If you’re constantly feeling tired, groggy, and dragging through your days, here’s a wake-up call: Supplements, vitamins, and pre-workout powders may be the key to upleveling your energy. Increased energy levels will power up your workouts and workdays, help you tackle tough challenges, meet your goals, and feel more engaged and present in your everyday life.
We break down what controls your energy levels and the ingredients to consider when choosing the best energy supplement for you.
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What Affects Your Energy Levels?
There are several underlying processes that act as critical drivers of your energy. The chemical messengers in your brain, your immune response, the way your cells produce energy, and the way you respond to stress can all change how much get-up-and-go you have throughout the day.
The best supplements for energy support these mechanisms.
Mitochondria: The Cell’s Powerhouse
Your mitochondria are your cells’ batteries, converting fuel from food into energy through a process called oxidative phosphorylation. Your body can then use this energy for its most crucial functions. Some cells, like muscle cells, have more mitochondria because they need more energy to function.
When you want more energy, it’s vital to nourish and protect your mitochondria. Some of the supplements for energy below do just that.
Inflammation: Energy Drain
Reducing inflammation can improve your energy levels. Inflammation reduces the amount of glucose you have available for energy by:
Switching from oxidative phosphorylation to a less efficient energy system that uses more glucose
Reducing insulin sensitivity, so your cells take less glucose from your blood
Increasing reactive oxygen species, which makes your mitochondria less effective
Several of the supplements below aim to give you more energy by fighting inflammation.
Stress: Overload
Proper stress management may protect your energy reserves. Stress is a natural, necessary reaction that your body responds to by using up more glucose. This prepares you to flee from or fight potential danger, giving you more energy in the short term. The downside is that, in the long term, poorly managed stress can sap your energy through:
Sleep disorders
Impaired focus
Dysregulated cortisol
Some of the supplements for energy below target your stress levels.
Neurotransmitters: Your Energy Messengers
A healthy balance of neurotransmitters can protect vital energy-related processes. For example, dopamine induces focus, improves sleep, and drives feelings of motivation. Neurotransmitters are also central to your sleep/wake cycle and can affect daytime sleepiness.
Several of the energy supplements below aim to optimize your neurotransmitter balance.
Can Supplements Boost Your Energy?
Certain supplements are backed by research to maintain peak energy, improve focus, optimize physical stamina, and support sleep. We’ll show you the best supplements for energy, along with the science behind how they work.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Many of the studies on supplements and energy are short term and small scale.
The effects of vitamin supplements are more pronounced in those correcting a diagnosed deficiency. However, many deficiencies may go undiagnosed.
Herbal supplements often take trial and error before you find a combination that helps you reach your peak.
If you don’t get enough sleep, pre-workout supplements may fail to improve your energy and effort.
The effects of supplement use are highly individual. With the Lifeforce Membership, you’ll receive personalized guidance from your Lifeforce Physician to determine what your body needs, so you can choose the right supplements to optimize your energy.
12 Supplements for Energy and Daily Productivity
Do you find yourself up late powering through a work assignment? Are you always running around after your kids? Running yourself ragged with commitments and slogging through your day until you crash?
Try turning to these supplements to give you more energy, more of the time.
1. Coenzyme Q10 (Coq10)
Your body already makes CoQ10 — a coenzyme that supports your mitochondria’s ability to make energy in your cells, fuelling essential processes and relieving fatigue. However, supplementing may significantly boost your energy.
CoQ10 rarely causes side effects, and its fatigue-reducing power may increase with higher doses and longer regimens. It tends to be more absorbable in gel form, though it’s also available in capsules.
2. Rhodiola Rosea
Rhodiola rosea is a traditional adaptogenic herb that may enhance mental and physical performance, reduce fatigue and depression, increase work productivity, and provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It may also ease muscle pain and improve explosive power during exercise.
Adaptogens help protect the body against stress-related disturbances and inflammation, which may improve your available energy.
3. Peak Rise™
Lifeforce’s Peak Rise™ will help you rise to every occasion. It is a powerful blend of 14 high-dosage ingredients, including seven patented, clinically-tested compounds like Cereboost®, TeaCrine®, Dynamine™, and Cognizin®.
Several research papers on these unique ingredients have shown they may improve cognitive performance and reaction time, enhance working memory, and boost motor speed and attention.
Peak Rise™ also extends the duration of caffeine by up to three times without causing jitters or a mid-afternoon crash.
Based on research in the bestselling book Life Force by Tony Robbins, get primed for your morning and maintain peak performance all day long with the premium-grade formula of Peak Rise™. It combines 14 research-backed ingredients, including seven patented compounds like TeaCrine® and Dynamine™, Cognizin®, and Cereboost®.\
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by The Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
4. L-theanine and Caffeine
Some supplements for energy combine caffeine and the amino L-theanine. Randomized, placebo-controlled research found that these may significantly boost accuracy during task-switching, improve alertness, and reduce tiredness.
Other studies echo the evidence for the supplements’ effects on focus during task-switching, so they may be a valuable hack for multitaskers.
5. Greens Blends
The ingredients of greens blends vary between brands, but some may boost your energy — especially if they contain caffeinated green tea extract. These soluble powders combine several vegetables, leafy greens, antioxidant-rich fruits, and grasses, providing a wide nutrient profile in a daily energy booster drink.
6. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an evergreen herb that may help optimize your cortisol and stress response, bring down inflammation, and ease anxiety. Like rhodiola, ashwagandha is a powerful adaptogen that can potently rejuvenate you during times of stress or exhaustion.
There’s no evidence that ashwagandha supplements boost energy directly. However, the herb may increase your energy reserves by cutting down your stress.
7. B-complex
Multivitamins containing several B vitamins, also known as B-complex, may help elevate your energy levels. B vitamins are crucial nutrients that trigger energy production by causing chemical reactions in cells.
Studies have shown that supplements containing high doses of B-complex reduce stress and mental tiredness and improve results on cognitive tests.
Learn more in our article on Vitamins to Boost Energy and Beat Fatigue.
Pre-Workout Powders and Drinks to Upgrade Your Exercise
To build muscle, your body has to burn vast amounts of energy during a workout. These supplements for energy can help you push yourself on the trail or in the gym.
8. Creatine
You can take creatine supplements as energy pills or capsules before you exercise. Creatine helps you make more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — a vital energy source for your muscle cells. It also helps you retain more ATP while you work out. Creatine improves energy output during high-intensity exercise over short periods, such as HIIT.
Creatine supported faster running speeds in studies on athletes participating in 40-meter sprints, soccer, and swimming, as well as increased cycling power.
9. Beetroot Juice
Beetroot juice is a natural pre-workout drink that can give you more energy during exercise. To do this, it boosts nitrous oxide (NO) levels in your blood, which increases blood flow, enhances the efficiency of your mitochondria, and strengthens your muscle contractions.
It’s best to take beetroot juice 90 minutes before a workout to improve your cardiovascular endurance. Beetroot powder is also available as a safe, effective, healthy pre-workout supplement that helps you use less oxygen and exercise longer.
Supplements that Improve Sleep to Boost Your Energy
Sleep is a vital recharging process for your brain and body, helping you dig deeper and work smarter the next day. The supplements below may support a regular sleep cycle filled with refreshing, high-quality slumber, so you wake up rested and energized.
10. Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle. Your body makes its own melatonin, but people who struggle to sleep or have a disruptive sleep schedule can take melatonin supplements to help.
Melatonin may make you fall asleep faster and readjust your sleep schedule to give you more energy when you wake up. It may also help exhausted international travelers recover more quickly from jet lag.
11. Magnesium
Magnesium is a crucial multitasking mineral that activates more than 300 enzymatic processes in the body, including helping regulate your sleep-related neurotransmitters. People with low magnesium levels have a higher risk of poor sleep quality.
You have less magnesium as you age, so supplementing may protect your sleep quality. Lifeforce’s Magnesium features a comprehensive blend of the highest quality and most bioavailable forms of magnesium, including Magtein® and TauroMag®.
Learn more in our article Magnesium: The Best Supplement You’re Probably Not Taking.
12. Peak Rest™
This powerful supplement combines sleep-boosting ingredients like magnesium and melatonin with a blend of patented compounds including CLOCK®, Venetron®, and Zylaria™.
Peak Rest™ helps regulate your sleep cycle and increase your levels of irisin, a hormone that can encourage your body to use energy more efficiently during waking hours. Sipping water or herbal tea with a half or full scoop of Peak Rest™ an hour before bed supports restorative rest and gets you ready to achieve your personal best — day after day.
Possible Side Effects of Supplements
The side effects of the best supplements for energy vary depending on the ingredients. You’re more likely to feel ill effects with high doses or when replacing regular medications.
Energy-boosting supplements that contain caffeine may affect your sleep if you consume them within six hours of bedtime. Some people are also more sensitive to caffeine than others. If you experience jitters, irritability, and anxiety after taking a caffeinated supplement, consider switching to a different one.
Always check the packaging for dosage and timing. If you take regular medications, speak to a physician before taking additional supplements, as they may interact. If you have any questions or concerns, you can always check with your Lifeforce physician.
FAQs
You asked. We delivered. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the best supplements for energy.
What supplement gives the most energy?
This will vary depending on the cause of the low energy and how your body metabolizes nutrients. Trial and error will be fundamental to learning which supplement gives you the most energy.
What are the best vitamins for energy and tiredness?
The best vitamins for energy are those you don’t get enough of in your diet or bloodstream. Supplementing these for a complete nutritional profile helps maintain consistent energy levels. While taking vitamins to boost energy without a deficiency may not have the intended effect, many deficiencies go undiagnosed.
Speak to your clinician about a blood profile if you regularly feel drained. The Lifeforce Diagnostic can help you pinpoint any deficiencies.
Summary
These 12 supplements for energy can help you feel more focused, motivated, and invigorated in your everyday life. They can assist your cells in making energy, help your body handle the effects of stress, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy sleep.
Speak to a clinician about creating the safest, most effective regimen for you.
LIVE BETTER, LONGER
85% of Lifeforce members report improved quality of life within their first three months.
Optimize your health and longevity with the Lifeforce Diagnostic blood test plus Membership, based on research in the Tony Robbins bestseller, Life Force. We’ll measure 40+ biomarkers that drive your mental and physical health, then get you on the path to optimized health.
Biomarker testing every three months
Expert clinical support
1-on-1 health coaching
Members-only hormone optimization
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult a physician prior to use if pregnant/nursing, taking any medication, have any medical conditions, or are being treated for depression, anxiety, or sleep disorder. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or engage in any activity that requires alertness while using these products.
This article was medically reviewed by:
Mary Stratos, PA-C, Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner
