Lately, I’ve felt that I’m burning the candle at both ends. I get to work in early in the morning and stay in the office until after midnight at least a few days a week. On days that I leave the office early, I have a nightcap with friends and colleagues at a local bar. But the lifestyle is wearing on me. So I decided to supplement my sluggishness in the morning with a nutrient-rich concoction called Rich Recovery.
It’s essentially a 3 oz bottle filled with nootropics, vitamins, and anti-oxidants to increase mental performance, physical recovery, and your sense of well being.
The Rich Recovery team is gearing up for an Indiegogo campaign but I was lucky enough to obtain a sample pack. I couldn’t find much literature on it but after researching the ingredients, I was willing to be one of their lab rats. I figured if I increased my output after only sleeping a few hours a night and/or having a few beers, we’d have a winner on our hands. Here are the ingredients that sold me on it:
Citocholine + Alpha GPC
Citocholine is an offshoot of a nutrient called choline. It’s found in every cell in the body, and a precursor to the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, which plays a vital role in the development of memory formation and other cognitive processes. Alpha GPC is another building block of choline, though it worksa little differently. They both end up boosting choline thus improving memory and cognition. Go to any nootropic community online and you will find that they are both highly rated, and the core of many ‘stacks.’
L-Theanine
L-Theanine is an amino acid commonly found n tea. It is supposed to increase alpha brain waves and create a state of relaxed alertness. It’s known to reduce anxiety and have a synergistic effect with caffeine in which it takes the edge off but still gives you the energy you need
Eleuthero Root
A small species of shrub found in parts of Asia and Russia. Eleuthero has been a staple in Chinese Medicine for over a thousand years and has been known to boost your immune system by increasing blood circulation and reducing inflammation. It improves the respiratory system by clearing out phlegm and helps regulate blood sugar levels, making it harder for people with diabetes to go into anaphylactic shock.
It has many more ingredients all of which are natural and are available to view here. It’s essentially a 3 oz bottle filled with nootropics, vitamins, and anti-oxidants to increase mental performance, physical recovery, and your sense of well being.
I felt like the most scientific way to test the effects of Rich Recovery was to increase my consumption of alcohol.
Who’s Rich Recovery For?
Rich Recovery says that their beverage is for the athlete, the business person, and anyone who’s celebrated a little too hard at night (read; drunk). I still like to keep in shape by swimming and using gymnastic rings but I’m certainly no athlete. I’m a young professional and I take my job seriously, but I felt like the most scientific way to test the effects of Rich Recovery was to increase my consumption of alcohol. For the record, I don’t acknowledge anyone else ‘test’ the effects this way. I thought if the ingredients were up to snuff I would be OK, and if they weren’t then I would have made a horrible mistake and called it quits.
What Did I Learn?
Coincidently, over the past two weeks there happened to be a lot of events where drinking was not only acceptable but encouraged. I went to a concert headlined by one of my favorite bands, a cookout, a wedding, an office party, a friend’s birthday party, two Friday nights out with my friends, a Saturday night out with my friends, and an evening alone house sitting with puppy and Barry Manilow—that was a fun night.
It’s safe to say I had anywhere from 3 to 7 drinks at these junctures. Each morning after drinking, I’d wake up sluggish, groggy, and sometimes had a headache. But after a glass of water and bottle of Rich Recovery, I’d feel my headache disappear and I could breathe easier. There were even a couple mornings I even felt good enough to swim. On the days that I took it when I didn’t drink the night before, I felt cognitively alert but physically at ease. Most importantly, I didn’t feel that wall that I usually hit around 2:30 PM and could skip my routine cup of coffee.
On the days that I took it when I didn’t drink the night before, I felt cognitively alert but physically at ease.
At first, the taste took me by surprise. It was was fairly tangy tasting with a hint of mango. By the end of the two weeks, I was guzzling them like a newborn downs his mother’s milk.
Rich Recovery’s ingredients were definitely up to par and it will be replacing Pedialyte as my go-to hangover drink. If you’re looking for something to help give you that extra boost to accomplish more the next day after a night of drinking, Rich Recovery is a good place to start.
