Scivation Xtend Free Review – Stevia’s Gettin There!

Mike gives his review of the all natural Scivation Xtend Free that has no artificial colors or sweeteners.

A while back we covered Scivation’s brand new all-natural version of their extremely popular BCAA product, Xtend Free, and more recently, a new BCAA weight loss study published in part by Scivation.

Following the original post, Scivation was kind enough to send over a care package that contained a tub of each of the new flavors: Crisp Apple and Mixed Berry.

There’s hardly any options as far as naturally sweetened BCAA products available, but there’s clearly interest in it as more and more users are seeking them out on our Best BCAA Supplement buyer’s guide. Having spent the past few weeks putting Xtend Free through various taste tests, workouts, water ratios, and even temperatures, we’ve got our full review!

Before we give our feedback, make sure to check the best deal below and sign up for PricePlow alerts on all Scivation products:

Ultimately, it comes down to setting expectations and understanding the right demographic. The fact is that BCAAs taste (and smell) notoriously awful. Sucralose (ie the stuff in Splenda) is the secret weapon in sweetening BCAAs, but if an all-natural product can’t use it, what’s to be done?

The answer is that stevia is getting there, but it’s not there for the general consumer/bro out there who’s used to sucralose and doesn’t care about artificial sweeteners.

The good news is that for the first time ever, we finally have an acceptable BCAA powder option for anti-artificial sweetener consumers.

Mike’s Review

Profile

Xtend Free still contains the same great mix of ingredients to fuel your intense workouts, now it’s just free of artificial substances!

There’s not much to say about the profile outside of what we covered in the original blog post. Xtend Free has the exact same BCAA / electrolyte content as the original Xtend, except there’s no artificial colors or sweeteners in it. You still get 7g of BCAAs in the clinically-backed 2:1:1 ratio along with glutamine, citrulline malate and hydration agents.

The big selling point obviously is that there’s NO artificial colors, sucralose, or ace-K. Now, for some, this may entice them to buy the product, but I’m not put off enough by artificial sweeteners to buy a product simply based on the fact that it’s all-natural.

Still, the profile is essentially the same from the original Xtend, which is the important thing, so we’re off to a good start!

On to the review…

Let me just state right off the bat that this isn’t going to be as good as the regular Scivation Xtend. No way, no how. That stuff is loaded with sucralose and fake color.

I’ve had the “privilege” of trying other all-natural BCAAs, such as MRM’s from a few years ago. Oh my dear. It was literally undrinkable, even for the worst of the organic/vegan/vegetarian crowd who’s used to eating processed cardboard soy.

So I came in with what I’d call more realistic and more experienced expectations.

Getting into the right reviewer frame of mind: Mike gets pregnant

I didn’t drink these from the frame of mind where I’m some sucralose-loving bro just trying another supplement.

Instead, I drank it from the frame of mind of someone who’s sick of all this artificial nonsense, and refuses to have any more sucralose than necessary.

I considered myself a pregnant woman who doesn’t want to deliver Splenda and Blue #9000 or whatever to my child.

• Mixability: 10/10 with spoon!

  

  Stirred, not shaken. This is one scoop mixed berry stirred in 14oz water.

  Yes, it’s not good when shaken. Take a look at what happens when you stir it with a spoon: It’s perfect!

  Now here’s the truth. I still shake it because I hate using more silverware than necessary and I’m lazy and I love shaking shaker cups. Mixability isn’t important to me.

  So if this is important to you, take it stirred, not shaken.

• Taste

  • Mixed Berry: 6/10

    This has honestly grown a lot on me. It’s not extremely strong like other Scivation products. But it’s more fun that drinking water, and it’s a zillion times better than the stuff I’ve tried before.

    Right now I’m liking 1 scoop per about 14-16oz of water.

    There’s clearly some tartness (from the malic acid?) but I enjoy it. Enough that I’m using it consistently.

    Blind test with m’lady

    So for the real test with someone in the target demographic, I gave it to my lady and told her, “This is stevia-based and has no artificial colors/flavors. Try a sip.”

    She closed her eyes, drank it, and said while nodding, “Acceptable.”

    See, to her, that’s worth the taste sacrifice. Women even moreso than men are tiring of the endless colors and sweeteners. This is literally the first solution that’s even remotely acceptable, and it does a great job at that.

    In short, the pros are starting to outweigh the cons. Or at least, they’re coming close.

    But is it like Xtend Watermelon? Of course not.

  • Crisp Apple: 5/10

    

    Xtend Free has a fine powder that easily dissolved just like the original Xtend. Little do you realize a massive head of foam awaits…

    Somewhere along the line, I stopped liking green apple. Not sure why, maybe turning 30 did something to me.

    To me, this isn’t much worse than any other green apple. If you’re a green apple fan, then I would try this one, because it’s close enough to the sucralose stuff that you might as well go natural.

    Not that I hate it though. If I accidentally grab this tub instead of mixed berry, I use it and drink it and don’t really complain.

    So, if you’re not a green apple fan, then go with mixed berry. But green apple lovers might as well try it!

  On top of these two things, I must say that mixed berry smells awesome. BCAAs often stink up the pantry, but I love the smell of these!!

• Overall: Beats Capsules for the Natural Crowd

  If you don’t care about sucralose, then you don’t need to be here. I think we’ve made that clear.

  But if you’ve been taking costly BCAA capsules (or just nothing) because you hate all the artificial stuff, I’m here to tell you that Xtend Free is good enough that you have to give it a try.

  Scivation was the first company to make BCAAs taste good, and now they’re the first company to make stevia taste good for BCAAs. They’re only going to get better at this.

  If this is v1.0, this family line holds some promise as stevia continues to get refined and the bitter notes get cleaned out.

Closing notes

Below is an interesting video. This guy was in prison for 44 years, and when he got out, it was effectively as close as we’d ever get to seeing a time traveler (with the exception of meeting Ethan Hawke).

Now skip to the 4:30 mark where he’s in the grocery store. The man is now trying “all this crazy stuff they got”. He goes to point out all the colors we have now! The colors amaze him more than nearly anything!

You have to remember, all these artificial colors are new to humans. We really don’t have tons of actual long-term data on it because it’s that new, and it’s basically impossible to control for in a long-term study.

The same goes for sucralose. Sure, it’s safe in small doses, but what about the continually high doses everyone gets anymore? Who the hell knows what will happen when we’re 70 after 50 years of eating this stuff?

Because of those unanswered questions, many people are simply opting out. But certain things, like BCAAs, have always been impossible to mask… until now.

So if you’re one of those people who’s opted out of artificial coloring and sweetening, yet want some aminos for your muscles, Scivation finally has an option for you. But the red and blue bombsicle bro’s who don’t care should step aside.