MindBlowing Instant New Drinks From LuontoLife

I'm always interested about products that advertise themselves to give you energy and improve your health. Especially when the product doesn't have any artificial ingredients. I was very happy when I got a change to test out these natural new drinks that LuontoLife sent me for free. But what or who is LuontoLife, you might ask. Well, here's information that I got from their website.

LuontoLife's story started back in 2005 when a group of friends was looking for opportunities to make a meaning in the field of human peak performance while still having fun on the way. First they launched various nonprofit and for-profit projects until 2010 when one of the guys went to Shanghai to work in the World Expo 2010. At the same time he had the chance to deep dive into Chinese health food scene. Inspired by this nature-oriented lifestyle and his new local contact network in China, he gathered the old group together to create LuontoLife as it is now.

LuontoLife is a very international company and its headquater is in Hong Kong. They employ 9 people who all are originally from Finland, or from The Land of Thousands of Lakes as LuontoLife likes to call it. Even though most of the LuontoLife employees are currently living in different countries, they are all still very passionate about the clean Finnish nature. Currently LuontoLife sells two different instant caffeine-free drinks that are completely natural and without sugar and preservatives. These drinks are packed with natural superfoods and herbs. Drinks are called; Zest and Spark. They both can be mixed with hot or cold water, or any other beverage. You can also use the drink mixes in smoothies, cereals or even in oatmeal.

Zest is a perfect drink for people who want an extra boost of energy during the day, and better immunity against diseases. Its active ingredients are reishi-mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum), star anise, field mint and licorice.

Spark is drink for all the athletes. It helps to speed up the recovery time and gives long-term steady energy. Its active ingredients are cordyceps-mushrooms, star anise, field mint and licorice. Spark can be enjoyed either before or after exercising (or both).

The active ingredient in Zest is called Ganoderma Lucidum (Scientific name, i.e. Latin name). In China Ganoderma Lucidum is called Lingzhi, and in Japan it is called Reishi. In North America and Europe, Reishi is still quite unknown but it is extremely popular in Asia.

Reishi is one of the most scientifically researched medicinal plants and has a well-proven track record of its medicinal benefits.

In recent decades, a respectable number of academic works in Japan, China and the U.K. have documented reishi’s value in treating a wide variety of diseases, common ailments and conditions. The mushroom’s curative properties seem to act on many of the body’s organs and systems.
Perhaps reishi’s most important role is as a normalizing and balancing agent, helping the body adapt to varying conditions and stresses. For the reishi user, this can mean a healthier lifestyle, fewer visits to the doctor and greatly reduced expenses for medication.

My thoughts about Zest... It tastes a lot like chaga tea, which in my opinion isn't a bad taste. I also like the taste of licorice that Zest has (it is more intense than in Spark). I tried Zest with plain hot water, orange juice and even soda pop (coke and sprite). They all tasted just fine to me. Then I also mixed it in my banana-blueberry smoothie as well as in oat meal.
I gave some of the Zest packages to my friends, so they could also voice their opinion about it. Some of my friends said that Zest tastes very strong and it is not very good. One friend said that she can drink it warm if she mixes it with honey. So, the taste of Zest completely depends on your personal taste palette and the beverage that you mix it with.
How about the effects of Zest? Well, I didn't notice anything really different like a sudden extra wind of energy after drinking Zest. I drank 1-2 packets per day several days in row. I got few zits on my face during my Zest trial but I'm not sure if it was active ingredients of the Zest clearing out my skin or just a coincident. Even though I didn't see huge results right away, I can see myself drinking Zest in the future. I have to drink something to keep myself hydrated, so it might as well be something that is made out of 100% natural goodies from the nature.

There are 20 packets in one box for both Zest and Spark. The packets are easy to take with you anywhere. Only problem with the packets is that you rip them open from the middle. That can make a mess sometimes! It would be easier to open them from the end. But that's just a minor thing.

The active ingredient in Spark is cordyshep-mushroom which is a rare and exotic medicinal fungus, with a wide range of therapeutic uses in traditional Chinese medicine. It is found in the wild only high on the Himalayan Plateau – making it difficult to harvest and quite expensive. The medicinal value of cordyceps has been recognized in China and the Orient for more than 2,000 years.
Traditional Chinese medicine calls for cordyceps in treating many different ailments, including respiratory and pulmonary diseases, renal, liver and cardiovascular diseases, and hypo-sexuality. Cordyceps is believed by many to be a sovereign remedy for weakness and fatigue; it is often used as a general rejuvenator, to increase vital energy during recovery from serious illness.
Like most medicinal mushrooms, cordyceps is also believed to possess anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-cancer properties. It has seen increasing use in cancer treatments, as an adjunct to chemotherapy, radiation therapy etc.

My thoughts about Spark... It also tastes a lot like chaga tea. Spark taste is a bit stronger than Zest, so I didn't like to drink it with just water. It also doesn't have a strong licorice taste. I mixed it with juice, and I also made a smoothie with it. I like to enjoy a smoothie before working out because it is light enough that I don't feel too stuffed but it gives me enough energy for the workout. Especially when I mix it with milk, berries, bananas and some oat bran. I must say that Spark is a great add-on to my super healthy smoothies.
I'm not sure if Spark helped a ton for a post workout recovery but my muscles weren't as sore as usual. But then again I don't mind little soreness because I like to know that my muscles have had to do some work and thus be sore.

I noticed that Spark did something to my metabolism though. I took Spark before and after working out and in the evening I realized that I wasn't hungry at all, even though I hadn't eaten much that afternoon. Some how my appetite was curbed. Then next workout I took Spark once again before and after, and that day I was starving no matter what I ate. Very interesting! I think I want to test Spark even more.

LuontoLife has also a great blog where they write about healthy lifestyle, superfoods and better mindset towards health. One of my favorite post of theirs is about healthy lifestyle while traveling. I especially like the part where Tero Isokauppila shares his ideology about healthy lifestyle on the go: "I don’t think we should aim to always live a superbly healthy lifestyle every single moment of our lives. Such behavior would amount to having an obsession. Maybe we could just try to choose the healthiest choice, which is easily available. If no biodynamic mango is available, maybe we can buy an ordinary mango and not act like a martyr. Excess stress and worry about always having high-quality food can be bad, but eating a Big Mac is not so good either. Just try to choose the healthiest choice on the menu and try to maintain even a slight level of physical activity". That is so smartly said. I wish everybody would realize that healthy lifestyle is actually fairly easy. If you want to read the whole post, go here.

For the end I would say that Zest and Spark really spark up your kitchen (*giggle*). No, seriously, besides their cute packaging I think that Zest and Spark really pack a punch. I believe in mushrooms and their good qualities because their active ingredients are proven to improve human health remarkably. People have been using reishi- and cordyceps-mushrooms for ages, but LuontoLife was the first one to make them easy to use for us lazy people. Thank you LuontoLife!

Have A Healthy Wednesday Everyone!!