Is g fuel bad for you and what does it actually do?
GFuel is an energy drink specifically made for gamers and esport athletes. At first Gfuel was only available in powder form, meaning you bought a tub of powder and needed to mix it with water yourself. As of recently Gfuel also offers cans which are similar to more commonly known drinks like Redbull or Monster.
While Gfuel can be consumed by anybody and is not solely made for gaming, the company clearly markets it for gamers who are looking for a way to improve their reaction time and stay focused for a longer period of time. Besides making you a better gamer, Gfuel also prides themselves as a much healthier alternative to conventionally sugar loaded energy drinks. G Fuel is made with all natural ingredients, loaded with antioxidants and free of sugar. The company’s mission is to have the best energy drink on the market that is not only affordable but also healthy.
Is GFuel bad for you?
Every single day I get asked if G Fuel is safe to consume or if it is bad for you.
Short Answer
Yes G Fuel is considered generally safe and no ingredient in their formula will do any harm if followed G Fuel’s instructions on the label. Here is our article Is GFuel Worth it in 2021?
Long Answer
As with anything in life, things are often not as simple as black and white. This also applies to G Fuel. If you are a healthy 18 years or older human being, G Fuel is safe for you to consume, but there are some exceptions. If you are pregnant, diabetic, suffer from heart problems or high blood pressure, G Fuel might bring some complications along for you.
G Fuel’s energy formula contains many ingredients to boost your energy and wake you up. The two major ones are caffeine and taurine.
Each serving of G Fuel contains about 150mg of caffeine which is equivalent to 1-2 cups of coffee. Taurine is by now a standard ingredient in all energy drinks and acts similar to caffeine on the heart as well. If you have heart problems this could bring complications for you.
While G Fuel prides themselves with their antioxidant complex, there is very little research on how all these different ingredients work together. In general antioxidants are extremely helpful and needed by your body.
They protect your cells and DNA from free radicals. As a rule of thumb if you have health conditions or you are concerned that some ingredients might interfere with your medication or medical treatment, best is to ask your healthcare provider for more information.
Does GFuel actually contain lead?
G Fuels biggest issue, which has been dragging the brand down for the last few years, is its lead warning which appears on every single tub of product you buy. This warning was the result of a lawsuit back in 2017/2018. In California products potentially containing lead need to be labeled with a warning, so that California’s residents can make a more informed decision on whether or not to buy the product.
After testing Gfuel for lead, trace amounts of lead were found in the product, therefore by Californai’s law of proposition 65 requiring Gfuel to label their product with a lead warning.
According to Gfuel these trace amounts of lead originate from the product’s natural ingredients. Plants can absorb lead which is naturally found in soil. When these plants are then used in a product, the lead carries on. Many products on the market which are based on natural ingredients have a lead warning on them.
Is the lead dangerous? Lead in general is dangerous, however; the amount found in gfuel is so low, that you need about 1000 servings to experience lead poisoning, and by that time you will run into poisoning from other ingredients first, caffeine for example.
But if the lead warning is an issue to you, there are plenty of other gaming energy drinks out there.
GFuel as a pre-workout?
The only time a day I would not recommend drinking Gfuel is right before going to bed, simply because the caffeine gives me a hard time falling asleep. Besides that however you can consume Gfuel whenever you want. Is it a good pre-workout?
No absolutely not. You can drink it right before the gym, however; Gfuel is designed to give you mental focus and not so much to support your body in physical activities. The core of pre-workout supplements are stimulants that increase blood flow, resulting in a so-called pump.
Gfuel cannot offer this because it would be counterproductive when gaming. For a more detailed explanation check out my video above.
Can GFuel kill you?
Gfuel is a product considered safe, however; with anything in life the dose makes the poison and if you would consume 1000 servings of Gfuel all at once, yes it would kill you. If you follow Gfuel’s recommended usage, which you can find on the label and their website, no Gfuel will not kill you. If Gfuel was this deadly, it would be off the market. Keep in mind it is in the company’s best interest to keep their consumers alive.
Is GFuel safe for minors?
As I mentioned in my video above, I do not recommend Gfuel for minors. There are no guidelines in the United States on how much caffeine a minor can consume, however; doctors agree that minors should consume little to no caffeine.
Gfuel does not give any recommendation or guidelines on minors consuming their product, but they state on their website that you need to be 18 years or older to browse the site. In that case adults should monitor their minors’ activity on the site. How effective this is, is a totally different story.
Again I believe there is no need for caffeine in the lives of minors at all, no Gfuel or any other form of caffeine. But more to that in the video.
Is GFuel healthier than coffee?
