I have been sent three flavours of new Energy Bytes, which are designed to give athletes an “extra zing”. They are said to be fast-acting with a “caffeine kick”, vegan-friendly and have added A, B and D vitamins.
Claim: “Energy Bytes work five times faster than energy drinks.”
Details:
- 3 flavours: Wild Strawberry, Berry Blast, Atomic Apple
- Small sweet-sized
- 15 gummies per pack
- Each gummy has 40mg caffeine (comparisons in the UK: 8oz cup of black coffee is 95mg; a shot of espresso is 63mg; cappuccino 63mg)
- Advice: Up to maximum of five Energy Bytes recommended per day
- Allergen free
- Made in the UK at BRC AA+ and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certified facility
- Other ingredients: Glucose syrup, sugar, water, pectin, lactic acid, malic acid, flavourings, colour: anthocyanins, caffeine, vitamin B3 (Niacinamide), vitamin A (Retinol), vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCL), vitamin B12 (Cobalamin), vitamin D3 (Choleciferol).
Price:
- 3 packs for one-time price of £29.99.
- Or a subscription of £23.99 (save 20% and receive a deliver every two or four weeks)
- 1 Pack is £9.99 or £7.99 as subscription deal.
See: Energy Bytes.
You can also buy from Amazon: Strawberry, Apple, Berry (I receive a small commission for sales through Amazon. This helps to pay for the running of this website.)
My thoughts: Energy Bytes
Many sports people swear by the useful boost of caffeine. Indeed, many of us find it hard to get going in the morning without a cup of coffee.
There are many academic studies that suggest caffeine can be useful for sports performance.
This research showed caffeine ingestion can be an effective performance aid for endurance athletes when taken before and/or during exercise in moderate quantities (3-6 mg·kg−1 body mass). In addition, the study concluded that abstaining from caffeine at least seven days before use will give the greatest chance of optimising the ergogenic effect.
Furthermore, a study of a range of literature focused on caffeine and sport suggested performance benefits can be seen with moderate amounts (~3 mg·kg–1 body mass) of caffeine. It concluded that these benefits are likely to occur across a range of sports, including endurance events, stop-and-go events (e.g. team and racquet sports, and sports involving sustained high-intensity activity lasting up to 60 mins (e.g., swimming, rowing, and middle and distance running races).
The psychological benefits of caffeine were also investigated in this study with the conclusion that 13 out of 17 studies in the current review indicated expectancy effects of varying magnitudes across a range of exercise tasks and cognitive skills. These results support the notion that the psychological permutations associated with oral caffeine consumption may significantly influence caffeine ergogenicity.
So, it seems, there are benefits both physically and psychologically for consuming moderate amounts of caffeine for performance enhancement. This could be for sport for generally perking you up throughout the day.
While I prefer to consume caffeine as a cup of coffee in my normal day, when taking part in sport, such as running, it’s useful to have the caffeine as part of an energy drink or snack. I have chosen energy fuelling with added caffeine for races and while I have no scientific proof of its benefits on my overall performance, I do believe it can help.
The Energy Bytes provide a good solution for a quick and easy way to consume caffeine while taking part in sport (and also during the day if you need a boost). You can take a couple at a time and my feelings are the Bytes do bring an energy boost.
I am told: “Unlike beverages, Energy Bytes are instantly absorbed through the membranes in your tongue and mouth. This is the fastest and most optimal way to get caffeine and vitamins into your system.”
I have used the Bytes when I am feeling sluggish during a normal work day and also when walking and running. The kick comes quite quickly after consumption. Whether this is physical or psychological is difficult to tell but suffice to say, I did feel a boost.
The Energy Bytes are easy to consume. They are about the size of fruit pastilles but much softer and they are easy to digest even without water.
At first, the taste is nice and fruity, but the after-taste is horrid. It’s the concentration of caffeine that gives the nasty after-taste I think. I found a gulp of water straight afterwards helped to remove most of the taste but it sometimes lingered a bit. This happened with all the flavours.
The Energy Bytes are not cheap either. They cost 66p per gummy if bought from Amazon at £9.99 per packet. The Energy Bytes subscription for three packets reduces the cost per gummy to 53p. I guess that most people would be using the gummies fairly sparingly and only for some exercise sessions or races.
I can’t tell you the benefits of the added vitamins since there is no information about how much each gummy includes. The vitamins are listed last in the ingredients, which tells us they are the smallest amounts. It would be useful to know what the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances) are of each vitamin.
The gummies are vegan-friendly, low in sugar with 15 calories per gummy. They are also made in the UK.
Conclusion: Energy Bytes
The gummies are small and easy to consume and do appear to give a good, quick boost. The after-taste is not pleasant but this can be reduced with a gulp of water. They are not that cheap although they do offer an easy to carry solution for extra energy during races or longer training sessions.