FJ's Verdict:

.

Product Name: Phix Sleep Aid
Company: Phix
MSRP: $9.95 for box of 5 sticks
Availability: Low (Form What I Know… Website Only)

Ok, we all know that the energy drink market is over-crowded and ever-popular, so if you’re in the beverage business, what should you do? Innovate yet another high-caffeinated drink that out jitters and out races the previous ridiculous mixes? Or do you make something just tastes better and/or give it a different flavor?

The answer is NONE of those things. What you do is  move in the complete opposite direction and help people do something that might actually be better for their health – help them drift away to la la land. Enter Phix, the same folks that pleasantly brought you the ultra bland energy drink that didn’t really make you jump out of your seat. My hypothesis is this: since their energy product was too wimpy to keep me awake, maybe their sleep aid might work better.

Before examining this product, let’s take a look at the official description…

Product Claims:

Phix Sleep helps you let go of your daily stress and drift off to a sound and blissful sleep. With Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Gaba, Jujube Berry, Magnesium and Vitamin B6, you’ll wake up feeling great and ready to take on each and every day.*

Mix one serving with 6–8oz water approximately 30 to 60 minutes before you’re ready to go to sleep.

First Impressions:

Just like it’s energy cousin, the packaging has a sex appeal which is quite appealing for reasons apparently unknown. Maybe because it’s just so elegant and they seem to have that “hippie” approach that I talked about… whatever it is, if I saw this in stores or some shit, I’d def pick up a box to try. At $9.95 for 5 ($1.99/Serving) it’s not a big deal either.

Also like it’s energy cousins, you get these individually packed sticks which I’m extremely fond of. Some say it’s because I had a massive fascination of pixie sticks. While others think that convenience is my soft spot. Whatever the case may be, all I know is I love this concept. And the Stig (bonus points of you know what the hell I’m talking about).

Moving on.

Looking at the nutrition profile, we have 26 calories per serving along with 6.5g of carbs and 6.5g of sugar. I really don’t know WHERE the sugar in Phix products end up because they are all kinda… bland. No maybe bland is the wrong word, more like ridiculously mild.

So what exactly makes you “sleepy”? Here is the break down of their 2075mg Proprietary Phix Mix:

Jujube Berry – Also known as the red date or the Chinese date, it’s one of the oldest fruits. But here’s the thing I found odd about this ingredient being in this mix… for one, the recommended dosages seem to be on a higher end (5-10g in some kind of tea) and therefore in a blend that’s a hair over 2g, how much could there be? Also, jujube berry is used for detoxification purposes and to combat fatigue and weakness… kinda defeats the purpose in a SLEEP mix doesn’t it? Hmm…

Lemon Balm Extract – Used in aromatherapy, can be used to make herbal tea, as a flavouring in ice cream and also as a sedative and a calming agent. It’s presence makes sense here. A study has shown that it can be a stress reliever but the conclusions need to be further researched.

Gaba – A neurotransmitter that is a known inhibitor. This means it can induce relaxation and sleep and a general sense of well-being. It also helps produce endorphins which give you a sense of “calm”. On a side note, some say this stuffy has been known to spike your HGH levels when taken before physical exercise (5g). Interesting, but as for a sleep aid, it makes sense so far.

Chamomile Extract – Apparently it’s anti-inflammatory, a mild laxative, can be used to treat irritable bowel syndrome and a gentle sleep aid. Chamomile tea  has been known to promote “relaxation” so I can only assume that it would be helping the “sleep” cause that you are looking for.

Real World Results:

I had a hard time figuring out when the hell I wanted to use this stuff… which is why it’s taken me such a long ass time before I could write a review on it (my bad Phix, but timing is everything). But I finally did. As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a little break from blogging. A little “Jerkation” where I finally caught up on some books I’ve been wanting to get through and also some non-business shit. I reckon Phix Sleep would be excellent for a relaxing vacation.

Anyways, after ripping open a stick and mixing it in some water I noticed the taste was still a little mild but LESS mild than what I remember of the Phix Energy. They only have the lemon flavor when it comes to their sleep product.

On the nose you can definitely tell it’s lemon, but not real lemon. Smells like fake-candyesque lemon. Something you’d smell on a hard yellow candy you got for Halloween (Yes fuck off… FJ still tricks or treats. Ok more like terrify and steal but that’s the whole point of Halloween)

So… does it work?

Mmmm, sorta. After chugging back the drink, I went about my normal business and in about 5 minutes or so I did start notice my energy dip. After a few more minutes, a nap sounded like an excellent idea, but it was in the middle of the day so I resisted. I can easily see that if someone were to lie down and just chill, they would most definitely fall asleep.

BUT

And it’s a big but, the effects only lasted for like 15 minutes and started to taper off. After about 20 minutes I was back to normal, which is odd because the instructions say that you should take this stuff approx one hour before you’re ready to sleep. If I were to take this to help me sleep better and took it an HOUR before my intended sleep time, I’d be pissed. I mean let’s say you’re at work and you get off at 9pm. So leave the office and as you arrive home, you swing back some Phix Sleep thinking that after having something to eat, you can be in bed by 11pm.

How much would it suck to know that you have a 15 minute window of opportunity to hit the sac? It’s now or never! And before you know it, 10:30 arrives… and now you are no better off (unless you worked really hard that day… LOL).

Conclusion:

Hmm, this is an odd supplement to score. The price isn’t something that will drive your financial situation to the ground but on the other hand, the effects don’t last very long. I strongly believe the problem is the weak proprietary mix. I mean comon… one stick can hold about 10g worth of stuff. 2g out of those 10 is their mix which means the other 8g is comprised of flavoring and other fillers.

I’ll be honest, I LIKE the flavor profile of Phix Sleep. Again, it might be on a little bland side for most of you but I’d rather have slight blandness then over the top sugary bullshit. And their ingredient choice seems to work, but just not for very long. No one takes a sleeping aid to “guess” so I don’t see the need to weaken the effectiveness. They seem to be holding back which is the wrong thing to do IMO. This stuff needs more punch to it. It needs to knock you out COLD… because right now it hits like a little girl. I’ll give it a satisfactory pass with 3/5 stars.

- FitJerk