body Fuel shakes, and email us to let us know if you notice any gas or other issues (or not)!
Lastly, we have a new recipe update to run by you all! :) That is, adding a bit of beetroot powder to enhance our strawberry flavor, rather than using fake “natural flavors” that don’t taste very good. :p Yes, powdered beets, as in the reddish-purple root vegetables.
Oddly, while testing beetroot powder as a supplement simply for its nitric oxide-boosting benefits, I found that adding a small amount, say 1g, to one of our strawberry shakes helped enhance the flavor and color of the strawberry without overpowering it! And beetroot powder isn’t particularly expensive – certainly nothing like freeze-dried strawberry powder. So I thought this might be a good way to introduce a beet-enhanced line and boost the intensity of our notoriously subtle strawberry flavor at the same time! :o
Obviously, this is not a change we’d make without consulting you first, so here’s a survey on beetroot! Please weigh in if you’re a fan (or potential fan) of our strawberry flavor, or if you have a strong opinion about beets (as one does). :]
And here’s a review paper on the benefits of beetroot supplementation, before you ask. ;)
Anyway, please take the survey! :D
Thank you and take care!
Alex Cho Snyder (axcho)
Almost every company uses meals as a unit, but it is hard to find info, on what meal means. How many grams, how many calories. How many meals should I eat per month to satisfy the needs of the organism?
Meals are the wrong unit. Calories are good.
It can be very frustrating, I agree! It was especially annoying when companies started to go with a standard of “meals” of 400 calories or less, in order to inflate the perceived value of their product relative to price. :p
When it comes to Super Body Fuel meals, it’s a little trickier, because all of our meals are designed to be mixed with a variable amount of oil (or milk, depending on the product) in order to achieve a certain calorie goal. So calories are actually not an appropriate measurement.
Instead, our meals are based on micronutrient (and protein) content, the need for which does not vary as much from person to person. And also scoop size! After surveying our customers several years ago, the consensus was that people preferred to split a day into four meals, so that people who liked to have half a day could easily calculate the amounts, and the measurements for gallons and cups of milk would divide nicely.
That means that each “meal” for Super Body Fuel comes out to 25% of your daily protein and micronutrient needs, based on targeting 100g of protein per day (so 25g protein per meal, about the limit of how much you can absorb before you get diminishing returns) and all the individually optimized vitamins and minerals. Though, there are people who only feel like they need three of those meals a day, instead of four. Whatever works! :)