See Sam Run --> See Matt Dance

Some of you may have already seen this, but I just discovered it and thought it was pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy!



Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

You can learn more about fellow Seattleite Matt Harding by clicking here. And let me know if any of you brilliant phix phans come up with any fun phix related ideas that we could use to help spread the word. Thanks and Be Well. -Will

See Sam Run!!!

So if you were feeling at all low on energy, the following post will make you feel downright sloth-like.

phix’s own Sam Thompson is running across the state of Colorado this week. That’s right, from Denver to Durango, more or less, in a little over a week as he attempts to set a new speed record for the 484-mile long Colorado Trail.

Did I mention that most of the trail is above 10,000 feet? And the highest point is over 13,000 feet? And that most people take six weeks to hike the whole thing!?!

Not your ordinary summer vacation, but Sam’s not your ordinary ultra-running guy: He once ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. He amuses the rest of the phix team by going out for 3-hour runs in the morning, and then coming back to go for a run with one of us.

Sam just started yesterday, and so far the fun stuff he's encountered includes extreme heat, thunderstorms and hail! You can follow along day by day here at Sam’s website.

We're so proud of Sam, and we know that he's going to put phix to a pretty special test, since he's only sleeping about 3 hours at night at this point.

Run, Sam, run!

p.s. Think Sam's crazy? Check out the life accomplishments of Suprabha Beckhord, the only person to finish every edition of the Self-Transcendence 3100-mile race-- which is competed on a 1/2 mile track.

What's the worst ingredient in energy drinks?

Let's start with artificial sweeteners. There is a long history of health controversies related to artificial sweeteners, although with the exception of cyclamates they are all still approved by the FDA.

But if you read the National Cancer Institute's position on artificial sweeteners, you could summarize it like this: Almost every artificial sweetener out there is really, really bad for rats. But we haven't proven that it's bad for humans yet, so what the heck, pour it in.

I stopped consuming artificial sweeteners after reading an amazing article in The New Yorker magazine (summarized here). Unfortunately the full text of the article is not available online, but the author interviewed a chemist who invented one of the main artificial sweeteners. The author asked the chemist if he ever consumed the stuff, and the guy's response was like, "No way! Are you kidding me? Once you know what it's made of you'd never eat it!"

Fun fact: Did you know Donald Rumsfeld (yes, that Donald Rumsfeld) was the CEO of GD Searle Company when the company got NutraSweet approved by the FDA? Now that's scary.

Aside from being made of nasty chemicals, artificial sweeteners have been conclusively proven to make people crave more sugar and gain weight.

So get off the pink packets. And the yellow ones and the blue ones, too. Remember: Friends don't let friends drink artificial sweeteners.

Here's a nice summary of literature on artificial sweeteners.

Go Team USA!!!

Phix shares the love with the US Olympic Women's Water Polo team!

This past Thursday evening, the US Olympic Women's Water Polo team played the Australian Olympic team in an exhibition tune-up match at Stanford University. As if that's not exciting enough, phix was a sponsor of the event and we were on site doing sampling with the huge adoring crowd!

This was the best attended women's water polo event ever on record with nearly 3,000 screaming fans there to support the team! It was an incredible match, and these two teams have quite a history built up. After a showdown for the gold medal match in the 2000 Syndey Olympics with Australia edging the US, they have had a healthy and exciting rivalry since. After a hard-fought battle by both teams, team USA came through big and brought home victory with a very close 7-5 win.

Phix was honored to be a part of such a special event, and we'll definitely be pulling for Team USA in Beijing in just a few weeks! The crowd and team were both very supportive of phix as well, and we had a great evening of sampling. All were really excited to learn about all the benefits of phix and the delicious healthy energy it provides!

Go Team USA!!!