phillbecker

I work part-time as a late night delivery driver for a local pizza shop, and have tried all kinds of things to stay alert and productive until 3 or 4 a.m. Usually I drink lots of Mountain Dew (free and full of calories) or an energy drink. I like the serious ones with about 200 mg of caffeine + the herbs etc.

But, all that caffeine meant that I was up and wired when I got home and couldn’t sleep well, even though I had to be up in 2-3 hours with the kids. Skipping a night’s sleep is o.k. now and then, but I sure get grumpy and short-fused.

Last night I decided to try one of those 5-Hour Energyfor the first time. I’m not real sure how much I paid for it, I was reeling from filling the gas tank and didn’t pay close attention.

When describing the 5-Hour Energy feeling, some people say it’s “like the sun coming up in my head.” That’s because when you’re feeling groggy and lethargic, 5-Hour Energy wakes up your brain and gets you back to feeling the way you want to feel bright, alert, focused and energetic. What you won’t feel is jittery, or crash. That’s because, unlike other energy drinks, 5-Hour Energy doesn’t jack you up with sugar, caffeine and herbal stimulants. Instead, it’s packed with stuff that’s good for you B-vitamins, amino acids and enzymes. To get anything out of those canned energy drinks you have to force down a lot of liquid up to 24 ounces for some of them. It takes just seconds to slam down a 2-ounce 5-Hour Energy shot. That means its energizing ingredients get into your system faster. In a few minutes you can feel 5-Hour Energy brushing away the cobwebs and helping you regain the alert, focused feeling you need to get through your day. Canned energy drinks give you a lot of sugar, caffeine and herbal stimulants which can make you feel jittery, shaky or tense. But 5-Hour Energy’s blend of vitamins, amino acids and enzymes gives you hours of “smooth energy.” We named it 5-Hour Energy for a reason. People typically feel an elevated sense of energy, focus and alertness for about five hours. Individual results will vary, of course. And when that feeling wears off, it does so gently.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the results. I wasn’t bounding off the walls or jittery, but I never got drowsy (even though it was a very slow night. The cook, by the way, was downing redbulls and coffee and fell asleep twice during the shift. I said slow, right?

Lo and behold, right about 2:30 I felt a lagging and slowing that I recognized from … 5 hours ago. And the night before for that matter. We closed up and I decided to get this review out. Actually, I decided I wanted a big bowl of ice cream and didn’t really want to turn the TV on so I did this instead.

The reason I resisted trying them earlier was mostly marketing. I have a tendency to disbelieve all marketing, especially slick ads with beautiful women in short skirts; or with the perceived benefits blasted all over the place instead of any real information. But I read the label and saw it was just like a liquid nutritional supplement and not really all that scary. I’ll be putting these in regular rotation, along with my green supplements and the occasional cup of coffee.

Anyhow, Amazon.com has them for $1.67 each and I see them on shelves all over town. I’m going to start adding them to my orange juice

This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 4:26 am and is filed under Health, Shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.