Energy Boosters

Risky stimulants turn up — again — in weight loss and workout supplements

The ingredients, apparently new, were popping up on the labels of dietary supplements marketed for weight loss and workouts. Sometimes the label said DMHA. Sometimes, Aconitum kusnezoffii. Or other, even harder-to-parse names.

The Boosts in Performance Tempting Athletes to Dope

Here, we take a look at five such classes and break down the science of how these drugs can help athletes crush the competition—and the risks that come with the boost in performance.

Can coffee improve your workout? The science of caffeine and exercise

It’s also worth bearing in mind that each piece of research shows caffeine improves athletic performance of a group of people as a whole. But we also know that genetic factors have a big influence on our responses to caffeine and not everyone reacts in the same way. This means consuming caffeine won’t necessarily improve your performance.

Do “energy boosters” work?

Stroll the aisles of any pharmacy or “health food” store and you’ll see a multitude of herbs and other supplements that claim to boost energy. Soft drinks and so-called energy drinks include these products. Yet there is little or no scientific evidence to support the claims for most of these substances. The fact is, the only thing that’ll reliably boost your energy is caffeine or other stimulant—and their effects wear off within hours.