Energy Drinks That Are Good For You

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Which Is The Healthiest Energy Drink?

On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m diving into energy drinks, specifically, the energy drinks that are good for you, and what to watch out for.

I’m sharing one of my dirty little secrets.

Well it’s not really a secret, since you’ve probably seen me drinking energy drinks occasionally on my Instagram stories.

Table Of Contents – Jump Links

It’s not really dirty either because, here’s the deal.

My name is Brad Gouthro and I’m an energy junkie that loves caffeine.

I mean, who doesn’t love caffeine?

Here’s A Fun Caffeine Fact About Me

I never had my first real experience with caffeine until I was 29 years old.

In fact, I never had my first cup of coffee until I was 32 years old.

I have a funny story about my first experience as a caffeine newbie.

I remember reading a fitness article talking about the performance benefits of caffeine in the gym.

I can’t remember exactly what the article said, but it included some statistic, that provided no context, that blindly said taking 400mg of caffeine before your workout can improve your bench press.

So, I thought, sure I want to improve my bench press, so why not.

Then I went to the supplement store to look for a pre-workout powder that contained 400 mg of caffeine.

Of course, nothing was that potent, so the sales person told me I could also buy 200 mg caffeine tablets.

So, I bought both.

My First Experience Drinking Caffeine

I remember going home and being so hyped to try it out.

Let me be clear.

Once again, here I was, a guy who never even had a cup of coffee before, now taking a 400mg dose of caffeine before my workout.

I popped the caffeine tablet in my mouth and then washed it down with the pre-workout drink.

By the time I got to the gym, I was feeling like I was on top of the freaking world, super focused, and extremely hyped.

I even remember stopping at one moment and thinking, “why do I feel like I can beat up Brock Lesnar, right now?”.

Then I quickly realized it was because I just took 400 mg of caffeine.

And then this happened.

Side Effect Of Taking 400 mg Of Caffeine

I went home and then I had another first experience.

My nose started to bleed, I had one of the biggest energy crashes I’ve ever felt, and I couldn’t even fall asleep.

Now based on this story, you may think I would be against caffeine.

Well, I’m not.

I actually love caffeine, but I love it in moderation.

How Much Caffeine Do I Now Take Per Day?

I usually have this coconut oil coffee in the morning, a pre-workout drink earlier in the day, and then a tea in the afternoon.

It’s when you consume too much of anything, including water, that’s when you have a problem.

Yes, even drinking too much water can be dangerous.

It’s called hyponatremia, look it up.

Benefits Of Caffeine

When taken under the right circumstances, in the proper doses, I love the following benefits of caffeine:

• Increasing energy to improve the intensity of your workouts
• Helps improve your metabolic rate and fat burning
• Helps reduce hunger so you stop binging on junk food
• Improves mental clarity and focus so you get shit done
• Helps improve your mood

I mean, who has ever met someone in a bad mood on caffeine.

So yes, I’m the first to admit, I drink the occasional energy drink.

As a fitness professional, entrepreneur, and dad, I’m constantly moving around.

Whether it’s doing my own workouts, or filming workout videos for my programs, my day requires a lot of energy from 5am until 9pm at night.

If I know I have a super busy day of focus and multiple workouts, then I may have an energy drink.

On average, I would have maybe 1 energy drink a week.

Now you may be asking, are energy drinks healthy?

Are Energy Drinks Healthy?

Well that depends on a few things.

#1. It Depends On Who “You” Are

If you’re a full grown, active individual, and are using the caffeine to improve performance, then enjoy when needed.

If you’re unhealthy, unmotivated, and you just use energy drinks daily, just to get you through the day, then no.

You need to change your lifestyle by eating better and working out to naturally improve your energy.

#2. It Also Depends On The Type Of Energy Drink

On the occasions when I do drink a sugar-free Rockstar, I always feel guilty about buying and drinking them out in public.

The reason I feel this way is because I know the ingredients, including the artificial sweeteners, are not optimal for my health.

For a few years now, I’ve been looking for a healthier, ready to drink energy drink for when I’m on the go.

Energy Drinks That Are Good For You

Recently I found one called Dark Dog Organic that uses organic and non-gmo ingredients, that are higher quality when comparing them against other conventional energy drinks.

I also find Dark Dog Organic doesn’t taste as artificial or sweet, since they don’t use artificial sweeteners.

Although the original version contains a little more sugar than I personally like to consume, they also have two lower sugar options, with one of them containing coconut water.

The Dark Dog Organic energy drink made with coconut water is my go-to choice.

To me it has the same light taste as kombucha.

So to be real, I personally feel better about drinking an energy drink like Dark Dog Organic, as I know the ingredients are better for more body compared to conventional energy drinks.

This is not to say I will never have another Rockstar energy drink.

However, if I’m going to drink an energy drink more often, I would go with Dark Dog Organic.

If you want to check out Dark Dog Organic energy drinks, they’re sold on Amazon and you can get a 20% off discount when you use discount code: DDBRAD20.

Bottom Line On Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are made for the active adult that requires an occasional boost in energy to stay on top of their active lifestyle.

In my opinion, it is not an everyday day drink, it’s just on occasion.

Lastly, for all the parents out there, no I do not recommend energy drinks for kids who are still growing and developing their nervous and cardiovascular system.

Energy drinks are made for active adults.

Just be smart.

It’s time to go workout.

Keep Living Lean.