Ifa. (I just asked this in the weekly check-in; did you read about it on HappyTriathlete?)

Oh I didn't realize! No, I've just seen the words Osmo Nutrition floating around lately, I think on someone's kit or something, and this morning I decided to look it up. I just poked through their website and watched the videos by Dr. Sims, so I was interested. I don't think I'm aware of any other product that really formulates differently for female athletes. If they had sample packs of all 3 products I'd just shell out and try myself, but in the meantime I was just wanted to hear other's thoughts.

I'll check out the Happy Triathlete blog for sure. Thanks for the heads up.

I haven't tried it, but I do know a couple of things about it.

1) Stacey Sims (sp?) used to work with Allen Lim of Skratch Labs. There are rumours floating around that their split was not entirely amicable, but she went on to found Osmo.

2) As a Vanderkitten VIP I got a discount on it last year & this year but shipping is prohibitive to Canada. A lot of my fellow kittens did give it a shot and many (I mean at least 60% of those who tried it) now swear by it.

3) At the same time, I've heard other women say that they see zero difference in performance between Osmo & Skratch products, but prefer the Skratch Labs flavours.

Take all of the above with as big a grain of salt as you wish.

-mistress k

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ill advised racing inc.

I think it was more than rumors.... As I recall there was one or more lawsuits. Not pretty.

Lim's best contribution are his cookbooks, and advocacy for a "real food" approach to nutrition. I use Skratch when I'm in a pinch, but honestly, you can make your own brew for a lot less than pre-mixed.

BTW, Lim is a great speaker and very generous with his time. He's worth catching if shows up in your area. He's got some great TED talks as well.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Thanks for the feedback! I actually, too, am a fan of Skratch Labs products. I've listen to Allen Lim on podcasts and I've even used the Feed Zone cookbook, and there's a lot of things there that I like. I didn't know the history behind the two companies, but as I was researching their formulations more yesterday I actually did start to wonder if the two were vaguely similar... this explains a lot :)

Well, thank you both. It may be worth a shot after all. I'd really like to compare Osmo to my current routine to Skratch Labs. That would be interesting. I can post back with results when I do.

I'm curious to know what you put in your homebrews. I've seen recipes, both online and in training books, but I've never tried it myself. Any recommendations?

I would also be interested in hearing some home brew recipes.

I have been using Osmo for the last few months in training and 1 race (sprint du). I would agree that it seems similar to skratch which I was using previously. So far, I have no complaints with performance but I will get a better read on things once I move outside. I have used it on several harder runs and rides and it sat well in my stomach so I am hopeful that things won't change once I increase duration of my workouts.

I do need to say that I am not a huge fan of the mango flavor. It is ok when working out but drinking it pre-race for hydration is not one of my favorite things to do.

I've been using Osmo for about a year and a half and love it. It's very light tasting and hasn't caused me any cramps during training and racing. I throw the Recovery in my post workout smoothie and it tastes great. I'm a big fan of the research behind it and have found their customer service and website to be top notch. I've emailed them questions about nutrition and hydration strategies and they always email back promptly and answer my questions in full.
I haven't tried the Skratch Labs line, so I can't compare it to that. I have used Hammer, PowerBar, Gatorade and Powerade and it's a thousand times better than any of that sugary stuff.

I've been using Osmo for over a year with great results.
I , do, however use the "men's " flavor as I find the women's version quite nasty. Even better ? Adding a shot of lemon to the mix !
So, that gender differential means little to me as a female.

 I used Osmos for a while, but I did not notice a big difference between that and my Skractch Lab products. I went back to Skratch because flavor was awful.

Sorry, been kind of busy. So keeping in mind that everyone has different electrolyte needs, here are two "recipes" I use.

#1
16 oz water
16 oz grape juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp "nu-salt" (potassium chloride salt substitute--you can find it in the grocery store)

provides roughly 80 calories per 8 oz; I haven't used this in really hot weather/long rides because I'm not sure how the grape juice would hold up

#2
1 packet Emergenc raspberry flavor (or the cheaper drug store variant)
1 or more Hammer e-caps broken open and mixed in
add to one bottle water

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Works great!