There are so many nutrition products out there to choose from nowadays - gels, bars, chews, sweets - and everybody has their preference. And there are certain compromises to be made too. For every runner who can neck sweet gels all day long there’s another who will be in the bushes after two. Likewise there’s real food I like to eat when I run but it’s not very practical to carry enough of it to see me through a long run. And sometimes when we find something that does work for us, it’s not always as healthy as we might ideally like.
Probably the biggest compromise we all make with nutrition is taste. Even when we’ve found something that works for us in terms of stomach tolerance, ease of carrying and amount of energy it delivers, it might not be very tasty. And while it may just seem like nutrition is a practical thing, if you’re not enjoying eating it chances are you won’t take on enough, especially in the latter stages of a run.
We were sent a new product by Veloforte to try out. There are few products which tick the healthy, tasty, portable and good balance of nutrients boxes but we think this is one.
Veloforte is real food, a 100% natural mix of carbs, essential protein and fibre. There are 3 flavours: Classico, a mix of citrus fruits, nuts and spices; Ciocco, which is made up of dates, almonds and cocoa; and Di Bosco, which consists of berries, pistachios and almonds. They are all very tasty, chewy but not too chewy and they have approx 45g of carbohydrate per 70g serving.
We tried the mixed bites bag, which had bite-sized chunks of each flavour in it. This is a great option as on a long run you can keep varying flavours, though I kept going back in for the fruity Classico again and again. Veloforte also do bars of these flavours, which you can buy as packs of one flavour or mixed packs.
Veloforte tastes like real food, somewhere between the consistency of a brownie and a Cliff Bar. It’s really easy to eat on the run, it’s incredibly tasty and it isn’t full of nasties. We think that it’s a really fantastic addition to the nutrition market, ticking all the boxes.
As the name suggests these bars have their origins in cycling. These cyclists know a thing or two about nutrition. After all, on a Sunday who is sat outside a cafe nursing an artisan coffee and cake, while we runners run past with our hand in a freezer bag full of jelly babies?
