Sponsored Post: Koge Vitamins

The following post was sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Koge Vitamins.  I received the product reviewed at no cost to myself in exchange for writing a post about it, as well as some social media content.  I was not asked to give a positive review, and all opinions and experiences are my own.

Introduction

I’m one of those people who knows that they need certain nutrients to stay healthy, but also knows that he’s not getting them from food alone.  I take a multivitamin, but I’m always struggling to find the right one that fits my profile (active adult male) and doesn’t give me heartburn.  Add to the fact that I train for triathlons (i.e. juggling 3 endurance sports plus cross-training) and chase a toddler and preschooler around during my time off work, and both kids don’t ever sleep through the night and you’ve got someone who could use a little extra energy to get through the day.

Koge Vitamins (a Canadian company) started with a two-fold purpose: find a better way to manufacture and distribute vitamins, as well as a better way to get nutrition to malnourished children.  Last things first: a percentage of every Koge vitamin sale is donated to provide African children under the age of 5 with vitamins to help them fight malnutrition.  I had a chance to try their Energy Pack.

The Energy Pack was developed to support increased mental and physical exertion across all activities.  Each does is a little package with four pills in it:

• Korean Ginseng
• Guarana
• Ayur Indian Ginseng
• Coenzyme Q-10 with L-Taurine

That last one gave me pause, as I was a little wary of Taurine.  Koge says:

“Taurine is known for lowering cholesterol and repairing the body against natural external damage. It also assists with heart health and infertility.”

Still, I know Taurine is in energy drinks that have been getting a lot of bad press lately.  Here’s a quote from an article named: “The Dangers of Taurine in Sports Drinks“.

“Taurine is a free form amino acid contained in foods and manufactured in the body from the amino acid cysteine. It was first discovered in the bile of bulls, and now produced synthetically by the truckload. Since taurine is created naturally in the human body, a good diet supplies all you need.

Studies have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease. For these reasons it’s been banned in some Scandinavian countries after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. Because taurine is utilized by the body during exercise and in times of stress, it’s become a popular ingredient in energy drinks. But taurine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system that’s very unnatural.“

I figured I could simply throw the Taurine pill in the garbage if I could identify it; the website even has little pictures to show you each pill.  If I could find this pill:

in this pack:

I’d be fine.  It seemed hard at the time, but when I look at the photo I took, it seems to almost definitely be the one on the left side.At the time though, I struggled with figuring it out.  In the end, knowing (according to the same article) the recommended daily dose was between 100-500 mg, and what’s in the Koge tablets represents 300 mg a day, I felt a little safer, in addition to the fact that the Taurine was more likely (given Koge’s reputation and methods) natural rather than synthetic.  Still, I would be getting Taurine from some of the foods I ate, without knowing how much, so at times I was hesitant to take both daily doses.

Summary of Experience

The tub has a clean elegant design, and the recommended dose is to take two 4-tablet packets daily.  The packets have all the tablets in them for a half-dose; my only complaint is that I couldn’t get them open without scissors.

I took the Koge Vitamin Energy Pack after an Overseas Family Trip to Germany, and I kept a daily journal of the experience.  I was using the tablets to get over jet-lag, get back into triathlon training, get caught up at work after my absence, and just generally keep up with my kids.

If you want the short version of my experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack, I can say that I definitely experienced heightened levels of energy and alertness, without it feeling unnatural or like a ‘high’ nor making me as edgy and irritable as caffeine does, and I say that with a deep abiding love for caffeine.  Point in fact, I found myself drinking less coffee and seeking caffeine less altogether.  I did not take the full dose every day, and more commonly a half day.  I found physical tasks like workouts easier if I performed them within a few hours of taking the pills.  When I forgot to take them, I did feel sluggish, even if I had a decent night’s sleep (my sleep is interrupted by my kids, there was no effect on my sleeping patterns from the pills that I could notice).

Here is the blow-by-blow of my daily experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack:

Daily Diary

DAY 18: I woke up at 5:30 to get ready and go to the Muskoka 5150 Triathlon.  I didn’t take any pills with them to the cottage, so I’m without them when I might need them the most.  In addition to an exhausting race, I had an afternoon of playing with the kids on the beach, on the deck, in the cottage to wear me out.  I found a spare dose in my toiletries bag that I could have taken the next day.