I’m a fan of the FRS energy drink. It tastes good, it works for me, and the “all natural” variety is healthier than the majority of energy drinks out there.

But… it’s expensive. And it’s not actually healthy when compared to health food (like fruits and vegetables.) And to top things off, many users are reporting poor customer service. I don’t doubt those claims, as I have received poor service from FRS myself. (And considering the number of people who type “FRS healthy energy scam” into Google each month, I bet a lot of people are in the same boat!)

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to look for a cheaper, healthier alternative to FRS Healthy Energy. In this article, I will dissect the FRS ingredients list and see what I can come up with.

(In this article I’m focusing on the ingredients in the all natural orange concentrate, which is my personal favorite of the FRS line.)

Dissecting FRS Healthy Energy

Here are the ingredients FRS contains which look important:

• Water
• Organic cane juice
• Grape juice concentrate
• Green tea extract
• Vitamins A, C, E
• B vitamins
• Quercetin
• Caffeine

Now to examine each of these in greater detail…

Water. This one’s easy – you should already get plenty of water in your diet. As long as you’re hydrated, the extra water you get from a glass of FRS shouldn’t matter much.

Next up, the organic cane juice and white grape juice concentrates are just forms of sugar, used as sweeteners, so we can skip them. They’re used in just about every other energy drink, anyway. If you want sugar, you can add honey to your diet and it will be a better option.

Orange juice concentrate is used for flavor. I’ve had plenty of orange juice in my life and it never gave me a big energy boost, so let’s keep going.

Green tea. FRS contains important compounds called EGCG and catechins thanks to the green tea ingredient. The label shows 100mg of catechins in FRS.

I would consider this important, but green tea is not exclusive to FRS. You can get green tea extract in capsule form and as a concentrated liquid (easily getting your 100mg,) or you can drink one or two glasses of green tea each day for the same effect.

Vitamins A, C, and E do look important, too. These are important vitamins that are also considered to be antioxidants.

However, these vitamins are easily found in a healthy diet that includes fruits and veggies. Also, they are present in virtually all multivitamins. The doses in FRS range from 25-200% of the DV, which is nothing huge, so let’s move on.

Next, B vitamins. If I had to pick a secret ingredient in FRS, I’d bet it was the B vitamins that are really to thank for the energy boost. It’s a well-known fact that B vitamins are helpful in increasing energy levels, and if you look around, you’ll see B vitamins in nearly all energy drinks these days.

FRS contains 6mg of B12 and 2mg of B6, as well as 1mg Thiamin, 20mg Niacin, 2mg Riboflavin.

But you can get B vitamins in many different ways; B-complex, B6, and B12 tablets, as well as B12 injections. I found a B complex pill with huge doses of all the B vitamins for a mere 13 cents per serving!

Now for FRS’s coveted ingredient, quercetin. Quercetin is an antioxidant found in certain fruits and vegetables, and some recent studies have shown that it may improve sports performance (by increasing endurance, etc.) FRS contains 250mg quercetin.

While the quercetin research is far from exhaustive, it does seem to have some merit, and it’s entirely possible that quercetin supplementation could improve performance. But FRS does not have a monopoly on quercetin; it also comes in capsule form, with doses ranging from 250-1000mg.

Note: here are a couple studies that show promise for quercetin when taken in certain doses over time:

• Quercetin Increases Endurance without Regular Exercise Training
• Antioxidant may boost exercise endurance

Last but not least, caffeine. Caffeine is responsible for the kick from virtually all energy drinks. However, FRS contains a small amount (35mg) of caffeine, so I don’t believe it plays much of a role in FRS’s energy boost.

But it’s not a problem to get that much caffeine from your diet; if you drink a couple glasses of tea or a single cup of coffee, you’ll get plenty of caffeine.

Cheaper Energy Boost

In these tough economic times, we’re all looking for ways to cut costs. One thing you could do is cut out expensive energy drinks and bottled water.

To get the same effects as FRS ($1.25 per serving) without drinking it each day, here is what I have been trying:

What it boils down to is drinking green tea and then taking some Quercetin and B vitamin tablets. In theory, this would provide a long-lasting, natural energy boost.

I have been testing out the previously mentioned pills, along with this one called a Super Antioxidant – it contains lots of good stuff like A, C, E, and B vitamins, and even a bit of of quercetin and green tea – for just 34 cents per serving.

