Everything is A-OK

Everything is A-OK

Launched in 2008, AOk Drinks is the UK’s only antioxidant drink made with red grapes, cherries, aloe vera and ginger. Mr. Stuart Roberts, Founder, tells EatSleepDrink about how his background as a trained nutritionist has helped to shape the growth of this innovative drinks producer.

Mile High, as it was formerly known, flew off the shelves in 30 Waitrose stores when it was first launched in September 2008. Following on from this initial success, this wonderfully refreshing natural juice drink has achieved nationwide distribution via a listing with www.ocado.com and is now sold in over 100 Waitrose stores across England and Wales. In 2009, AOk drinks also secured a listing with specialist health food and drink distributor Tree of Life, which further boosted the brand’s presence in all good health stores nationwide.

Towering above the competition

“Due to my background as a nutritionist, I thought it would be a great idea to develop a drink full of antioxidants that offered a great taste as well,” Stuart begins by explaining. “The drink itself was very much a product of my experience in the industry. As a consequence, AOk was borne out of many years of research and the need to create a drink, which genuinely helps to improve energy and reduce the harmful effects of free radicals on the body”.

Indeed, research published in 2003 in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry revealed that the optimum daily intake of antioxidants is between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) units, as Stuart continues. “In this test, we scored 3,600 ORAC units per 250 millilitre, which is a result of our powerful combination of multiple antioxidant substances making AOk an exceptional antioxidant drink”.

When compared with the antioxidant strength of other juices in the same 250 millilitre bottles, it is little surprise that AOk has achieved such success in such a relatively short amount of time. Indeed, apple juice contains just 1,500 ORAC units, while orange and tomato juice – at 1,500 and 275 ORAC units respectively – do little to threaten the undoubted health benefits of AOk’s juice, as Stuart notes. “Drinking a 250 millilitre bottle of our juice is a quick, easy and delicious way to ensure that you supplement your daily antioxidant needs. At only 145 calories, AOk is also one of your ‘five a day’ and contains the recommended levels of daily antioxidants as well.

“In a nutshell, in health and well-being, combinations will always have a stronger effect than individual actions or substances. We see this in nutrition where vitamins and minerals never work effectively in the body in isolation but always together. When a person is treated in nutritional medicine it is achieved using the synergistic effect of changes in lifestyle and diet along with combinations of supplements,” he confirms. “We believe that this synergy concept does not just apply to the AOk drink but to all areas of health and well-being. For instance, by combining small regular exercise sessions with small, gradual changes in diet you can achieve amazing results without having to have major upheavals in your everyday life and routine”.

The benefit of branding

Being an expert in nutrition, Stuart applied his experience when he formulated AOk and the resulting combination of different antioxidants makes the company’s juice one of the most potent and effective antioxidant drinks on the market. Furthermore, AOk also contains naturally occuring melatonin, which has been scientifically linked to reducing the symptoms of jet leg. Indeed, one of the main reasons behind the development of AOk was due to Stuart and Co-Founder, Mr. Richard Hammond’s joint interest in flying. “I believed that I could apply my health and fitness expertise to creating a drink that would improve general well-being for all lifestyles and life stages – from pregnancy to ageing, to recovering from a stressful journey”, Stuart describes.

Richard’s direct experience of 15 years in the aviation industry presented the company with the perfect opportunity to put Mile High – as it was then known – through its paces. “When Richard trialled Mile High with his cabin crew colleagues we received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Although the drink was launched as Mile High in 2008, we decided to re-brand it 2010 following consumer feedback that the name was limiting its potential acceptance as a mainstream, everyday, lifestyle drink. The fact that just one small bottle provides the recommended daily amount of antioxidants is a huge attraction to the growing number of health-conscious consumers looking to have the autonomy to improve their health, maintain fitness levels, improve their general well-being or simply treat themselves to a great tasting drink after a long day at work”.

Designed for life

Designed to help consumers take control of their health and well-being, AOk Drinks have already proved a great success with shoppers up-and-down the UK. Indeed, drinking just one 250 millilitre bottle of AOk provides the recommended daily amount of antioxidants, which have a major impact on well-being and are vital in maintaining optimum health, helping to render free radicals that are harmless to the body, as Stuart tells us. “Free radicals are highly active and dangerous chemical groups that are unavoidable and, everyday, our bodies are exposed to vast numbers of them. Their destructive actions on the body are known as oxidation – hence the name antioxidant.

