Juced Review: I Tried Preworkout Gummies to See If They'd Help My Energy

By Abbey StoneDecember 19, 2025Need your daily dose of vitamins? To relax and fall asleep faster? Help being more, ahem, regular? There’s a gummy for that. The market for health- and wellness-boosting gummy supplements has ballooned in recent years (by one estimate, it was valued at $10.7 billion—with a B—in 2024), with varieties claiming to support your gut health, immune system, cognitive function, and more. One of the newest to hit (virtual) store shelves is Jüced, a “pre-workout” gummy from the brains behind the greens supplement Grüns. Launched in early December, Jüced bills itself as an extra energy oomph before you hit the gym—or the town. With cool-girl influencer Tinx acting as the poster child in the brand’s retro, “Let’s Get Physical”–inspired marketing campaign, it’s clear Jüced is trying to be hipper and more fun (can supplements be fun? Jüced thinks so!) than other pre-exercise products you can buy. “We’re here for the people who love a good sweat, but don’t live at the gym. The ones who work out, then gtfo,” the brand’s website says. “We call it pre-workout. But it’s pre-anything, really.” Now, my love of Grüns is well-documented. And seeing as I’m an office worker with a p.m. Pilates habit (not to mention, a preexisting Tinx fan), I seem to be exactly Jüced’s target demo. So when the brand asked if I’d like to try the gummies, I said heck yes, send ’em my way. Just like Grüns, Jüced comes preportioned into 28 “snack packs” of eight gummy bears. (They literally are shaped like little bears holding a barbell, which is very cute.) Each pack of the “low sugar” variety that I tried contains 40 calories, with 12 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of dietary fiber, and 6 grams of sugar. The sugar-free version has 20 calories and 0 grams of sugar, but does contain 5 grams of the sugar substitute allulose. The functional ingredients—meaning, the ones that are credited with any pick-me-up you feel after taking Jüced—are caffeine (sourced from green tea extract), the amino acids l-carnitine and betaine, and an adaptogen (or, plant that helps your body adapt to stress) called rhodiola rosea. Of those, caffeine was the only one I recognized—or even felt confident pronouncing. And even though I consume caffeine every day via my morning cup of coffee, I didn’t have a handle on how the chemical can support exercise. So I called up someone who absolutely does: Yasi Ansari, RDN, a certified specialist in sports dietetics. Before zooming in on Jüced, let’s take a step back and look at the pre-workout category of supplements in general. Can a powder, gummy, or drink really make you exercise harder, better, faster, stronger? “When people use pre-workouts, reported benefits include feeling more alert, having a bit more energy, producing slightly more power, and feeling like the workout takes less effort overall,” says Ansari. However, she cautions, “These products are not essential. When someone is eating regularly, fueling before and during exercise, and staying well hydrated, their body often already has what it needs.” And before adding any supplements to your routine, it’s recommended you speak to your doctor to make sure they won’t adversely interact with any medications you’re taking or conditions you have. Here’s what Ansari thinks about Jüced's main ingredients and how they may support your workout: Caffeine: “For some people, caffeine can enhance performance, mainly by boosting energy and improving mental focus,” she says. “One of the most well-supported benefits, especially for endurance exercise, is that caffeine can reduce perceived effort, making the workout feel easier on the body.” One serving of Jüced contains 95 milligrams of caffeine, which Ansari says is moderate compared to other pre-workout supplements you can buy and shouldn’t be enough to pose problems to most people. “Research suggests that performance benefits can begin around 2 to 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight, though tolerance varies,” she says. “For most adults, a daily caffeine intake of up to 400 milligrams is generally considered safe.” L-carnitine: “L-carnitine plays a role in fat metabolism and energy production during endurance training,” Ansari says. But she caveats that at the small dose included in Jüced, it’s more of a supporting player and might not be enough to provide a benefit. Betaine: Jüced uses a proprietary form of betaine the brand calls DuraBeet, which is sourced from sugar beets. “Betaine has some evidence supporting muscular endurance,” Ansari says, but since DuraBeet’s specifics aren’t available, she can’t speak to it directly. Rhodiola rosea: “Rhodiola is often included [in pre-workout products] to help with mental fatigue and perceived effort, and this dose falls within the studied ranges,” Ansari says. According to Ansari, there are a few important things to keep in mind when considering the efficacy of supplement products that combine ingredients (compared to single-ingredient products). First: The studies that show benefits from each of the ingredients are usually ingredient-specific; the research doesn’t look