Our Nutrition Content team was tasked with sharing in-house information on our favorite energy drinks, how to use energy drinks, unique ingredients, and ways to incorporate them into your routine.
I’ll admit, I was never an energy drink user before since most were loaded with added sugars. However, the energy drink industry has evolved, and therefore, so have the formulas. I am still going to reach for my morning coffee, I will never give it up, but started using energy drinks earlier this year when a friend introduced me to Zoa (hint this was a popular brand among my co-workers and peers). Energy drinks have drastically changed with offerings in smaller serving sizes, zero added sugars, less caffeine, nature-based ingredients, and packed with vitamins and minerals.
With our busy lifestyles, an extra boost of energy can help us power through our afternoon meetings or hitting the gym at the end of our workday. Everyone has their own routine and preferences for using energy drinks and we wanted to share from our experts from Team GNC.
Since I work remotely, I called people via Teams with some questions to better understand their energy drink usage. I was quite surprised by the number of people who use energy drinks as their daily routine. Some even routinely go to our GNC store at the office, where the store associate knows her favorite energy drink! We ranged from newbies (hi, it’s me) to veterans (over 20 years) who use energy drinks. Some use it daily while others of us use them when we want to switch it up from our lovely coffee habit.
Here are the awesome co-workers I video chatted with about their energy drink use! We are all associates at GNC’s Corporate office, and our roles are diverse:
- Michael Kaczynski – Director International Product Sales and Development
- Meredith Klein – Director of Public Relations
- Tyler McGlasson- Senior Manager of Product Design
- Roberta Townes – Senior Manager Category Merchant
- Nelson Fretwell – Vice President of Sourcing
- Alex Rizza – Senior Manager of Social Media & Influencer Marketing
- Brittany Johnson- Manger of Nutrition Content and Services
Let’s dive into how our GNC Team uses energy drinks and see if some of them are the same reasons you enjoy them too! Don’t worry I took it upon myself as an energy drink reporter to interview some of my fellow gym goers to compare… what can I say, curiosity got me!
TEAM GNC’S TAKE ON Energy Drinks
Daily Routines
As a Registered Dietitian, I am always intrigued by someone’s routine with food, drinks, and exercise and how they incorporate into daily life. As somewhat of an energy drink novice, I wondered where energy drinks would land in my peers’ routines.
In general, our daily routines involve managing work and personal life and finding movement. I did go in with some assumptions thinking everyone used them as an afternoon pick-me-up and was surprised by the responses!
More than half of us drink energy drinks in the morning instead of coffee! Just when I thought I could be friends with them…just kidding. The rest of us use energy drinks for an afternoon pick-me-up. A routine only Alex mentioned, was making sure she has eaten enough food before taking an energy drink, such as after breakfast, to get the desired energy feel. None of us drink energy drinks after 3pm-ish or at night… I got one assumption right!
What Ingredients Do We Look For?
Without being overly obvious, caffeine was the primary ingredient we seek when choosing an energy drink. As one of my peers stated, “I look for caffeine, something simple like coffee”.
One of my peers (hint, hint, our formulator) had a more detailed response saying he looks for nootropic brain boosters, antioxidants, and citicoline for a more functional drink to support his brain capacity during work. We are all really after the caffeine energy boost!
Ingredients We Tend to Avoid
There are a few things we collectively avoid when choosing our energy drinks. Ironically the exact opposite of a primary ingredient our Team GNC looks for in pre-workouts is what we avoid in energy drinks.. beta-alanine. We do not want the tingles when seeking out a boost of energy for life! There was one crazy cat, I see you Nelson, who looks for beta-alanine, which makes sense because he primarily uses them before working out!
Other ingredients we collectively avoid are mega-doses of caffeine (we don’t want too much stimulation) and added sugars. These ingredients are why energy drinks have been traditionally not so great for us. But thankfully the industry has evolved.
Read more: The 411 on Energy Drinks | GNC
Favorite Brands and Flavors
At GNC we have access to a variety of brands, and I was really interested to why certain brands stand out. Zoa was the leading brand of choice, ironically, mostly from the females interviewed… so The Rock is doing something right! I’m right there with you ladies! We all love Zoa for the smaller can sizes, moderate caffeine dosing, and added vitamins and minerals.
Others, such as Red Bull, Rockstar, and Monster, were our go-to brands. These brands offer the right amount of caffeine and taurine, an amino acid believed to provide some function in mental performance.
One brand which surprised me the most was G Fuel (I actually thought it was a popular sports drink that starts with a G, plus caffeine! Shh don’t tell anyone I am very new to the energy drink world). G Fuel was a favorite brand of choice because of the caffeine dose and insane flavors. I heard the Bahama Mama flavor is killer!
Speaking of flavors…flavors are limitless with energy drinks. Here are some of our favorites:
- Citrus-based flavors
- Grape
- Watermelon
- Beyond Dew
- Peach was a major fan favorite!
- Any flavor that’s not too sweet
- Whatever flavor is new!
As a peer said, “Has to taste good or what is the point”
What Do We Look For?
The top two things we look for in our energy drink selection was ingredients (yes to caffeine, no to added sugars) and taste!
We are Just Like Consumers
I was curious how our GNC Team stacked up against the everyday consumer. As people who work for GNC, I thought we might have some biases towards certain brands, or reasons to drink an energy drink. I interviewed a few of my friends to see how close we compare in our drinks of choice, ingredients, and routines.
People I interviewed included a Human Resource Specialist, a Pilot Instructor, a Federal Agent, and a College Professor. Just like our GNC Team, caffeine is the number one reason for drinking an energy drink. Most of them avoid high amounts of sugar, and brand choices varied from Celsius to Zoa.
The biggest difference I found from our GNC Team to everyday consumers was the routine…the people off the streets only drink energy drinks for the afternoon pick-me-up, it wasn’t a morning ritual for any of them.
Other Products We Use for Energy
If an energy drink just isn’t hitting the spot or we are seeking another energy boost, our Team also add the following to their routines:
- Coffee
- B-vitamins
- GNC’s Energy and Metabolism Multis
- Branch Chain Amino Acids
- Sour patch kids candies
Advice for Energy Drink Newbies
Here are some quotes from my peers on advice to someone who is interested in getting started with energy drinks:
- “Try a bunch and see what you like” ~ Michael
- “Start slow. Be your own advocate for how much caffeine you are consuming and be aware of the amount of caffeine you can tolerate” ~ Tyler
- “Find the right amount of caffeine you are comfortable drinking” ~ Meredith
- “Understand how caffeine impacts you throughout the day and your ability to have restful sleep, that’s why I take mine in the morning” ~ Roberta (psst.. she’s been doing this for 21 years, great advice!)
- “Start with a smaller serving and work your way up (if needed!). I found that an entire can or an entire serving is a little bit too much for me. So start small to test and work your way up.” ~ Alex Rizza
Cheers to your energy drink journey, we hope you find the right routine for you!