“These free radicals play a role in the development of many diseases as a result of the degeneration of body tissues, which also contributes to the ageing process,” he explains. “Some examples of more commonly known diseases that free radicals contribute to include cardiovascular disease, cataracts, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and strokes. Fortunately, nature has equipped our bodies with special antioxidant substances that are produced to neutralise the harmful effects of free radicals. These, in conjunction with antioxidant substances obtained from a healthy, fresh food diet containing plenty of multi-coloured vegetables and fruits, helps to mitigate the damage caused by free radicals”.

As well as combating these free radicals, a bottle of AOk will also do wonders for stress and exhaustion, as Stuart continues by affirming. “When we’re stressed we often ignore our diet, cut back on exercise and feel exhausted. We all encounter inevitable stresses in our lives, so giving ourselves the best-possible support through exercise and a well-balanced whole-food diet is essential in helping us to cope with unavoidable stressful situations”.

Drinking to the future

Having achieved so much success during some of the toughest business conditions in living memory, the company is understandably keen to maintain its considerable momentum, as Stuart is unsurprisingly quick to point out. “We’re all working hard to build the AOk brand and launch it into a wide variety of outlets within the health, fitness, travel and general grocery sectors. A huge part of our philosophy is to educate and inform people about the small steps they can take each day to live a healthier, more active lifestyle. One of our core aims is to increase antioxidant awareness, as well as provide a thirst-quenching, original and innovative juice drink that is packaged with natural goodness.

“We’re also working on a variety of other pack formats and further recipe extensions,” he states. “Ultimately, there are no quick-fixes to health and nutrition. However, there are small steps that we can take that add up to massive changes in how we look and feel, such as drinking our juice! Rest assured, everything that we do will maintain the same brand credentials and, most importantly, the health emphasis that is integral to AOk Drinks. We have a great team of people working at the company and we’re always looking to get the feedback of consumers to improve our recipe. In my mind, of all the things I do, hearing positive feedback from the consumer is what makes everything worthwhile. In 2012, I would very much like to expand the availability of AOk into more stores around the UK – we’re thrilled to be in Waitrose and Ocado, but there are many more outlets, including hotels, restaurants and cafés that we think the drink would be perfect in.

“Over the next five years, we are looking to consolidate our market position and expand our range of juices in order to really capitalise on the demand for our juice,” Stuart concludes. “Ultimately, it is our aim to be synonymous with the antioxidant drinks market – not only is AOk made with complete integrity, it is convenient, nutritionally-sound and great value. Particularly with the forthcoming Olympics in the UK, we feel there is a great opportunity for us to push the recovery-value of AOk in the sports market. Many people don’t realise that strenuous exercise creates a huge amount of free radicals because of the oxygen it requires – AOk is therefore the perfect drink to aid recovery as it helps to replace vital antioxidants!”

Already available in 102 Waitrose stores, online via www.ocado.com andwww.victoriahealth.com, AOk is also sold and stocked in all good health food and independent stores in England and Wales. Given the reaction of consumers and, indeed, the growing demand for the company’s juice across the UK, we are expecting the future to be even brighter and healthier for AOk Drinks.

Visit: www.aokdrinks.com for more information on antioxidants and how AOk can help you lead a healthier lifestyle!

Will traffic pollution affect my marathon training?

Q&A: Will traffic pollution affect my marathon training?

Totallyliving.co.uk Wednesday, 18 January 2012 3:35 PM

Does traffic pollution affect your training? We asked the experts for some advice!

Q: I’m training for the London Marathon and while I’m getting to grips with the gruelling training schedule, I’m worried about my running route. Most evenings, I jog beside the main road in my area – mainly because it is the most brightly light – but I’m concerned about all the traffic fumes from the cars. Is the city pollution going to hinder my training? Clara, London.


A: I am continually amazed by the amount of people you see jogging or cycling alongside some of the busiest roads in their neighbourhood, blissfully unaware that by exercising so near to concentrated environmental pollution they are doing themselves more harm than good.

Many of them have never given it a second thought. They are quite happy to go for their run or bike ride with no regard to the damage they are doing to themselves. If someone suggested that you take part in a fitness class in a busy bus station with the diesel engines pumping out sooty, black exhaust fumes you would probably think they were mad. Yet, by running, cycling or doing energetic exercise of any kind near heavy pollution on busy roads you are effectively doing the same thing.

Any benefit from the aerobic exercise is more than cancelled out by the carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates in vehicle exhaust fumes that they are sucking into their systems. Worse still, this is more damaging than walking in a polluted area. If you are doing aerobic exercise you are taking in between 10 and 20 times more oxygen than you would when walking. Consequently you are breathing in equally large amounts of toxic rubbish that will be fed to every cell of your body via the blood.