This is a tough question to answer. In what sense is Gfuel healthier than coffee? Because of all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants they add into their drink? While Gfuel and coffee are similar in the sense they both have caffeine and the goal is to wake the consumer up, I think they are so different that this is hard to compare.
It is difficult to say because you cannot switch out one for another. You will never find someone replacing their morning coffee with a serving of Gfuel.
If I had to choose, I would say on the first look Gfuel looks healthier than coffee.
What are GFuel’s shortcomings?
Gfuel’s shortcomings, where do we start? Honestly, I do not believe Gfuel has a lot of shortcomings. The product is fairly priced, it works decently and I enjoy the product a lot. The only aspect of Gfuel I absolutely hate is how terrible it mixes in water. I am uncertain if it is because the ingredients are so natural that there is still dirt mixed in, or if they simply did not prioritize how it mixes.
I am joking by the way, there is no dirt in Gfuel.
Are other energy drinks, Monster/Redbull better?
Well…According to Gfuel, their whole mission is to be different to Monster and Redbull. Monster and Redbull have the bad reputation of being loaded with sugar even though they offer sugar free alternatives. It is difficult to say if one energy drink is really better than the other. In my opinion Gfuel tastes better, is cheaper and has a larger vitamin and antioxidant mix. Am I saying you should get your fill or vitamins through Gfuel? Absolutely not no, but if I have the choice, I would always choose Gfuel over Monster or Redbull, even though Gfuel does have a lower caffeine amount than most conventional energy drinks on the market.
G Fuel Hydration
If you would like to get the G Fuel experience and lifestyle, but you do not want to consume too much caffeine, G Fuel released their Hydration line for this exact purpose.
G Fuel hydration comes in a variety of flavors, not as many as their energy formula however. The hydration formula is a basic version of the energy formula and the main difference is that G Fuel took out the caffeine.
Providing a caffeine free version of the popular esports drink, does not only make it more attractive to users who do not wish to consume caffeine throughout the day or even late at night, but it also opens up the market to a younger audience. Parents can now allow their children to get G Fuel without having them stay up all night.
G Fuel hydration aims to replenish and rehydrate. With those goals in mind, it directly competes with Gatorade and Powerade. While both Gatorade and Powerade are established drinks in almost any sports, G Fuel takes a different approach, by making the drink 0 calories.
One last aspect worth mentioning is the lead warning remains on the label. Caffeine was not the ingredient that resulted California to force Gamma Labs to label their lead content, and with G Fuel hydration the company stays true to its mission to provide real ingredients and therefore the potential lead remains.
In my personal opinion G Fuel hydration is worth a shot, and provides a great alternative to their energy formula. I often find myself gaming at night and I simply wish not to consume caffeine late in the night. With the hydration formula you get the G Fuel experience, with their focus complex, as they claim, but you are still able to go to bed after your gaming session.
If you would like a more detailed insight, you can read my full article by clicking here.
Buy G Fuel the right way
Navigating the G Fuel website for the first time can be confusing, with all the different products and especially flavors the company has to offer. There are however a few tricks I recommend before picking up your first order of G Fuel.
Tricks to save money
G Fuel offers three different starter kits, to get you on your way. The only difference between them is the shaker you get, and the shakers rotate through as well. So pick your favorite shaker and get started. With the shaker you also get 7 G Fuel samples, so you can try out some flavors already. Each sample is one serving.
If you do not want to spend the money on a shaker, which does cost you about $5 in the bundle, you can get every single flavor in 1 serving pouches from G Fuel as well, and in essence create your own assortment of flavors. Do be aware that each flavor is sold in pairs of three, you cannot get a single sample shipped, the lowest sample size shipped is three.
If you wish to create your own assortment of flavors, I recommend choosing the Box deal from G Fuel. This lets you pick 4 flavors, each flavor comes with 5 packs, for a total of 20 packs in the box. This deal runs you slightly cheaper than buying each flavor separately.
Do not waste your money on this
While there are great deals that save you money, there are also a couple items that are just a waste of money.
First we have tubs. There is nothing wrong with G Fuel tubs, however be mindful of the time you purchase your tubs, there might be a BOGO sale right around the corner. G Fuel often has a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE deal going on, allowing you to get two tubs for the price of one. I highly recommend signing up for the email notifications so you do not miss the biggest deals!
Lastly we have cans. G Fuel started to offer some flavors in a canned form, just like Bang Energy does. These drinks contain 300mg off caffeine, so twice the amount of a single serving of powder, and also are carbonated.
While there is nothing wrong with the cans itself, other than they are pricier, I would recommend going to your nearest GNC or supplement store and picking up some cans there. While you might have a hard time finding G Fuel tubs in stores, most supplement stores carry their cans and even some gas stations. I do not recommend to have cans shipped and having to deal with the carbonation and potentially higher s
