Quercetin

While I'm very skeptical of the hype of 5-Hour Energy shots I think there might be something to FRS Healthy Energy. It contains some sugar, a great source of energy not found in 5-hour Energy, caffeine and an antioxidant called quercetin plus other stuff.

Quercetin has been studied a little bit and the results look promising. It is thought to increase the energy producing mitochondria inside muscle and brain cells. One study should that taking 500 mg or quercetin twice a day for a week increase aerobic endurance 13.2% and VO2max by 3.9%. That almost sounds too good to be true. The study didn't look at what was responsible for the increases-did it really increase mitochondria or not?-however, it was a well designed study and published in a respected journal. Quercetin has anti-inflammatory properties positive effects on the immune system both of which can help speed recovery from exercise.

But, you don't have to buy FRS to get it. It's naturally found in apples, citrus fruit, and onions among other foods although you'd have to eat a lot of these to get the same amount as found in FRS or other forms. Quecertin is not a vitamin or mineral. It's a flavonoid that helps prevent damage to the cells of the body cause by free radicals. Free radicals are produced all the time but in great amounts during exercise so active people produce more free radicals, which cause greater damage to their cells, and therefore may benefit from anti-oxidants, like quercetin, that remove free radicals.

Runners World had a blurb about quercetin recently as I'm guess many others have as well. It also has general health benefits to it as well. So if it really does help, I'm sure we'll be seeing more supplements (sport drinks, gels, and bars) and foods (cereals, breakfast shakes, etc.) with Quercetin in them.