If you continue to exercise in this environment week after week you are slowly poisoning yourself and you cannot possibly expect to reach optimal levels of health and wellbeing. Let’s take carbon monoxide as an example. It is odourless, tasteless and invisible to your bodily defences. The hemoglobin that transports oxygen in your blood will combine with it more readily than oxygen. When it does so it forms a poison called carboxyhemoglobin that it delivers to every cell of your body.
Obviously you are receiving a tiny fraction of the amounts that could immediately kill someone, but this man-made poisonous soup builds up in your system over time and increases what is known as your ‘toxic load’; the amount of toxic substances that you have within the your body - both inside and outside of the cells. We all have a toxic load, it is something you start to acquire even before you are born and is unavoidable in the modern world. You may not notice anything immediately but the damage is being done as these substances work undetected to disrupt bodily functions and health. Eventually this damage manifests itself in symptoms of ill health and disease.

An early sign of this is the development of hay fever or asthma, both which derive from under-functioning immune systems and are markers of systemic degeneration in the body. This can be as a result of diet, but it also has a lot to do with environmental pollutants. Incidents of these disorders are almost at epidemic levels, especially in towns and cities where pollution is at its worst and it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. So, it is up to you to protect yourself against all the negative effects of pollution as best you can without giving up on your exercise regime.

We live in a polluted world and it is practically impossible to find a totally pollution free place, but you can greatly limit your direct exposure with just a little thought.
If you live in a city or town where pollution is higher you need to try to find a place away from busy roads or industrial centres. If this is not practical for you then you can still minimise your exposure by exercising very early in the morning before traffic has built up. Make sure that if you regularly exercise in a gym that it is not near direct sources of pollutions such as busy roads or building sites. If it is and there is no air conditioning then the windows will inevitably open and all those noxious gases will pour in.

There are also steps you can take using nutrition to help combat the effects of pollution when exercising. Oxidation is the main form of damage to the body by air pollution. Therefore, making sure that you receive optimum amounts of antioxidants via the diet and additional supplementation should provide a good degree of protection. Eating fresh organic vegetables and fruit will provide many of the antioxidant substances required. You can also supplement but bear in mind that antioxidants work in synergy (together) and taking one on its own without others to support its function is a waste of time. An example of this is vitamin E that helps protect the walls of your cells from free radical damage. However, it needs vitamin C to help deal with further toxic products produced by the antioxidant actions of vitamin E and to regenerate it.

You should therefore always take antioxidants in combination. I created AOk to provide the right synergistic mix of antioxidants. Consumed on a daily basis, it contains the daily recommended amount of antioxidants and just 145 calories. 

- Stuart Roberts, Nutritionist and founder of AOk Drinks.

Hip and Healthy - AOk competition

SUPERFOOD OF THE SEASON: CHERRIES

WHY ARE CHERRIES GOOD FOR US? 
There are two types of cherries, sweet and sour and it is the sour ones are actually lower in calories with only 58 calories in 100 grams versus 70 calories per 100 grams of sweet cherries. But other than just being low in calories, cherries have fantastic nutritional benefits too. They are high in Vitamin A & C, melatonin (great for helping with sleep) and are a good source of manganese. Cherries are also a rich source of flavanoids (like berries) that give fruit its deep red colour, which means the deeper the colour the more healthy the cherry! These flavanoids exert a number of beneficial effects including helping to reduce inflammation.

WHY AOK? 

Many people will think that cherries are just a summer fruit, and although they certainly do grow better in warmer climates hence why they are more readily available during the summer months, AOk’s (previously Mile High) grape and cherry drinks ensure that we get our antioxidant dose year-round. AOk is a deliciously fruity combination of red grapes, cherries, aloe vera and ginger. Created by nutritionist Stuart Roberts just one 250ml bottle will ensure you receive your daily recommended requirement of antioxidants, one of your five a day and a good dosage of Vitamin C, all for just 145 calories.

FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN 12 BOTTLES OF AOK JUST SEND YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO info@hipandhealthy.co.uk. Winner will be  notified by February 11th 2012. Please put Cherry Comp in the subject box.

Antioxidant Winter Warmers: Cocktail Recipes

http://clairejustineoxox.blogspot.com/2012/01/antioxidant-packed-winter-drinks.html

Antioxidant-Packed Winter Drinks Recipes...

