As a mom of 3 boys, who also works outside the home, takes care of the house, run kids to practices, etc Like most moms I could use a little extra energy sometimes. I decided to give the original 5-hour ENERGY a try. I look at this tiny 5-hour ENERGY bottle and thought, "boy I hope this works". I was impressed with how quickly it seemed to work. I felt like I had energy within 15 minutes of drinking it. This was the regular strength. It really did seem to last for 5 hours too. I'm a 5-hour ENERGY drinker now. I try to drink one only when I need it. I started browsing 5-hour ENERGY's site and noticed that they make a decaf and an extra strenght variety too. I was interested to try them since the regular strength worked so well.
5-hour ENERGY was generous enough to send me a double pack of the extra strength 5-hour ENERGY and the decaf 5-hour Energy so that I could try it and complete a review. The package from 5-hour ENERGY arrived with perfect timing. After working 11 days straight, taking care of the 3 boys, and keeping the house, by that 11th day I was beat down. I had off Friday for a comp day for my weekend but it was the joint party for my son and neice for their 1st birthday then Saturday was my oldest birthday party with his friends at the house. I needed a 5-hour ENERGY bad.
The Extra Strength 5-hour ENERGY still says "zero sugar, zero herbal stimulants, only 4 calories." It also claims it has as much caffeine as 12 oz of premium coffee. I drank the whole bottle of Extra Strength 5-hour ENERGY. Bad move. The bottle states "drink half the bottle for moderate energy, drink the whole 2 oz bottle for maximum energy." Even though I knew how good the regular strength worked, I downed the whole extra strength bottle. I was so wired I didn't know what to do with myself. And it last for actually 6 hours. I watched the clock. I got a lot done but it was way too much for me. My recommendation...only drink half if you don't know how it will affect you.
So today, the day of my oldest sons party (after the joint party yesterday for the 1 year olds), I decided to try the decaf variety. I only drank half this time. Half worked ok, but in this case I probably should have went ahead and drank the whole bottle. The decaf was in a citrus flavor. Again the decaf 5-hour ENERGY states "zero sugar, only 4 calories and with less caffeine than a decaf cup of coffee".
So my question was, If there there is minimal caffeine, no sugar, no herbal stimulants, what is it that makes this stuff really work? I looked over the website http://www.5hourenergy.com/QandA.asp It the B vitamins, amino acids, and nutrients. On a side note, when I was pregnant and had no energy my dr. had recommended to me to take B6 and B12 vitamins on top of taking my prenatals. It really did seem to help me. So it makes sense to me how this would work.
While the Extra Strength certainly does work and the decaf did well also my favorite is still the original 5-hour ENERGY. It seems to be the right amount for me. It did work as they state and really does last for at least 5-hours. Also the original comes in several flavors. http://www.5hourenergy.com/product.asp
I recommend start with only half the bottle of which ever variety you choose. You can always drink the rest if you think you need it.
***I was not paid to do this review. I did receive free products from 5-hour ENERGY to be able to complete my review. I was under no obligation to complete a positive review***