Here’s the price overview:

• B12: $0.06 per serving
• B complex: $0.12 per serving
• Quercetin: $0.25 per serving
• Green tea extract: $0.15 per serving
• Green tea (brewed): $0.20 per serving
• Antioxidant cocktail: $0.34 per serving

If any of this stuff works, even in combination, it could cut your energy drink costs in half!

Homemade Energy – It Might Just Work

Here is what I tried over the past couple months, along with my initial thoughts:

250mg Quercetin ($0.25) – I noticed no change in energy when I tried taking one quercetin pill per day. After a few days I tried two servings per day, but that produced no difference.

750mg Quercetin ($0.75) – This (three servings) produced the same lackluster result as just one serving.

Glass of green tea + 250mg quercetin ($0.45) – As with the plain quercetin days, there was no discernible energy boost.

Antioxidant cocktail ($0.34) – This was the real surprise from the bunch. One serving (two pills) was all it took, and I got a long-lasting energy boost. It was a pleasant boost and it lasted all day – nearly as good as FRS.

Glass of green tea + antioxidant cocktail ($0.54) – There was a good boost with this, but it was the same whether I had green tea or not.

500mcg B12 ($0.06) – When taking one of these tablets, I felt a good, light energy boost that lasted all day.

Glass of green tea + B complex + quercetin ($0.57) – noticeable energy boost?

Glass of green tea + 500mcg B12 ($0.26) – These days provided a good, light energy boost that lasted all day, but with the added enjoyment of the green tea flavor.

FRS concentrate ($1.25) – FRS has always worked well for me. There’s an instant kick (just a slight one, probably from caffeine,) but the real goodness is the light energy that lasts all day, even if I do a hard bike ride. It’s also easy to drink and the best tasting option here.

From my experience with my tests, it seems the common denominator in the energy-yielding supplements is some sort of B vitamin. No surprise – it’s pretty much undisputed that B vitamins give you energy. Some of my older relatives get B12 shots each month, and they swear by them for the extra energy.

The quercetin itself, which FRS claims will reduce your fatigue and bring energy, had no effect on me when taken in capsule form. No matter if I had one capsule (same amount as one serving of FRS) or three.

I’ve heard many people say “don’t overspend for FRS, just get quercetin pills.” Well, I bet anyone that followed that advice was sorely disappointed. It’s possible there are higher-quality sources of quercetin out there than the capsules I tried, but I think I would have had some sort of affect from what I tried.

The Super Antioxidant capsules fared much better. They contain B vitamins, which are probably responsible for the energy boost, but they also add CoQ10 and some other healthy goodies.

The antioxidants from drinking my own brewed green tea probably keep me healthy – and yes I plan to continue drinking tea – but don’t bring about extra energy.

My Energy Boost Recommendations

My recommendation, if you want to save money, consume less sugar, and still get an all-day energy boost, is to take a B complex or B12 vitamin each day. I also recommend drinking green tea for general health.

If you want to skip the B vitamin tablets and choose a capsule like the Super Antioxidant instead, that’s fine (and it’s what I’ll probably do most of the time.) As long as the capsule contains B vitamins in large doses, you should get the same affect.

However, sometimes when you order from FRS directly, you can get 30-50% discounts. If you order at those discounts, you get the good taste and convenience of FRS for the same price as this homemade solution.

So if FRS works for you, I’m not saying to abandon it. Really, just pick whichever option makes you happy. I feel good taking my B vitamins, and I always drink green tea, but I don’t see myself giving up FRS completely. It just seems to work too well for me.

Here’s a question about artificial sweeteners, but it’s one I did not expect…

I feel sorry for you that you think artificial sweeteners are ok. Have you ever heard of Dr. Russell Blaylock? Just put his name in any search engine. You’re blinded by the mainstream media. Wake up and go to naturalnews.com

Hi there,

Thanks for writing in with your comments, although I have to wonder if you got me confused with someone else. I absolutely hate artificial sweeteners! Like virtually all artificial ingredients, they have no place in my diet.

I’m familiar with many of the natural health type of doctors (Russell Blaylock, Joseph Mercola, Andrew Weil, etc.) and NaturalNews.com. I also read KitchenTableMedicine.com, FitnessSpotlight.com, EvolvingWellness.com, Mark’s Daily Apple, etc.

I do mention artificial sweeteners on my site, though, so let’s make sure I’m clear on this…

Sometimes I test products that contain artificial sweeteners, but I mention in the reviews that I would not normally consume nor recommend anything containing aspartame, sucralose, etc.