 

AOk Winter Warmer Recipe:
Ingredients

One 250ml bottle of AOk per person
Clementines cut into slices (2 slices per drink)
Cinnamon stick

Method 
Gently warm the AOk juice in a saucepan, with slices of Clementine and a cinnamon stick, but do not allow it to reach boiling point.
Serve in a tall glass with a slice of Clementine on the side for decoration.
 

AOk Alcohol-Free Cocktail Recipe:

Ingredients
2 x 250ml bottles of AOk
150ml fresh orange juice
75ml fresh lime juice
Mint leaves to garnish

Method
Mix all of the ingredients together in a jug and add ice cubes if desired.

 Festive AOk Cocktail Recipe:

Ingredients
150ml Amaretto
3 or 4 x 250ml of AOk juice depending on personal taste
Handful of cranberries
Method

Put the Amaretto, AOk juice, cranberries and ice cubes into a jug and stir well. Serve immediately.

AOk Winter Fizz Recipe:

Ingredients
One chilled 250ml bottle of AOk will make five glasses of AOk Winter Fizz
1 tsp campari per glass
1 chilled bottle of Cava / Prosecco / Champagne

Method
Pour 50ml of AOk into a Champagne glass.
Add 1 tsp campari.
Top with sparkling wine. Serve immediately.

Credits :AOk Drinks
 

AOk - Health

AOk >>United Kingdom>>Health

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/06fa89ed#/06fa89ed/6

AOk is a red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink that was created by Stuart Roberts, a nutritionist and personal trainer, to provide an optimal synergy of antioxidants.

One 250ml bottle provides the entire daily recommended amount of antioxidants (3,600 ORAC units - 3,000-5,000 ORAC units recommended daily) and just 145kcal. It retails for £1.69 and is available at Waitrose, at Waitrose.com and Ocado.com. 

The company is based in Kent (UK) but the drink sells nationwide. The company's biggest sales are in the south east of England (London, Kent, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex) and the company has noticed a peak of sales at breakfast, lunch and post-work times. 

Each ingredient has been carefully chosen to ensure that there is a synergistic mix of multiple antioxidants.

Laboratory industry standard tests have shown AOk to be an exceptional antioxidant drink.

www.aokdrinks.com

Get AOk healthy before Christmas

Get AOk Healthy before Christmas

http://www.eatsleepdrinkmagazine.com/issues/current

Kent, UK

As we enter the traditional cold and flu season, Stuart Roberts, MD at AOk Drinks (www.aokdrinks.com), questions why we all assume that we will inevitably catch a bug, and suggests a new approach to combating seasonal aches and pains to help us survive festive indulgences.

"We live in an 'I want it yesterday' society. We demand convenience when it comes to our lifestyle, which also transcends into our appraoch to food, drink, health and nutrition. If we get a bout of flu, many of us accept this as part and parcel of the winter season, and take some medication to make us feel better as soon as possible," says Mr. Roberts. "There are no quick-fixes to health and nutrition, however, there are small steps that we can take that add up to massive changes in how we look and feel."

AOk is a red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink, with a hint of vanilla. One 250ml bottle of AOk provides your daily recommendation of antioxidants (nutritionists recommend 3,000 to 5,000 per day and AOk contains 3,600) and just 145 calories. Created in 2008 to provide a synergistic combination of antioxidant packed ingredients, AOk is designed to meet consumer demands for healthy convenience and gives a tasty alternative to mainstream flavours and offers an original flavour. 

Visit www.aokdrinks.com

AOk now smoother with vanilla

AOk now smoother and with vanilla

AOk is now a ‘smoother drink with a note of vanilla’. It’s a red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink that was created to provide an optimal synergy of antioxidants. One 250ml bottle provides the entire daily recommended amount of antioxidants. It retails for £1.69.

Drink Station reviews AOk Drinks

Chris Maclean at the Drink Station blog reviews our exceptional antioxidant drink with an incredibly positive verdict. To read the full article please click here.

"The result of the founders' research was a drink formula combining different, complimentary active ingredients, thereby producing a potent antioxidant mix."

"Aromatic on the nose, with a sweet, earthy (like ginseng) and berried quality. There are various notes of gingercake, liquorice, menthol, molasses....quite complex."

"There's a lot going on here on the nose and palate, although considering the prominence given to cherries and cherry juice on the label, it's distinct flavour is well integrated and hard to isolate beyond the tart effect it produces on the finish."

"The dark, rich and sweet flavours should appeal to fans of blueberries, ginseng and Concord or black grape juice."

"Quite apart from that the drink's powerful antioxidant content is delivered in a compact and handy size."

