Enlyten Strips: The New Kid in the Supplements Game

As endurance athletes, we benefit from a huge amount of research and innovation. New gear, new clothes, new training regimens - new ways to improve performance are being released by universities and laboratories every day, and none more frequently than in the realms of hydration, sports nutrition, and supplements. Some of these "innovations" don't make it very far, either because they don't work very well under real-world conditions or because athletes simply don't like using them. There's a new kid in the supplements game - the Enlyten company in Amherst, New York has recently released Enlyten Electrolyte SportStrips, a new take on hydration and electrolyte loading during endurance exercise.

Nearly identical in appearance to the ubiquitous Listerine breath strips, Enlyten strips come in grape, orange, and vanilla berry flavors, and are intended to be dissolved on the tongue or (even better) between the cheek and gum. Enlyten claims that the SportStrips allow your body to absorb electrolytes directly into the bloodstream through "buccal absorption," or through the tissue of your mouth, rather than through the digestive system, as is the case with sports drinks and other oral supplements. Whether through this process or simply because the strips, when placed in your mouth, eventually find their way into your stomach, carrying with them their electrolytes to your stomach much as is the case with electrolyte pills and tablets, this delivery method seems sound.