The only time I ingest artificial sweeteners is when doing a taste test of a certain product that happens to contain them. That’s not very often, so I highly doubt I’m going to die from some sort of aspartame poisoning, even if it does prove to be extremely dangerous in the long-term.

Here are some examples.

- I wrote a short review of Gatorade G2. Just the concept of G2 annoys me, so it got a pretty bad review.

- FRS Healthy Energy comes in all natural and low calorie versions, with the low cal containing sucralose. So for a situation like the FRS powder, where all flavors contain sucralose, I mentioned that I don’t like sucralose (twice!)

- Most recently, I wrote a review of Cytomax sports drink. I was especially disappointed in this one, because a sports drink that already contains sugar should NOT need sucralose in there, too.

Then there are drinks like Sobe Lifewater. I reviewed that years ago, when it used fructose (and had 50 calories per serving.) These days, I’m pretty sure it uses sucralose and jumped on the low calorie bandwagon. So don’t equate my review of a 2006 version of a product to a review of a 2009 product.

Heck, in a few more years, sucralose will probably be in just about everything! (Including the public water supply…)

To sum things up, I do not like nor recommend products that contain artificial sweeteners. When in doubt, follow this guideline: If something contains aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, or acesulfame k, I recommend you avoid it.

If you found something different on CoachLevi.com, where I explicitly recommend artificial sweeteners, please let me know the page so I can correct it.

I’ve been doing more research on supplements this year, and one supplement I really need to take more consistently is fish oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are such an important part of your diet, and since I’m not a huge fan of seafood, taking fish oil pills seems like a good idea.

Plus, can you really get enough Omega-3s from your diet, even when eating seafood?

Here is a quick comparison chart I made to compare various fish oil supplements, from your typical high-quality fish oil to the ultra pure, super expensive stuff…

(Values are “per serving.”)

Pill Brand	Omega-3	EPA	DHA	CLA	Price
Barleans Signature (Pills)	n/a	360mg	240mg	n/a	$0.19
Barleans Signature (Liquid)	n/a	880mg	585mg	n/a	$0.47
Barleans High EPA-DHA	n/a	783mg	400mg	n/a	$0.83
Biotest Flameout	4625mg	880mg	2200mg	352mg	$1.36
Recoup|90	1800mg	1200mg	400mg	n/a	$1.33
Carlson Salmon Oil	750mg	360mg	250mg	n/a	$0.28
Carlson Super Omega-3 Fish Oils	600mg	300mg	200mg	n/a	$0.25
Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega	1280mg	650mg	450mg	n/a	$0.83

As you can see, there is quite a difference in potency and price amongst these brands. All the brands listed have good reputations, but some have much higher Omega-3 content per serving, which raises the price considerably.

The brands also vary in ways not shown in the chart. The Barleans fish oil supplements mention the LNA content, which is not mentioned on the others’ labels. Biotest Flameout has a slightly different formula than the others, with its high DHA content and the inclusion of CLA. So you might want to do some more research before making your final decision.

Based on the chart, I’d probably go with Barleans fish oil. If one chose the Barleans Signature capsules and took 4 servings per day, that would be similar to the fatty acid content of Recoup|90 and Flameout, but at a substantial discount! Sure, that would require swallowing more pills, but that’s a significant amount of money!

Also, Barleans comes in a liquid, so that is worth a shot if you don’t want to swallow eight pills per day. That oil contains lots of good fatty acids for just $0.47 per serving.

However, you do have to wonder what else is in some of these pills. Recoup|90 pills are smaller than the others, yet the other brands contain much less Omega-3 content. And the liquids are a whole other story, considering their Omega-6 content. (You don’t want to add any more Omega-6 to your diet.)

For quality, Biotest Flameout and Recoup|90 do sound like the best.

Barleans seems to be the best value, though.

Whatever you do, seriously consider taking some sort of Omega-3 supplement!

Information for this chart was compiled based on the nutrition labels of these products as shown on their websites and packaging. It is correct to the best of my knowledge, but I could have made a typo or the label could have changed, so I make no guarantees to the accuracy of this chart.

Weighing yourself isn’t that hard. You just step on the scale and read the number.

But some people make a big deal out of the weighing process because of the anxiety that centers around the number they’re faced with. So they weigh themselves multiple times per day, or they don’t weigh themselves at all.

There is a happy-medium though! It is… weigh yourself once per day.

It doesn’t matter if you’re dieting or not. It does matter if you’re keeping a training log (you are keeping a training log, right?)