Congratulations to you all

Congratulations to all those hardy souls who ran The Beast race on the 27th Feb. AOk supplied the antioxidant drink for the goody bags to help recovery and reduce aching muscles and joints and judging by pictures of the event there must have been plenty of those. Click on the logo on the homepage or link to www.purepersonaltraining.com to see the photos and event information.

AOK sponsor The Beast

AOK are sponsoring the extreme cross country race known as The Beast.  The race takes place on Sunday 27th and is over 5 miles with the option of going round again!  The unique thing about The Beast is that it is run over an equestrian course, so runners have to negotiate water jumps and everything else that the horses do, with a couple of freezing cold ponds and plenty of extra mud thrown in for good measure.  Each runner gets a goody bag which will include a bottle of AOK to help them recover.  We would like to wish all the competitors the best of luck for the race.  Go to www.purepersonaltraining.co.uk for full details.

A Juice a Day - Bodyfit

From the February issue of Bodyfit magazine.

A Juice a Day

"A juice a day" on the notice board comes from the February issue of Delicious magazine.

Antioxidant Booster - Bodyfit

"Antioxidant Booster"  from the February issue of Bodyfit magazine

Madhouse Family Reviews !: AOk Red Grape & Cherry Juice

Last year, I reviewed (here) a fabulously tasty and healthy antioxidant-packed drink called Mile High Aviation Juice. Well, since then, it has undergone a transformation and has a new name and a new image. Say bye bye to Mile High (and my juvenile sniggering !), time to welcome in AOK.

Gizzi's Kitsch-en - Company Mag

"Gizzi's Kitsch-en" is from the January issue of company magazine.

Ocardo Life Jan 2011

New Year, new you

Welcome to our Health & Wellbeing issue, designed to help you get on track for those New Year's resolutions!

We've got healthy recipes and comfort food recipes; our Free From section is filled with ideas for food allergy sufferers; and finally, we'll be revealing our brand new Pet Corner on 26th January. Check back soon!

Tim and Jason, Ocado Co-Founders

Out in the City

Everythings A ok with AOk

Natural Products magazine

Noah's Health Food Store hits 40

Congratulations to Noah's Health Food Store on hitting 40 this year. The store celebrated its 40th anniversary in fitting style, with 40 days of events, including a film screening, tasting sessions (with Clif Bar & Co, Eskimo-3, Nature's Plus and AOk Drinks supplying the sustenance), talks and a cookery demo...

Sleeping Solutions

Feature published in Ipswich 24 magazine and online at http://www.ipswich24.co.uk in November 2010

Sleeping Solutions

Comparing notes, over our morning coffee, on how much sleep we’ve had is starting to rival the weather as our most widely debated subject. AOk Drinks’ (www.aokdrinks.com) nutritionist and MD, Stuart Roberts, says: “Sleep, or lack of it, is one of the most common health complaints today. Research shows that only one in 10 say we always sleep well; one in five suffer from problems sleeping and two thirds say we get less sleep now than we used to – by around 90 minutes”.

AOk Drinks’ (www.aokdrinks.com) 10 top tips to help you get that all important rest:

1. Consume melatonin-rich food and drinks such as AOk red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink, a banana or even a turkey sandwich 1-2 hours before bed.

2. Unplug electrical items in the bedroom including the alarm clock (most mobile phones can work as an alarm clock even when switched off) – especially if you’re aiming for a lie-in.

3. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time most nights to help programme your body into a set sleeping routine.

4. Don’t fight the urge to go to bed in the evenings.

5. Make your bedroom as restful and peaceful as possible. It shouldn’t be too hot or too cold.

6. Exercise more.

7. Reduce the amount of caffeine you are consuming, particularly during the evening, cutting it out altogether if possible.

8. Take some ‘me-time’ before bed. Read, meditate, or sit quietly and write a diary.

9. Avoid nightcaps in an aim to help you ‘drop off’ more easily. Alcohol can help you to fall asleep but most people find that they wake up during the night because the body is processing the toxins and they need eliminating (i.e. another toilet trip!).

10. Avoid eating a heavy meal close to bedtime.

AOk was originally created and launched as Mile High in September 2008. Formulated by naturopathic nutritionist, Stuart Roberts, the ingredients were specifically chosen to relieve the symptoms associated with long haul flights such as feeling tired and jaded. Due to retail and consumer demand, Mile High was rebranded in August 2010 as AOk to become an everyday exceptional antioxidant drink. Each 250ml bottle contains the daily recommended amount of antioxidants (3,600 ORAC units - nutritionists recommend 3,000-5,000 per day). Recent research has linked the melatonin content of cherries with being a natural sleep aid. This is explored in the news release.

