An Upbeat New Year's Day Breakfast ! (review)

I decided to get my 2015 eating off to a good start by trying a bottle of Upbeat, described as "the UK’s first seriously tasty, fresh high protein dairy drinks, from The Good Whey Co", for breakfast. It is proving very popular with fitness and health conscious consumers, including celebrities and famous sports people, so I had no doubts about its health credentials, but I was slightly dubious about how nice it would taste.

I received some vouchers to try it out and headed off to the supermarket to investigate. It comes in three flavours - Mango & Passion Fruit, Strawberry or Blueberry & Raspberry - but the only flavour that we could find was Blueberry & Raspberry. It was actually quite hard to track down - it wasn't in the chiller aisle with the other milk/yogurt drinks/smoothies, which was the first place I looked. I eventually found it right at the front of the shop with the sandwiches and "to go" salads and snacks. (They are stocked at selected Tesco Extras and Superstores, Holland and Barrett, Ocado, little Waitrose and WHSmith Travel stores, as well as online at Tesco or Ocado.)

I poured the contents of the little 250ml bottle into a glass and was impressed with the colour and consistency - it's creamy but not overly thick. Tastewise, it's actually lovely - sweet and fruity with a less noticeable dairy taste than similar Actimel type drinks. I think it was the word "whey" that put me off slightly to begin with  - apart from bodybuilders and Little Miss Muffett sitting on her tuffet, I don't know many people who regularly eat/drink whey-based products - but now that I've tried it and seen how delicious it is, I'll definitely be investigating whey-products further. Whey is a high quality protein that’s found naturally in milk and which contains all 9 essential amino acids that your body cannot make so must come from the diet.

Protein is a core part of a balanced diet, yet it is often neglected. A bottle of Upbeat contains 20g of protein, as much as a chicken breast or four eggs. The recommended daily intake of protein for adults is 0.83g per kg of body weight but our bodies are only able to absorb about 30g of protein at any one time, so it’s best to distribute your daily protein intake across the day. Keeping bottles of Upbeat in the fridge at home or work to drink during the day is a simple way of achieving this. That's not it's only good point though - it is free from artificial colours and flavours, contains half the sugar found in most fruit juices and smoothies, is made from fresh British milk so it is also a good source of calcium and it contains under 150 calories, so it is a great healthy boost, as well as tasting delicious.

Pierre asked for a taste and he loved it too and, as you can see in the background of my shots, it certainly perked him up and left him feeling Upbeat !

They are quite expensive - it would be good to see a multi-pack or bigger bottle available rather than just the single serve 250ml bottles - but I'll be enjoying these when I need a boost or I want a fruity treat that isn't packed with calories or sugar.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP :£1.79 for a 250ml bottle

for more information : http://www.feelingupbeat.com/

Disclosure : I received the product in order to write an honest review.