at the precise mix of elements in formulations like Jüced, and ingredients can have different effects at different dosages and in different combinations. Also, “most research on ingredients like these focuses on regular, ongoing use, so occasional or sporadic intake is less likely to make much of a difference,” Ansari says. Ansari has some buyer-beware tips for gummy products specifically as well. “One consideration is third party testing; certifications like NSF Certified for Sport or Informed Sport help confirm that what’s on the label is actually in the product,” she says. And “how a supplement is made matters just as much as what's on the label,” Ansari adds. She tells me that gummies are created using heat and moisture, which can affect certain ingredients. “While caffeine and betaine are stable, the active compounds in rhodiola can be more sensitive to processing and formulation,” she says. “We’ve seen this play out with creatine gummies, where independent testing has shown noticeable gaps between what’s listed on the label and what’s actually in the product.” Last but definitely not least, Ansari—and every nutrition expert I’ve ever interviewed—recommends you first try to fuel yourself through a balanced diet and plenty of water. “I always recommend starting with a food-first approach, since many people can meet their energy needs through regular meals and hydration alone,” she says. “If you are feeling fatigued during training, I often say it’s either a fueling problem, a sleep problem, or a hydration problem.” I also think it’s important to flag that Jüced’s positioning as a “pre-anything” supplement, leaning into the idea that you can eat them before “a night out” is dicey. The website says: “Maybe you take it at the pregame, skip the espresso martini at the bar, and magically have $25 (plus tip, always tip your bartender) more in your pocket for, I don’t know, literally anything else.” Yeesh, I don’t know, friends. This blanket recommendation makes me feel itchy. In reality, mixing caffeine with alcohol or other substances that one might find at a party (do I need to spell this out?) can be dangerous. Each person’s caffeine tolerance is different, as discussed, and so are the particular circumstances of your supplementation. Will you be binge drinking? Have you had enough to eat? ”Before going out on the town, I think a better approach would be to have a snack with protein and carbohydrates and make sure that our energy is stable,” Ansari says. While Grüns are made with many whole fruit ingredients (including apple, strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry) that give them the sweet, fruit punch flavor I love, Jüced uses “natural peach flavor,” “natural flavors,” and citric acid to make the bears taste like “electric peach.” Unfortunately, electric peach isn’t really for me. When I open a pouch, I’m immediately hit with an artificial peach aroma, like Trolli Peachie O’s candy. And, as expected, the first taste on my palate is that sweet, tangy peach. After a few chews, however, the flavor becomes bitter, my guess is because the herbaceous green tea extract was competing with the fruit. While I wouldn’t say that electric peach is my favorite flavor, I do still prefer nibbling on gummies to slurping down a powdery drink. And hey, to each his own—you could love Jüced’s mix of sweet, sour, and bitter. (For what it’s worth, I asked a Jüced rep if there are plans to release new flavors, considering I like the original Grüns so much, but she said that currently isn’t in the works.) Beyond taste, was Jüced the energizer it claimed to be? Do I feel like Jüced gave me a boost? I think so! I’m a usual victim of the 3 p.m. slump; I try to stick to one cup of coffee in the morning, so by the time the afternoon rolls around I often feel sleepy and sluggish. I tried cracking into a pack of Jüced when this wave of exhaustion hit, and it brought me back to life, giving me enough pep to make it through the rest of the work day. To use Jüced as a pre-workout supplement, the site advises: “Take Jüced about 30–60 minutes before your workout or whenever you need some energy. You’ll feel the lift quickly, and consistency builds long-term performance benefits.” (That that last bit aligns with Ansari’s note about benefits of the ingredients being associated most with regular, ongoing use, rather than sporadic supplementation.) When I followed these instructions, the gummies gave me the energy infusion I needed to power through my reps, just like Ansari said I might be able to expect. Jüced is made with ingredients that have research to support their efficacy at increasing energy levels and endurance, particularly caffeine. So if you tolerate caffeine well and already have a solid nutritional foundation, it could make sense to switch your usual pre-workout supplements for the gummy. Personally, I wish I liked the taste. I did see increased energy after I popped a pack, it was just harder for me to stick to Jüced as a daily habit because I didn’t crave or look forward to eating it the way I do with Grüns. But when it’s a brain-foggy afternoon and I have a noncancelable personal training session ahead of me, Jüced comes in clutch.