Re-branding strategies help juice producers during recession

Extract from a feature published in Juice Market, November 2010, Issue 64, November 2010

Re-branding strategies help juice producers during recession

Global juice markets struggle to maintain innovation levels but industry remains creative.

Juice is struggling to accomplish its previously strong annual growth figures according to most market research commentators. Indeed, industry insiders would confirm the sorry statistics through their own personal experiences. It has been an incredibly arduous three years for juice suppliers and producers. The recession is the biggest culprit, putting significant pressure on retailer and manufacturer margins, reducing new product development (NPD), marketing and advertising budgets, and threatening relationships with consumers. The horrendous harvests of vital crops, such as oranges in Florida during the summer (2010), have also made a massive dent in the market’s vivacity.

Some smaller brands, which are typically susceptible to margin cuts and rising raw material costs, have chosen to re-brand to revive sales, appeal to new markets and achieve better stand-out. This can be a risky strategy during a time when consumers are cutting back, but Clare Pughe, sales manager at AOk Drinks (www.aokdrinks.com) explains: “During a recession, the important thing for a brand is to increase sales through creating demand. We tend to do this through sampling and tasting sessions and with in- store promotions”.

AOk Drinks invested in a total re-branding strategy in 2010 and changed its name from the previously niche, flight-oriented Mile High Drinks, to focus on its value for money health proposition: one 250ml bottle of the red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink fulfils the daily recommended requirement of antioxidants. Since the re-brand, sales have reportedly doubled (August and September 2010).

AOk Drinks’ guide to getting a better night’s sleep this winter

AOk Drinks’ guide to getting a better night’s sleep this winter

The clocks go back this weekend – try to grab your extra in bed!

Comparing notes, over our morning coffee, on how much sleep we had is starting to rival the weather as our most widely debated subject these days. Sleep spas are popping up across the country and sales of light-therapy lamps (also known as dawn simulators) are on the up (1). We’re doing our best to get a good night’s sleep but it doesn’t seem to be working too well!

As a nation, we’re becoming obsessed by how much – or how little – sleep we’re getting. With the clocks going back this weekend (2am GMT October 31^st 2010), there’s a rare chance for us to get an extra hour in bed…AOk Drinks’ nutritionist and MD, Stuart Roberts, guides you through the facts, the importance of sleep for our health and wellbeing and offers 10 top tips to help you get that all important rest.

Have you suffered from three or more of the following symptoms in an average day during the past month?

• Irritability
• Inability to cope with stressful or challenging situations
• Feeling exhausted all the time with a desire to ‘do nothing’
• Problems communicating with people
• Memory loss
• Lack of concentration
• Change in appetite and eating habits

If so, you’re one of the thousands of people in the UK suffering from sleep deprivation, and you probably won’t be surprised to hear it. We’ve all experienced problems sleeping from time to time.

Who is hit the hardest by sleep deprivation?

AOk Drinks’ Stuart Roberts says: “Sleep, or lack of it, is one of the most common health complaints today. Research shows that only one in 10 say we always sleep well; one in five suffer from problems sleeping and two thirds say we get less sleep now than we used to – by around 90 minutes”.

At a time when many of us are trying to cling on to our jobs, sleep could be threatening our chances of avoiding redundancy. A recent BUPA study found that almost one quarter of UK workers with sleep problems admitted their productivity is low. Job satisfaction is 23% lower among people with sleep issues too (2).

Being overweight or obese can also contribute to sleep problems. In the UK around 43% of men and 33% of women are overweight, and a further 22% of men and 23% of women fall into the obese category.

How much sleep do we really need?

“It is more about the quality rather than the quality of sleep you are getting on a regular basis,”says Stuart Roberts, MD at AOk Drinks. “Our body does most of its repair work when we are in a deep sleep, so it is advisable to be in bed before this starts in earnest – at around 10pm. (3)

“Different people need different amounts of sleep, for example babies need a lot more than young adults, and women need more when they’re pregnant.”

For anyone who is pregnant, this will sound ironic! Pregnant women, who often experience difficulty sleeping (due to leg cramps, being unable to sleep in their usual position etc), are more likely to suffer insomnia due to their pregnancy. Yet, a US study has recently found that pregnant women who got less than six hours of nightly sleep during early pregnancy had higher blood pressure readings in their last trimester compared to those who slept nine hours nightly. Women who got less than five hours of sleep increased their odds of pre-eclampsia more than nine fold (4).

