Question: What Are Your Thoughts on Energy Drinks? Good, Bad, or Indifferent?

Answer:  I’m a big advocate of living a healthy lifestyle and putting quality foods and beverages into your system.

That said, in my humble opinion, energy drinks really don’t qualify as healthy beverages. Generally speaking, they’re loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners, ridiculous amounts of B vitamins, various stimulants, and probably a few goodies you’ve never even heard of. Not my ideal pick-me-up, pre-workout beverage, or thirst quencher.

If I’m a bit low on energy on a given day, I would rather focus on other factors that I can control. How was my sleep the last few days… have I been consistently eating and drinking throughout the day… have I been under any stress as of late that may be bogging me down? These are things that I can probably remedy with subtle lifestyle changes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that having an occasional energy drink is going to cause harm per se, but I just think far too many people rely on these types of products to get them through their day. Ultimately, they’re devoid of nutritional value and they’re simply a crutch for most folks. Bottom line—I  think it’s important to focus on diet quality as much as diet quantity, so my advice would be to try and find a healthier alternative.

About the author: Grant Pritchard is the club owner at Anytime Fitness in Buckley & Orting. To submit a question for future articles, please contact the author at GrantP@AnytimeFitness.com