A week or so ago I received a lovely email from a lovely man named Jonathan who works for a company called Energy Bits. He offered to send me a package of goodies for me to sample.

You know who loves a sample?

This girl.

But…apprehension soon set in. I don’t take supplements. In perfect honesty, I don’t really believe in them (other than protein powder, and I’m neurotic about it being perfectly natural). I think anything my body needs can be readily gleaned from this good earth and I focus on doing so.

So you can only imagine the sigh of relief I heaved upon opening my package and spying this.

It’s not a supplement. It’s algae.

Don’t be grossed out.

Okay, you’re entitled to a smidgen of disgust. It’s certainly not a food I go searching for, considering I’d have to find a nearby pond to go stick a straw in.

But having an open mind was part of the deal.

I received a sample of Energy Bits (there are also Skinny Bits, Vitality Bits, and Recovery Bits) and here’s what the package promised…

Want more energy, more mental vitality, or a healthy high protein snack you can grab on the go? How about a quick way to boost your athletic performance, supercharge your run or crank up your endurance while working or working out? If so, ENERGYbits® are for you. Made from 100% organicallly grown spirulina algae and loaded with 40 nutrients, ENERGYbits® algae tabs have the highest concentration of protein in the world (64%) all for just one calorie per tab. Endorsed by the United Nations as the most nutritious food on earth, spirulina algae has been a favorite of Olympic gold medalists for decades and is a super food in every sense of the word, delivering instant and enduring energy to your brain and body.

I know you’ve all long-since tired of me lamenting my sheer exhaustion here (feel free to disagree ) and in light of that, I won’t pretend I wasn’t intrigued.

One calorie? Energy? Protein? Plant-based?

It had to be tried. So I did as any girl would. I ripped open the package, dumped out the pills, and swiftly began counting out the recommended 30-bit dosage.

For a girl who takes no supplements and fears even opening a bottle of aspirin, grasping 30 pills in the palm of my hand seemed a bit mental.

But down the hatchet they went (quickly! the package is not kidding when it cites an acquired taste) and I set off in search of workout clothes.

Perhaps I forgot it was August and that running outside around 1 pm meant suffering under oppressive heat… but there was no turning back and my run began.

I did my best to be objective…to really judge whether or not I felt different.

But then I found a running groove and didn’t look down again until 2.88 miles had passed.

Wait…

That has never (not even once) happened. So I began evaluating once more, my legs felt a bit lighter than usual and my IT bands, generally sources of great anguish, were surprisingly loose.

The feeling it best likens to is the moment right after an exhausting workout when you replenish with a green smoothie or other dense vehicle of nutrients and you can feel it coursing through your veins.

I’ve used the pills several times since then. Sometimes before workouts, sometimes just before those 12 hour workdays I so adore and while my world hasn’t been turned upside down, I have to admit I feel they help.

My only warning is this…taking them on an empty stomach first thing in the morning is perhaps not the best idea. It’s a lot of nutrients to take in very quickly and can lead to a bit of cramping if you aren’t careful.

Other than that, all I can say is the health benefits of algae are absolutely undeniable. I’ve researched it through this company and since hearing of them on my own and even if these had no visible effect on my energy, they’d still be well worth the kick of nutrients.

If you want more information, find their webpage here. If you’ve got any hankering for a question–do ask!