There are countless sports drinks out there, but only one that has low sugar is made with natural coconut water and was the late basketball icon Kobe Bryant’s favorite. BodyArmor, like any other sports drink, helps your body stay hydrated even through a brutal session of reps and sets. When you exercise, you naturally lose a lot of sweat. Along with this sweat, you lose a lot of water and electrolytes. BodyArmor simply makes sure it’s all replenished.
In each bottle, you can find 10 percent coconut water—natural hydration for your body.
According to the company’s website, they use potassium as the main electrolyte, and not sodium like other sports drinks. Why is that? The reason is that Potassium prevents cramping and lowers blood pressure, unlike Sodium which increases blood pressure. That apart, BodyArmor is rich in a host of Vitamins including A, E, B6, B12, and C; Folic acid, and Zinc. It’s gluten-free and uses natural cane sugar and zero artificial flavors.
BodyArmor comes in 12 different flavors: Berry Lemonade, Blackout Berry, Blue Raspberry, Fruit Punch, Gold Berry, Mixed Berry, Orange Mango, Pineapple Coconut, Strawberry Banana, Strawberry Grape, Tropical Punch, and Watermelon Strawberry
To give you a better sense of how they taste, I wanted to try them all. So I went out and purchased the 12 flavors and did my own blind tasting.
I tried each flavor twice so I would have a better sense of how they compare to one another. A few stood out above the others. These are my seven favorites:
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7. Pineapple Coconut
What makes this drink great is that it hydrates way better than water and it has a ton of vitamins in it. The only issue I have with it is that it doesn’t taste like a pina colada—but that’s okay! I still enjoy the drink. The pineapple flavor isn’t bad either because it compliments the coconut flavor. It has a slightly tart taste to it which is perfect. This is a great-tasting drink that has a relatively low sugar content. I recommend this to anyone who wants to feel energized and hydrated.
6. Blackout Berry
I love this flavor. It’s got that perfect combination of sweetness and tartness, with a hint of the magical berry flavoring we’re all so crazy about. I was hoping that maybe it would be a little more affordable. I also wish that they would take out the sugar so there are no calories. I drink these mostly as a way to boost my vitamin and mineral intake and to help break the addiction to soft drinks.
5. Gold Berry
According to the ingredient list, the drink includes ‘Natural berry flavor’. It’s hard to put a finger on what kind of berry though. The taste is a little confusing, and what comes to mind are fruits such as raspberry, grape, and dragon fruit. It’s not one particular berry for sure, maybe a mix of all? The funny part is once you taste the drink, the big berry mystery becomes a little irrelevant. This is one of the gold flavors that BodyArmor has and is best consumed straight out of the fridge.
4. Tropical Punch
It tastes like tropical fruit cocktail juice, and it has a nice aftertaste. I personally think the tropical punch flavor is great when it’s warm, but loses its flavor when cold.
This drink is perfect if you’re breastfeeding: it’ll help you keep all the nutrients you need to make enough milk for your baby.
When I’m working hard and sweating, or when I’m out in the sun and dehydrated, or when I’m feeling just a little bit under the weather, this is a great way to rehydrate. It tastes great, it’s affordable, and it’s got electrolytes to help your body recover.
3. Orange Mango
If orange and mango were in a boxing ring, who would you root for? If you answered orange, then you can confidently pick up this flavor of BodyArmor, which surprisingly, has no taste of mango whatsoever. If you were to do a blind test, you would taste notes of orange, of course, and some grapefruit. The orange mango flavor gets full points for the fresh citrus smell, but when it comes to the actual taste, it definitely is not BodyArmor’s best one.
2. Fruit Punch
Fruit Punch is a commonly liked flavor. But before you start imagining that this sports drink is going to be like a chilled glass of Hawaiian punch that you had last Christmas, let’s warn you that there’s little comparison. Though the flavor is one of the more intense ones that Body Armor has ever brought out, it’s still a faint version of a normal fruit punch. You can taste a hint of mango and pineapple, among a blend of other fruit flavors. Buy it without being too fixated on what a fruit punch should taste like, and you’ll be good.
1. Strawberry Banana
Unlike their Peach Mango and Orange Mango flavors in which the taste of one particular fruit is very dominant, Body Armor’s strawberry banana succeeds in bringing about a sense of balance between the two fruits. The taste of banana and strawberry co-exist, with strawberry being more prominent at the start of the sip, and the taste of banana slipping in towards the end. This interplay between the two flavors makes the drink quite an exciting one. Also, this is one of the most flavorful products of Body Armor and has as refreshing a smell as the taste.
If you have read till this point, you are obviously aware that most Body Armor drinks have a subtle flavor. However, we have pointed out the more intense ones like the fruit punch and strawberry banana, and the simple yet refreshing ones such as watermelon. Whatever your choice, know that your body will thank you for it.
BodyArmor LYTE: What Tasted the Best to Me?
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for a new sports drink. Maybe it’s because I grew up in an era where everyone was always trying out the latest and greatest, or maybe it’s because I just like trying out new flavors (who doesn’t!?). Whatever the case, when BodyArmor announced its new LYTE line of drinks, I was intrigued. BodyArmor LYTE is being marketed as a healthy alternative to your usual sports drinks. The flavors were unique and more exciting than most of the others on the market.
It seems like low-calorie sports drinks are on every company’s mind nowadays, but most of them taste terrible. Some are so bad that they might even make you feel worse after drinking them.
BodyArmor LYTE has 9 different flavors including Berry Punch, Blueberry Pomegranate, Coconut, Kiwi Strawberry, Orange Clementine, Peach Mango, Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Coconut, and Watermelon.
When I had a chance to try BodyArmor’s new LYTE drink, I was excited to see if it could deliver the taste of a sports drink with few calories.
I tried all nine flavors of BodyArmor Lyte, and these were my favorites:
3. Watermelon
This is the most simple flavor of the lot. It tastes like fresh watermelon juice, a little watered down but quite delicious nevertheless. No different flavors are vying for the attention of your taste buds, it’s just one fruit that does the job, a good one at that. The taste is refreshing, especially when you have it cold. This is the perfect choice for those who like to up their workouts with a swig of a tropical drink.
2. Coconut
If you had followed the news at the start of the Covid lockdown, one of the products that were always out of stock in the supermarket isles was coconut water! It is refreshing, tasty, and good for hydration. While every bottle of BodyArmor has a little portion of coconut water in it, this is the only one that boasts a full-fledged coconut flavor. It does full justice to the taste of coconut water and is as good as the natural coconut water drinks that were so in demand during the lockdown.
1. Peach Mango
With Peach Mango, BodyArmor hit success in introducing another drink that tastes like natural fruit juice. This drink is a reminder of bright summer when the smell of peach itself hovers in the air. However, unlike biting into an overly sweet peach, what this tastes like is freshly squeezed peach juice mixed with water to balance out the sugar. If you noticed that we haven’t mentioned mango here till now, it’s on purpose. The taste of mango is almost negligible, and if it weren’t for the label, we wouldn’t notice it. However, that surprisingly doesn’t count as a negative in this drink, because the peachy flavor deserves a thumbs up.
To sum up..
In conclusion, I enjoyed BodyArmor for its taste and light coconut flavor. The flavors have a decent taste and the electrolyte replenishment is done with minimal chemical additives. I think these are good alternatives to major sports drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, and Vitamin Water. I was pleasantly surprised with this product and will definitely be buying more. I highly recommend it.
