G Fuel is an energy drink brand for gamers that describes itself as the “Official Drink of Esports.” The brand has partnerships with some of the biggest streamers in the world like Pewdiepie.
But does G Fuel contain research-backed ingredients for improving energy and focus, or is it a waste of money? Does it contain any questionable additive ingredients? How do real users rate and describe the effects and taste of G Fuel? And what retailer sells the brand for the best price?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients in G Fuel based on medical studies to give our take on whether the supplement is likely to improve energy and focus or if it's a waste of money.
We'll also feature customer reviews of the brand and provide a cost comparison to highlight the retailer that sells G Fuel for the best price.
Ingredient Analysis
The vitamin and mineral ingredients in G Fuel Sour Blue Chug Rug flavor (inspired by influencer FaZe Rug) are shown above.
We haven't come across any convincing medical evidence that taking added vitamins increases energy or focus.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin (meaning it's not as easily cleared by the body), and a 2008 medical review found that vitamin E supplementation may actually increase all-cause mortality.
The ingredient blend to support energy and focus is shown below:
Caffeine was shown in a clinical trial published in the JMIR Research Protocols journal to increase brain processing speed and alertness at a similar dose to that in G Fuel.
L-tyrosine is an amino acid that's clinically shown to support cognitive function, but as we documented in our review of Alpha Brain, the medical studies we could find proving that effect used doses around 10,000 milligrams (mg), while G Fuel only provides 1,000 mg. This ingredient may be underdosed.
Glucuronolactone, taurine and caffeine are all included in this blend, and may have negative health effects when taken in combination.
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Nutrition found these three ingredients to cause negative changes to blood pressure and insulin sensitivity in young, healthy adults.
N-acetyl-l-tyrosine and ATP are included at 1 mg doses, which is a vastly lower dose than we've seen either ingredient studied at in clinical trials. These ingredients may be significantly underdosed.
The antioxidant ingredients in G Fuel are shown below:
G Fuel’s entire Antioxidant Complex totals a 26 mg dose.
For reference, one apple has a dose of 242,000 mg according to the FDA. This means that G Fuel’s entire antioxidant complex of 18 different fruits is 0.01﹪ of the dosage of one apple.
We have not come across any evidence that doses of fruits this inconsequentially low have any benefit to health or focus, nor does G Fuel prove such on their website.
The inactive ingredients in G Fuel are shown below:
There are several inactive ingredients in G Fuel that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Acesulfame potassium and sucralose are artificial sweeteners, and artificial sweeteners have been associated with increased risk of tumor development in both human and animal studies, according to a 2015 medical study.
FD&C Blue #1 is an artificial food dye, and a 2012 medical review on the toxicity of artificial food dyes concluded with the researchers suggesting that all such dyes should be removed from the food supply due to safety concerns.
Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer that was clinically shown to cause whole-body inflammation in some individuals, as we discussed in our Neuriva reviews article.
Natural and artificial flavors is a broad categorical term that could refer to any number of specific flavoring ingredients. A 2013 medical review suggested that flavoring ingredients and their metabolites may be toxic in some circumstances.
A YouTube video from the popular "More Plates More Dates" channel has an entertaining takedown of G Fuel's formulation with over 900,000 views that highlights some of the same concerns we have:
Overall, we consider G Fuel likely to improve mental focus, but caffeine is the single active ingredient out of all of these ingredients reviewed that we believe is effectively dosed based on a review of medical research.
We do not recommend G Fuel due to the inclusion of the questionable additive ingredients like artificial flavors and artificial sweeteners.
But how do real users rate and describe the effects of G Fuel? We'll review in the next section.
Real People Try G Fuel
A YouTube creator named "Boonks" shared his thoughts after trying G Fuel for the first time in a video with over 1 million views:
A YouTube creator named "Dukaja" reviewed every flavor of G Fuel in an entertaining video:
Where to Get the Best Price
G Fuel is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown at the time of updating this article:
GNC: $39.99 (link)
Brand website: $35.99 (plus shipping, link)
Amazon: $34.99 (free shipping – link to official Amazon listing)
Walmart: $24.98 (plus shipping, link)
G Fuel is currently around 10-40% cheaper on Amazon and Walmart than on the brand's website when factoring in shipping costs.
Our Clean Energy Picks
Pique Breakfast Black Tea Sticks is our top whole food energy pick.
Black tea consumption is "associated with rapid increases in alertness and information processing capacity" according to a clinical trial, and Pique's tea is organic and comes in convenient stick packs that can be mixed into water, so a teapot or kettle are not needed.
Performance Lab Energy is our top multi-ingredient energy supplement.
This supplement contains acetyl-l-carnitine which can "improve energy status" according to a medical review published in the Neurochemical Research journal, as well as CoQ10 which "is an effective and safe treatment for reducing fatigue symptoms" according to a 2022 meta-study.
Illuminate Labs Panax Ginseng Extract is our top herbal energy pick.
Panax ginseng extract has been clinically shown to reduce mental fatigue and reduce physical fatigue, and our supplement is third-party tested to ensure its purity and potency.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
Real Customers Review G Fuel
Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
G Fuel has been reviewed over 26,000 times on Amazon with an average review rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars at the time of updating this article.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "ourlifewithfive" who gives the product a 5-star rating and claims it can be a convenient alternative to coffee:
"I took a sip and... OMG! It was amazing! It tasted exactly like raspberry lemonade, but better. It was refreshing, tangy, sweet, and smooth. It had no artificial aftertaste or chalkiness...it made me feel awesome! Within 10 minutes of drinking it, I felt a surge of energy and focus that lasted for hours. I felt more alert, more creative, more motivated, and more confident."
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "M2B3A4F1P1" who claims the product caused side effects:
"something in G Fuel’s formulation doesn’t agree with me at all. I had one scoop of powder mixed in water per day for 3 days and each day it caused me an extreme laxative effect all day and night with very painful stomach cramps. That’s when I found all the other bad reviews noting other people experiencing the same problem."
G Fuel has an average review rating of 4.86 out of 5 stars on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, which is one of the highest ratings on that website we've ever noted in an Illuminate Health review.
The brand responds to all complaints in an effort to resolve the problem, which is a sign of a high-quality brand.
Pros and Cons of G Fuel
Here are the pros and cons of G Fuel in our opinion:
Pros:
- Should improve energy levels
- Many online customer reviews say the taste is good
Cons:
- Contains artificial sweeteners
- Contains artificial flavors
- Contains artificial dye
- Contains citric acid
- Contains stimulant blend that's clinically shown to have negative health effects in young adults
- We can only identify one effectively-dosed active ingredient for energy
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- Brand website charges for shipping
