Ultimate Orange Supplement Review

The Original Ultimate Orange Drink

What is the original Ultimate Orange Drink? Some might not be aware of the fact that it has been around since the early 80's (1982 to be exact), so it's been around for quite a long time. Back then, it was only really available "inside bodybuilding’s underground". By 2001, it had been discontinued, and it's not until 2006 that it was brought back to market by Next Proteins - maker of the popular Designer Whey Protein in what they call the "New Legal Formula".

Every scoop of this new "legal formula" contains 300mg of caffeine, which is equivalent of drink about 3 cups of coffee in one shot, and as the warning on the label says, "it should only be used by HEALTHY, serious, and hard training athletes." I think that first sentence on the warning label basically sums up Ultimate Orange. If you have any health conditions, or are sensitive to caffeine, I would not recommend trying Ultimate Orange. But if you're healthy and want something to really help you focus and generate intense workouts, give it a shot, you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you've used Ultimate orange, share your experience of it here.

Supplement Facts

Serving Size (level scoop) 1
Servings Per 15
Calories 110
Total Carbs (g) 15g
Sugars (g) 4
Proteins (g) 13
Ingredient Details:
Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid) 294mg - 490%
Vitamin E (as mixed tocopherols) 4.5IU - 15%
Niacin (as niacinimide) 23mg - 115%
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine hydrochloride) 2.9mg - 145%
Vitamin B12 (as cyanacobalamin) 582mcg - 9700%
Pantothentic Acid (as calcium pantothenate) 26mg - 260%
Calcium 40mg - 4%
Magnesium (as mg oxide and mg aspartate) 392mg - 98%
Chromium (as chromium aspartate) 240mcg - 200%

Proprietary blend 26,289mg
Xpress Whey (whey protein isolate, l-leucine, I-isoleucine, l-valine, l-arginine, betaine hydrochloride) 8,650mg
Quadrocarb (maltodextrin, sucrose, dextrose, fructose) 7,860mg
Focus-In (l-tyrosine, glucuronolactone, taurine, dmae, phosphatidyl choline, l-phenylalanine, vinpocetine) 5,170mg
Stimol (citrulline malate, l-citrulline) 3,000mg
Bio-Vite (magnesium oxide, ascorbic acid, magnesium aspartate, pantothenic acid, chromium aspartate, niacinimide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanacobalamin) 1,240mg
Epileine (caffeine (300mg), green tea extract, 9% epigallacatchin gallate) 369mg

A quick look at the ingredients - Ultimate Orange comes with a health dose of a handful of vitamins and minerals including: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium, and Chromium. Each serving also comes with a little over 8g of whey protein isolate, 8g of a carbohydrate mix (including maltodextrin and dextrose), focus-in blend, Epileine, and Stimol.

Everything else aside, the key ingredients here are: the focus-in, stimol, and epileine.

Focus-In - this is a combination of ingredients including l-tyrosine, glucuronolactone, taurine, dmae, phosphatidyl choline, l-phenylalanine, vinpocetine.

L-tyrosine - is a nonessential amino acid (protein building block) that the body synthesizes from phenylalanine. It's the precursor of several neurotransmitters, including L-dopa, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Tyrosine can help relief depression, and ease the effects of stress. Tyrosine is also important to the structure of almost all proteins in the body.

L-phenylalanine - is a building block for the various proteins that are produced in the body. L-phenylalanine can be converted to L-tyrosine and subsequently to L-dopa, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. It can also convert (through a separate pathway) to phenylethylamine, a substance that occurs naturally in the brain and can elevate mood.

Deanol acetamidobenzoate (DMAE) - is another name for DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol). It's mainly used to improve muscle reflexes, helps to treat attention deficit, and helps to improve memory. DMAE is also used in various diet pills and fat burners.

As the name suggests, the "Focus-In" blend helps you to maintain focus, and the ultimate orange formulation comes with a little over 5.1g of this stuff.

