One Big Health Nut

Finding the energy to exercise can be difficult, especially if you have a busy schedule.  It is not difficult to understand why people turn to energy drinks and supplements for a boost.  After all, energy provides motivation to work out.  So which supplements heighten your energy levels and feed your motivation?   

The exercise and nutrition markets are flooded with supplements that increase your energy.  Most of the energy boosting supplements claim the added benefit of burning fat, too.  The energy enhancing ingredients most common in the energy drinks or supplements is usually caffeine, synephrine, and guarana.  Body building supplements use creatine and nitric oxide to feed energy directly to the muscles.  Some energy bars and drinks use protein and carbohydrates to provide long lasting energy to carry you through your work out.  

Energy drinks and supplements are usually intended for healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 50.  The higher levels of the energy boosting substances can have side effects and aren’t recommended for people with health problems or who are on certain medications.  It is best to consult with your doctor prior to taking an energy supplement to ensure it is safe for your use. 

The three main energy supplement ingredients, caffeine, synephrine, and guarana, all provide similar physiological effects.  Caffeine and guarana are usually used in weight loss products also.  Supplements containing caffeine and guarana modestly increase your metabolic rate, encourage thermogenesis, and boost your energy levels allowing you to work out longer and harder.  The most popular supplements containing these ingredients are Stacker 2 & 3, Hydroxycut Hardcore, Xenadrine, and BSN NO-Xplode.   

Syneprhine works comparable to the way ephedra worked.  It increases the metabolic rate and calorie expenditure.  But synephrine doesn’t cause the dangerous heart and blood pressure changes that ephedra did.  You can find synephrine in energy supplements like EAS Thermo DynamX and TWINLAB Metabolift.   

Some of the energy and fat burning products have the unfortunate side effect of irritability.  This probably depends on the individual.  Some people are not able to take the energy supplements and fat burners on a regular basis because of the substantial effects of the irritability.  You have to make the decision of which energy supplement is best for you.  If you experience side effects that interfere with your daily responsibilities you may want to switch to a more natural energy supplement; such as the energy supplements containing protein or carbs.