Do we need to change our sleep patterns in the winter?

“In the winter sleep should become more important. Going back to evolution, we’re programmed to sleep when it is dark. The evenings start earlier and it takes longer to brighten up in the morning. Ideally, we’d sleep slightly longer during the winter, but our sleep patterns usually remain the same – we have the same work and family life commitments in the winter as we do in the summer.  It is even worse for those working nightshifts. However, daybreak lamps, watching your weight and controlling your eating and drinking habits can all help you to get a longer night’s sleep in the winter. It’s worth taking advantage of opportunities to get an early night or a lie-in, when it is still dark outside. No one wants to jump out of a warm bed and into the cold, dark and rain outside to go to work, but there are steps you can take to improve the experience,” says Stuart Roberts.

Cherry juice could be the secret ingredient for good night’s sleep

Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food in July 2010.

A US team of researchers conducted a pilot study on the sleep habits of 15 older adults (5). The adults drank eight ounces of tart cherry juice beverage in the morning and evening for two weeks, and a comparable matched juice drink, with no tart cherry juice, for another two-week period. There were significant reductions in reported insomnia severity and the adults saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep, on average, when drinking cherry juice daily, compared to when they were drinking the juice drink.

The researchers believe tart cherries' natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin - a natural antioxidant in cherries with established ability to help moderate the body's sleep-wake cycle. Produced naturally by the body in small amounts, melatonin plays a role in inducing sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day.

10 top tips to a healthier night’s sleep

Stuart Roberts advises:

1. Consume melatonin-rich food and drinks such as AOk red grape, cherry, aloe vera and ginger drink, a banana or even a turkey sandwich before bed (but avoid drinking or eating at least two hours before you go to sleep, as it can put additional strain on your digestive system and result in some unplanned trips to the bathroom).
2. Unplug electrical items in the bedroom including the alarm clock (most mobile phones can work as an alarm clock even when switched off) – especially if you’re aiming for a lie-in.
3. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time most nights to help programme your body into a set sleeping routine.
4. Don’t fight the urge to go to bed in the evenings – if you need an early night, and you can, then please go for it!
5. Make your bedroom as restful and peaceful as possible. It shouldn’t be too hot or too cold.
6. Exercise more. Regular, moderate exercise can help to relieve the day’s stresses, which in turn can help you to stop worrying about things before bed. It also tires you out more so you are ready for sleep! Avoid exercising just before bed though, as it will make you more awake.
7. Reduce the amount of caffeine you are consuming, particularly during the evening, cutting it out altogether if possible.
8. Take some ‘me-time’ before bed. Read, meditate, or sit quietly and write a diary.
9. Avoid nightcaps in an aim to help you ‘drop off’ more easily. Alcohol can help you to fall asleep but most people find that they wake up during the night because the body is processing the toxins and they need eliminating (i.e. another toilet trip!).
10. Avoid eating a heavy meal close to bedtime.

Notes to editors

About AOk Drinks

Samples of AOk Drinks, goody bags, competition prizes (including ‘Win a free nutrition consultation with naturopathic nutritionist Stuart Roberts’), images, interviews, further information and much more are available now from helen@aokdrinks.com for members of the media.

Re-launched in August 2010 (previously known as Mile High Drinks and originally introduced in September 2008), AOk is available at selected Waitrose stores nationwide (/antioxidants/file/stores.php) and via Ocado.com.

AOk is endorsed by celebrity doctor Christian Jessen:  “It’s great taken on a daily basis as well as when you feel you need an extra something as at only 145 calories and with no hidden nasties it really is something you can add to a healthy eating and exercise plan.”

Just one 250ml bottle of AOk provides:

• Your daily recommended requirement of antioxidants including melatonin, which can help promote sleep
• One of your ‘five a day’
• Only 145 calories

AOk is a deliciously fruity combination of red grapes, cherries, aloe vera and ginger. AOk has been created by nutritionist Stuart Roberts to provide a convenient way of getting your optimal daily antioxidant requirements from just one bottle; no matter how busy your life is.

Each ingredient has been carefully chosen to ensure that there is a synergistic mix of multiple antioxidants. This makes AOk an extremely potent antioxidant drink, which can be enjoyed as part of a healthy active lifestyle. Laboratory industry standard tests have shown AOk to be an exceptional antioxidant drink.

1. Sales of light-therapy lamps are on the rise. John Lewis reported a 63% increase in sales of the devices in 2008 versus the previous year.

