Lightning Rods Energy Beef Sticks

Lightning Rods™ - the original high energy beef sticks with an energy boost in every bite™, providing 5+ Hours of Sustained Energy!.... SYNERGY™ of Energy Enhanced ingredients! Let the energy evolution begin!

Lightning Rods are the perfect blend of energy enhancement in a delicious beef snack stick. In your pocket, sports bag or maybe knapsack, it is a readily handy boost! They are Meat Stix Gone Wild™ and you’ll love the taste while enjoying the results!
(http://www.powerhungryfoods.com/index.html)

Being a person who is on a strict Atkins type diet and caffeine dependant I was definitely interested in trying this meat product that fits in my diet.

Before indulging in the mystery meat stick I examined the package to check out the nutrition facts, but was disappointed to see it was not available directly on the package. Unless you are buying a whole box of meat sticks instead of just grabbing one as an impulse item at some convenience store, you might be inconvenienced to have to go online to look up the nutrition facts. I am aware the package is quite small and there are other meat sticks on the market that don’t list the nutrition facts right on the package, but I was hoping this one would be different especially since they are trying to sell them as an energy/nutritious snack to replace an energy drink. They do list the ingredients on the package though.

Ingredients: Beef, Brown Sugar, Salt, Dextrose, Guarana, Flavorings, Spices, Panax Ginseng, Corn Syrup, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Sodium Nitrite

I was happy to see that there was no Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) or Hydrolyzing Soy or Corn Protein on the list. I have mixed feelings about MSG being in my food so I try to not purposely ingest it.

The web site did make it simple to locate the nutrition facts.

The nutrition facts looked about as I expected. I was a little disappointed to see that there was 3 grams of sugar per stick for such a small stick. I personally am not a fan of sweet meat but being that there is caffeine in the beef sticks, there has to be some sort of sweetener to cut the bitterness of caffeine.

They use Guarana to deliver the caffeine content. Each stick provides 60 mg of caffeine. Not bad for a small 1 oz meat stick.

After inconveniently taking the extra time to look up the nutrition facts on the beef sticks I decided I’d give one a try.

The sticks have a nice smoky smell which I hoped the flavor was just as good.
I bit into the stick and immediately noticed the quite sweet flavor of the stick. Not something I would choose for myself, but for those of you who like teriyaki-like sweetness to your meat you might like them. The flavor is not bad at all; pretty tasty. The texture felt a bit more processed like hotdog meat than traditional beef stick texture. There was a small aftertaste but nothing too repulsive.

Now, for the “5 hour energy” aspect of the product I’m not quite sure; but and I might never know. My daily caffeine intake is quite often well over 400 mg a day. So 60mg of caffeine will hardly be notice in my system. But for those of you who are not caffeine junkies you might find a stimulating effect from these little things. 60 mg of caffeine is the equivalent of one shot of espresso. One might want to eat a couple of these things to get a good kick from the caffeine.

All in all the Lightning Rods™ might be a great alternative snack for athletes who want a little pick-me-up but don’t want to have a belly full of sugary energy slurry.

For more information, visit www.jerky.com

To Order the Lightning Rods, visit http://www.jerky.com/product/CCR113/Buffalo_Bills_-_Lightning_Rods.html