Do you like it? What’s the point of a low-cal energy drink?
“Ultima Replenisher is a rehydration drink that contains no sugars, artificial sweeteners or artificial ingredients. It has only 10 calories per 8-12oz serving.”
I have in the past - it’s not too bad. I think the point of a low-calorie electrolyte replenishment drink is probably so that you can get your electrolytes without getting weighed down too much. Maybe best used for really super-hot, but still short, races. Or if you really prefer to get your calories from bars or gels. Or maybe if you’re trying to lose a little more weight? Keep replacing the electrolytes while not replacing any calories - good as an off-season drink, maybe. As for Ultima, it’s not too bad. I’ve only tried the Lemon-Lime (well, I had the Passion Berry once at a marathon–it was on the course–but it was mixed really badly, so I don’t really have a good idea of what it tastes like). It was a bit strong for me, and kinda’ tart, but it’s definitely better than some other things that are out there. I’ve started using Gatorade Endurance (I think that’s one of, if not the, best inventions in sports nutrition), but if I wanted a low-calorie drink, I’d definitely go for Ultima.
I use it exclusively – mainly for the taste. After 2-3 hrs, my body rejects sweets, and Ultima is pretty low on the sweet scale. If I’m doing a longer workout and need more calories, I just add Carbo Pro to it, which is tasteless and doesn’t affect the sweetness.
Thanks
• Jeff
like they said, “rehydration drink” versus energy drink. It’s pretty good stuff and a lot of people buy it for their kids in lieu of Gatorade or more sugary sports drinks. Granted for longer workouts you need to add some calories to the mix as in a gel, bar, or something but Ultima is a nice option to have. Flavors are all pretty good and very mellow. It is funny how small the containers are though, people are like $45 for this tiny thing??? And the new graphics on the packaging, man talk about boring!
I use Ultima and like that it’s not as sweet. Gatorade and others are way too sweet for me to handle. For longer rides I add some malto-dextrin, which adds some calories without making it too sweet. I guess Carbo Pro that someone else mentioned is probably maltodextrin. Favorite flavors are orange and wild raspberry. Lemon is to be avoided. I think the new strawberry-kiwi and passion fruit flavors are little weak tasting.
The electrolytes, especially sodium are pretty low. Might as well get Propel, which I think is pretty worthless. For my money, if I’m wanting low carb electrolytes, I’d use NUUN.
ULTIMA
13
0g
Complex Carbs
3g
100
10
37.5mg
75mg
12mg
34.5mg
No Gatorade 2 14g Simple Sugar 0g 0 50 110mg 30mg 0mg 0mg Flavors & Colors Vitamin Water “Balance” 1 13g Simple Sugar 0g 0 25 0mg 0mg 0mg 50mg No Emer’gen-“C” 6 6g Simple Sugar 0g 0 25 75mg 250mg 75mg 62.5mg No Propel 2 2g Simple Sugar 1g 0 10 35mg 40mg 0mg 0mg Sweetener Crystal Light “Orange” 0 0g N/A 0g 0 0 0mg 0mg 0mg 0mg Flavors, Colors, Sweeteners AminoVital 5 8g Simple Sugar 0g 0 30 10mg 50mg 0mg 55mg Sweetener Gatorade Endurance 5 14g Simple Sugar 1g 7 80 200mg 90mg 3mg 6mg Colors Gu20 3 2g Complex Carbs 11g 82 50 120mg 20mg 0mg 0mg No CytoMax 3 5.6g Simple Sugar 3.2g 28 50 40mg 75mg Trace Amounts Trace Amounts Sweetener & Flavors Clif Shot Electrolyte 5 10g 50/50 9.5g 49 80 200mg 50mg 12mg 11mg No Powerbar Endurance 4 9g Simple Sugar 8g 47 70 160mg 10mg 8mg 10mg No Pedialyte 3 5.9g Simple Sugar 0g 0 24 10.5mg 4.5mg 0mg 0mg Flavors, Colors, Sweeteners
I like to drink Ultima when I’m sitting at my desk or before bed in the evening when I’m not really keen on all the sugar. Heaven knows, I am hyper enough 
For some reason, I have a hard time drinking enough plain water to stay well hydrated.
Interesting, thanks all for the responses. The reason I ask is that it looks like that’s nearly all that’s on the course for my first marathon, and I’m struggling to see why.