Light lamps help regulate sleep patterns and so relieve depressive symptoms. They deliver safe but higher than normal levels of light which mimic natural light.

2. http://www.managers.org.uk/news/lack-sleep-negatively-impacting-job-productivity

3. Roberts explains why sleep is so important to our health and wellbeing:

“Sleep helps us repair the cells in our body. When we are in a deep sleep our use of energy is much lower; this energy conservation provides the opportunity to repair our bodies and recharge our batteries. Sleep also helps us form and retain our memories. It also, importantly, supports our immune system. A lack of sleep can make us more vulnerable to viruses, which are more prevalent during the winter season.”        

4. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_103942.html

5. Pigeon WR, Carr M, Gorman C, Perlis ML. Effects of tart cherry juice beverage on the sleep of older adults with insomnia: a pilot study. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2010;13:579-583.

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is an antioxidant that can be found in high quantities in cherries, particularly tart cherries. Other foods, including milk, bananas, peanuts, turkey, chicken and almonds contain tryptophan. Tryptophan increases the amount of serotonin produced in the brain. Serotonin can then be converted to melatonin.

Aaron Lerner, a dermatologist at the Yale University, discovered melatonin in 1958. Melatonin is naturally produced by the pineal gland located at the base of the brain. It activates feelings of drowsiness during the night. It has been found that the melatonin levels decrease with age. Stress can also cause a decrease in the levels of melatonin.

Superfruits - a passing fad or the next big thing for new product development

Extracts from a feature published in Issue 60, Page 9, July 2010 of the Juice Market

SUPERFRUITS – A PASSING FAD OR THE NEXT BIG THING FOR NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT?

Superfruits have the potential for significant value growth in line with greater consumer understanding of nutrition and demand for convenient healthy products that help us to meet our „five a day‟. Nutritionists advise that the best way of getting the benefits of superfruits - and other natural products - is to consume a wide and varied range. This knowledge combined with market availability of products such as soft drinks that combine the natural goodness of numerous fruits (including superfruits) will help to fuel sales of superfruits worldwide.

What makes superfruits so superb? According to Stuart Roberts, nutritionist and founder of AOk Drinks, made from red grapes, cherries, aloe vera and ginger: ―The term superfruit was first used in 2005 as a marketing term by the food and drink industry and is a reference to the exceptional nutritional and antioxidant qualities of certain fruits. Açaí, pomegranate and goji berries are all fruits that have been given the superfruit marketing treatment in recent years‖. AOk Drinks does not use the term superfruit in its labelling but it does refer to the exceptional antioxidant content of its drinks at 3,600 ORAC* units per 250ml. "Independent laboratory tests show that one bottle of AOk provides your daily recommended intake of antioxidants (3,000-5,000 ORAC units)," confirms Roberts.

There have been no positive outcomes for the many antioxidant-related claim submissions made to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to date. The problem, according to EFSA, is a lack of gold-standard scientific evidence to support such claims.

The introduction of regulations in Europe, and the consideration of nutrition labeling regulations in countries including the US, will have a huge impact on the potential growth of superfruits. Roberts believes that no one fruit can cover all of the bases when it comes to complete nutritional requirements, which is the primary hurdle to getting EFSA approval for antioxidant claims. The antioxidant benefits are most pronounced when sourced from a combination of antioxidant-rich, natural products. He says: "Açai is one of the top antioxidant fruits known with extremely high levels of polyphenols but in order to get the most effective antioxidant effect you must consume as many different types of antioxidants as possible. This means consuming a mix of different fruits instead of relying on any particular superfruit".

Roberts quotes research by Dr Russel Reiter and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio, which revealed that tart cherries are the only known fruit to contain melatonin in beneficial quantities. Roberts says: "This is one of the most efficient and versatile antioxidants known and is twice as effective as vitamin E and five times as efficient as glutathione. This demonstrates that many fruits have unique properties of their own and although many fruits are individually outstanding in their health benefits including antioxidant potency and vitamin content it is far better to eat a varied combination".

Mile High Drinks to celebrate World Vegan Day

Mile High Drinks will be honouring World Vegan Day on November 1st 2009 by offering free samples to all journalists and holding a competition throughout November to win a month’s supply of Mile High. The British company will hold the competition from 1st – 30th November 2009.

Mile High Drinks awarded finalist position

Exceptional antioxidant drink is a finalist in 'Best New Functional Drink' category.

Mile High partners with Conde Nast Traveller magazine

Condé Nast Traveller Magazine
Mile High has developed an exclusive limited edition bottle in association with Condé Nast Traveller magazine.