Energy Pills: Power Through Your Day With These Top Supplements!

Most of us lead busy lives where we’re constantly on the go, working a full-time job (sometimes even two), coming home to a family, and still trying to fit that workout in somewhere amongst housework, grocery shopping, and seeing friends and family.

Go go go is what we do, and sometimes it can be incredibly draining on our body's battery.

Proper nutrition, sleep, and stress management are all essential for maintaining optimal performance—even with a low battery—but sometimes an energy supplement can also be really helpful.

While not a replacement for good lifestyle habits, they’re great for boosting the efficiency of your body and powering you through even the toughest days.

Whether you pulled an all-nighter or just need a mid-day pick-me-up to get you through your training session, we’re breaking down the benefits of energy supplements—what they are, the best energy-boosting ingredients, and our top picks for products.

The 7 Best Energy-Boosting Ingredients

Caffeine

When it comes to an energy kick, caffeine generally takes the crown.

It’s one of the most widely consumed stimulants worldwide that offers a powerful boost to central nervous system function for increased alertness, attention, focus, drive, and energy.

Caffeine is such a powerful natural energy booster because it works as an adenosine-antagonist. Adenosine, a molecule present in the brain that induces drowsiness, looks structurally similar to caffeine. As such, caffeine can easily bind to adenosine receptors in the brain and inhibit its actions.

Many of the alerting effects of caffeine are attributed to the action of methylxanthine on serotonin neurons, which induces dose-dependent locomotor activity ¹. Methylxanthine also influences learning, memory, performance, and coordination, along with arousal, vigilance, and fatigue.

Although caffeine offers a natural energy boost, megadoses can interfere with nervous system function and cause dependence. Especially when taken without ingredients that balance the effects of caffeine, it can cause long-term issues.

In the short-term, people can experience withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, nervousness, headache, and tachycardia (increased heart rate) ². The half-life of caffeine can also range anywhere from 2 to 7 hours with variation between people, so opting for a moderate and more controlled dose may produce more favorable results for energy levels ³.

CoQ10

Every cell in the body is equipped with organelles called mitochondria. They are the energy factories of cells and function to produce energy in the form of ATP.

For mitochondria to perform optimally, they require specific nutrients, one of which is Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10 for short. It’s a naturally occurring quinone that’s found in the highest levels in organs with high rates of metabolism, including the heart, kidneys, and liver where it functions as an energy transfer molecule ⁴.

The primary action of CoQ10 is as a cofactor in the electron-transport chain; the ETC is a series of redox reactions involved in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and because nearly all cellular functions depend on an adequate supply of ATP, CoQ10 is essential for the health of all human tissues and organs.

In addition to that, CoQ10 is also one of the most important lipid antioxidants that serve to prevent the generation of free radicals and subsequent modifications of proteins, lipids, and DNA.

A deficiency of CoQ10 not only allows for increased concentrations of free radicals, but it leads to dysfunction of the respiratory chain due to insufficient production of highly energetic compounds, which subsequently decreases the efficiency of cells ⁴.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR)

Acetyl-L-carnitine isn’t a supplement you hear much about, but it’s a powerful addition to anyone’s supplement toolbox due to its ability to support weight loss and boost brain function. ALCAR is a naturally occurring amino acid produced by the body that supports energy production.

You’ve likely heard about carnitine before - it plays an important role in burning fat for energy and shuttling fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane for conversion into energy ⁵. 

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Carnitine's role in fat metabolism influences virtually all energy metabolism in the cell, which means it can be linked to glucose metabolism, insulin, and the associated diseases that develop from dysfunctional energy metabolism.

Inside cells, enzymes can readily convert carnitine to acetyl-carnitine and back based on the metabolic needs of the cell ⁵. As such, acetyl-carnitine and carnitine are essentially interchangeable, but for one thing.

The major advantage of supplementing acetyl-carnitine over carnitine is that acetyl-carnitine is more easily absorbed from the gut and more readily able to cross the blood-brain barrier, giving it the advantage for fat-burning and energy-boosting.

There’s also evidence to suggest that carnitine or acetyl-carnitine may be beneficial for improving glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, serum lipids, and cognitive function, as well as offering protection against oxidative damage.

Magnesium

We usually hear about magnesium for muscle relaxation, but when you need a little energy boost, it could offer some great benefits.

Magnesium is found primarily within cells where it acts as a counter ion for energy-rich ATP and nuclear acids ⁶. It also serves as a cofactor in more than 300 enzymatic reactions, making it critical for stabilizing enzymes, including many ATP-generating reactions ⁷.

Because ATP is required for glucose utilization, synthesis of fats, proteins, nucleic acids and coenzymes, muscle contraction, methyl group transfer, and more, a deficiency of magnesium can be a major hindrance to several functions and can interfere with energy production.

What’s more, magnesium is also required for maintaining the conformation of nucleic acids and for the structural function of proteins and mitochondria (remember, the energy powerhouses of our cells).

B vitamins

Of all the vitamins, the B vitamins play a major role in energy production.

They are a group of eight water-soluble vitamins that perform essential, closely interrelated roles in cellular functioning, and act as co-enzymes in numerous catabolic and anabolic enzymatic reactions ⁸.

Except for folate (B9), all the B vitamins are involved in at least one, sometimes many, steps of the energy-production system within the cell ⁸. An adequate supply of all B vitamins is critical to a healthy energy-production system - a deficiency of any one of them is rate-limiting, resulting in potentially severe metabolic and health consequences.

R-Lipoic Acid

Most people have probably never heard of lipoic acid before and it’s making its way to the top as a powerful energy-boosting supplement.

R-Lipoic acid is an organosulfur compound derived from caprylic acid that is the most effective form of alpha-lipoic acid, a powerful and incredibly versatile antioxidant known for its ability to protect the brain and nerve cells from free radical damage and heavy metals that can result in cognitive and neurodegenerative diseases.

It serves as a cofactor for four enzyme complexes exclusively located in mitochondria and is essential for energy production and the regulation of carbohydrate and protein metabolism ¹⁰.

L-Tyrosine

Tyrosine is a non-essential amino acid naturally produced in the body that offers up some pretty great benefits for your brain, focus, stress management, and more.

It serves as the foundation for several key neurotransmitters involved in mood, motivation, muscle recovery, focus, and drive; we’re talking about dopamine, noradrenaline (norepinephrine), and adrenaline (epinephrine) ¹¹.

When the body is under stress, these brain chemicals start to become depleted, which means you may start to hit either a mental or physical roadblock.

However, tyrosine supplementation helps replenish these neurotransmitters before the bank runs out, thereby helping you stay sharper for longer ¹².

L-Theanine

We all love a good cup of coffee for an afternoon pick me u,p but the side effects that come with caffeine consumption can be enough to turn some people off completely.

However, combining caffeine with L-theanine may help to promote all the benefits caffeine has to offer with none of the side effects.

L-theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea and some mushrooms have been shown to promote non-drowsy relaxation. When combined with caffeine, these may improve memory and reaction time, as well as decrease tiredness and mental fatigue ^{13, 14}.

Essentially, adding L-theanine to your stack can give you the energy-boosting benefits of caffeine with none of the downsides ¹⁵.

The Best Energy-Boosting Duo

Final Thoughts

Getting through busy and exhausting days can be a challenge and while reaching for an energy drink may be enticing, the side effects they cause are less than appealing. That’s where Performance Lab Caffeine+ and Performance Lab Energy excel.

They provide a major energy boost for better performance without the side effects of traditional stimulants. It’s a win-win situation that’ll keep you powered through the biggest challenges.