The Best Hydration Cocktail from Purus Labs!

Our favorite peak hydration stack includes Everyday Amino, NOXygen Pre Workout, D-Pol & Blue Spirulina, and is a tried and true supplement stack from our resident expert-at-hot-weather-survival & #Team Purus athlete, Bill Urquhart.

(Preface - I hate pre-workouts, period.) I’ve seen a ton of Special Operations guys end up becoming heat casualties because the preworkouts they were using literally helped cook them. People become dependent on them and the high levels of caffeine and other stimulants in them as well. That is why I had other nitric oxide in the cocktail originally. After being sent Noxygen Preworkout to beta test, I ran it through its paces with what was in it and how it matched up with what I needed in the cocktail. Since most of the “perking up” effect comes from the faster hydration over stimulants, I was intrigued and used it to replace the plain nitric oxide in the cocktail during the heat waves in SoCal. It worked even better. Having the additional sodium in it really helped as well replace electrolytes from heavy activity. By itself it doesn’t have enough sodium, but in combination with Everyday Amino and D-Pol they together fill that need.

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BCAAs are extremely well documented as having many positive effects. The reason I picked this as the base for the cocktail was the issues of the heat casualties that I was seeing so much at Ft. Bragg among elite SOF personnel. We discovered that most cases were due to hypoglycemia since guys weren’t eating breakfast regularly or snacking during intense long physical events like rucking. Once their bodies ran out of free glucose to feed their brains, the body started gluconeogenesis and since that is an exothermic process during an already intense activity level in 100% humidity/95 degree weather, people could basically start cooking really quick. By providing an easily absorbable and clean BCAA source, I found that it was allowing the muscles to feed on the amino acids and spare the glucose for the brain function. In addition the BCAAs were helping to stave off fatigue on their own. 

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It is no surprise that testosterone is one of the most important hormones for the protection of joints, muscles, and overall immunity, so having something that helps with that had to be included in the cocktail. Yes the nitrates help with the toleration of prolonged functionality, but that was only a portion of the reasoning. Military operations are incredibly harsh on the joints, so having increased testosterone production especially since the average age of Army SF is 35 was critical. The Vitamin B complex was another major factor because we independently promote use of Vitamin B complexes in SOF because it reduces adrenal fatigue that occurs from our terrible sleep schedules and crazy operational tempo. That reduces cortisol production and thus helps reduce injuries. Vitamin D has been proven to be linked to immunity and even reducing inflammation (the most severe covid patients were Vitamin D deficient). Over the course of multi hour high stress work, that would help keep people healthy. Since Vitamin D also increases levels of Ca and Mg, it does help with muscle function especially under such intensity.   

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Toxins accumulate in all tissues during stress and inhibit performance. The most common is lactic acid, and that definitely reduces muscle performance. This helps eliminate such products as well as being source of high levels of antioxidants to deal with free radicals. The blue form of spirulina has all the vitamins needed except D which is already covered in the D-Pol. Since it contains unsaturated fatty acids, it can also deal with inflammation both during and after the exercise while increasing energy levels. A side note is that it binds toxins including heavy metals such as lead. SOF personnel are always exposed to lead and have to have our lead levels tested several times a year. Having lower lead levels just helps everything work long term, so even though it’s not the issue during the physical events I created this for, the repeated use of this in the cocktail helps us get healthier overall.

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I also consume Honey Stinger waffles during long military events and during all day shooting competitions. That’s a super clean and easy to absorb source of glucose.Combining this snack while sipping the cocktail before and during the activity makes massive differences in maintaining cognition and performance. 

*Remember that hydration is a 72 hour prior endeavor and the cocktail is a part of that and not a replacement.