An important piece of information for your training log is your weight. Since there is an entry space for “body weight” in most every training log, it makes sense to weigh yourself once per day to obtain that number.

To get the best results, though, you need to be more precise than “once per day.” You need to weigh yourself at the same time every day.

That way you’ll get much more consistent and reliable numbers. You could choose morning, afternoon, or evening (whatever is most convenient,) but I do suggest weighing yourself in the morning after using the bathroom, but before eating breakfast.

You’re probably near the scale anyway, and weighing in the morning cuts out quite a few variables that you run into throughout the day, such as food intake, fluid intake, sweating, etc.

With the daily weighing, you can better chart your weight fluctuations over time, but you can also notice problems more quickly. For example, if you lost five pounds overnight, chances are you are dehydrated and need to drink lots of fluids!

“Don’t Weigh Yourself Every Day!”

I can hear them now. The so-called weight loss experts will scream “don’t weigh yourself every day”, but that advice is just for dieters who freak out when they look at a scale.

As in, “OMG I ate 900 calories yesterday but I’m one pound heavier today! Nooo!”

That’s not you. You want to see the daily fluctuations because it’s an important piece of data.

You can compare your weight to what you’re eating and to the exercise you’re doing, and figure out if you are balanced. As I mentioned, a sudden weight drop is a good indication that you’re dehydrated (be sure to do a sweat rate test to help avoid that) or perhaps you’ve been on a low carb diet and have very little water retention, so you’re kind of dehydrated… either way, not a good way to start a race.

Weighing once per day makes sense for everyone though (athletes and dieters alike.)

That’s because when weighing just once per week, you could have huge ups and downs. Let’s say you weigh yourself for a week and get these numbers (which is typical for me):

159, 162, 160, 161, 157, 160, 160, 164

Those fluctuations are natural for an athlete, and everything seems alright when you see the pattern.

But if I weighed myself once per week, I’d only have 159 and then 164. It would seem like I gained five pounds!

Maybe I was dehydrated one day. Maybe I ate too many doughnuts the last day? Maybe I had gone up to 175 midweek but luckily got down to 164 for weigh-in day? Who knows!

The Moral of the Story

Once you get past the needless debates, it’s very simple…

Weigh yourself each morning and record it in your training log. Just keep it simple, don’t get hung up on day-to-day fluctuations (it’s not the end of the world,) and you’ll be fine.

Today’s question is about painful heel spurs and related conditions such as Plantar Fasciitis.

i have bad…bad….heel spurs NOW and ouchhhhhh….its been 5 months now. and have found NO CURE. then i read about BLACK CHERRY JUICE and the very informative things i read in your site made me think again.

Thanks,
Heeling Helen

Hi Helen,

I have never had this exact problem, but I’ve had quite a few similar foot injuries from running (back before I found Chi Running,) so I’ve come across Plantar Fasciitis and related conditions in my research. I still don’t know the exact medical differences between heel spurs and Plantar Fasciitis, but their causes and treatments can be similar, so there are a few things I will recommend you check out.

But first – the #1 priority right now is to figure out what caused the heel spurs in the first place. Typically it has something to do with your foot mechanics, which could include the shape of your arch, your form when walking or running, and what type of footwear you use.

This is where it really helps to get the diagnosis from a qualified professional, perhaps a podiatrist who specializes in sports medicine. (A sit down meeting is best.) Determining the cause of the injury is usually the best way to determine the cure, so that’s a good way to get started!

But a few things you can try on your own or discuss with your doctor are:

First, the black cherry juice is a good start. This juice is relatively inexpensive, all natural, and it tastes good, so it’s worth a shot. Unless you’re allergic to cherries, I can’t see a problem with it.

Second, you could try stretching, yoga, and/or massage. Different foot stretches and exercises, even things like the Downward Dog pose from yoga, could help alleviate pain and strengthen your feet, while increasing hamstring and calf flexibility. Exercises such as calf raises can also strengthen your arches.

It’s possible that your foot problems can be traced back to strength and flexibility issues that have manifested over time. But even if not, the extra exercise provides other worthwhile health benefits.

A third thing to consider is checking with a podiatrist or sports therapist who can analyze your feet and your walking/running style. They may have some more detailed suggestions for exercises, movements, or perhaps some special insoles that help ease the pain.

Maybe you could even try the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. They look funky, but people like them.

For more information about this topic, you could also try the Plantar Fasciitis page at SportsInjuryClinic. There is quite a bit of information on there.