The other major key ingredient is "Stimol", which is citruline malate. Citruline malate is made up of the non-essential amino acid citrulline and malic acid. Various clinical studies have found citruline malate to increase aerobic energy out put during exercises1, and helps to reduce fatigue2. Below are some studies of Stimol:

Changes in muscle metabolism indicates that Stimol promotes aerobic energy production 1

Anti fatigue properties of Citrulline Malate in man 2

Epileine - this is a blend consisting mainly of caffeine (300mg) and green tea extract. 300mg of caffeine is no small amount of caffeine - it's equivalent to about 18oz of coffee. A cup of coffee is about 6 to 8 ounces (depending on how 'full' you fill your cup), so this is equivalent of drinking 2.5 to 3 cups of coffee in one shot. . Because of this, I wouldn't suggest using Ultimate Orange for extended periods of time, as this could lead to some type of dependency on the product. Of course, everyone's tolerance for caffeine is different, so it really depends on the individual. As well, if you have caffeine sensitivities, you should not use Ultimate Orange

Ultimate Orange Side Effects

Because it contains stimulants, some may experience varying degrees of side effects of Ultimate Orange. Some side effects may include:

increase in blood pressure
faster breathing and sweating
increased heart beat
jittery feeling
feeling nauseous, dizzy
excessive energy

The Ultimate Orange Experience

While the name makes it sound very "orangy", the drink itself didn't actually taste quite like orange, and it was a bit on the sour side. I can't say I enjoyed the taste all that much (I'm sure others will disagree) - overall, I'd give its taste a 7 out of 10. Ultimate Orange drink also has a bit of a bitter after taste that lingers for awhile after you finish. Maybe it's just me?

About 12-15 minutes after drinking it, i started feeling quite jittery (from the 300mg of caffeine I presume), and was feeling very antsy to get to the gym and work off that excessive energy / jittery feeling. I've take caffeine pills before, but I don't remember feeling this jittery. I noticed that I was also breathing a bit harder, and had a noticeably faster heart beat - this is all before I even hit the gym.

I timed my consumption of Ultimate Orange about 40 minutes before my workout - the label recommends drinking it 30 to 45 minutes prior to workout. I would NOT recommend taking Ultimate Orange if you had no plans for any physical activity: 1) it would just be a waste of a good thing, and 2) you'd have no outlet for the excess energy.

For me, I think the effects of Ultimate Orange peaked around 40 to 45 minutes after drinking it, and lasted throughout my entire workout. One of my all time favorite energy drinks is BSN's endorush, while the effects of Ultimate Orange didn't feel quite as "explosive" as endorush, it was a different type of energized feeling, which I'm not quite sure how to put down in words!

During my workout, I had intense focus and energy, and for all my exercises, I was able to easily perform 1 to 2 extra reps without much problem. What seemed most exceptional to me was the immense focus I had while I was in the gym, and on a side note, I didn't even yawn once while in the gym. This may seem rather insignificant to some, but I know inexplicable "yawning" is actually quite a common issue for many lifters. There are various reasons and explanations for it, but that's beyond the scope of this article. The bottom line is that I was extremely focused and I just have to reiterate this once more - I did not yawn even once! =)

Ultimate Orange also gave me a nice endurance boost. I was cranking through my workout with exceptional intensity - shorter rest, slightly heavier weights, and at the same time, doing slightly more reps per set.

I was breathing rather hard even long after my workout - presumably still from the effects of Ultimate Orange or the result of an extremely intense workout - or a little bit of both. Either way you look at it, Ultimate Orange is worth its weight in gold, and for those seeking a boost for their training sessions, Ultimate Orange will not disappoint.

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1. Br J Sports Med. 2002 Aug;36(4):282-9.
Citrulline/malate promotes aerobic energy production in human exercising muscle.
Bendahan D, Mattei JP, Ghattas B, Confort-Gouny S, Le Guern ME, Cozzone PJ.
Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, UMR CNRS 6612, Faculté de Médecine de la Timone, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France.

2 Arzneimittelforschung. 1991 Jun;41(6):660-3.
Activity of citrulline malate on acid-base balance and blood ammonia and amino acid levels. Study in the animal and in man.
Callis A, Magnan de Bornier B, Serrano JJ, Bellet H, Saumade R.
Department of Medical Biophysics, Institut de Biologie, Montpellier, France.

Sept. 2008