We tested 5 popular ways to beat the afternoon energy crash
Michelle MasonJune 2026
It hits around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Your focus drains away, your eyelids get heavy, and you reach for another coffee just to make it to dinner. You slept fine. You ate okay. So why do you feel like someone quietly pulled the plug halfway through your day?
Most people try to fix the crash with whatever is closest to hand — a second coffee, an energy drink, a sugary snack, maybe a B12 shot or an adaptogen they read about. They get a short lift, then they're flat again an hour later, sometimes worse than before.
Here's what almost nobody gets told: the afternoon crash isn't really about sleep, willpower, or more caffeine. It's about energy production inside your cells — and a coenzyme called NAD+. Your mitochondria use NAD+ to turn food into usable energy, and NAD+ levels fall as you age. Less NAD+ means less steady energy. Caffeine and sugar don't refill that tank; they just whip a tired system harder, which is exactly why the lift never lasts.
So we ran a simple test. We took the 5 most common things people use to beat the afternoon crash and compared them head-to-head — not on how fast they hit, but on whether they actually keep you steady past 3 PM.
Key features of our winning fix
Targets the cause, not the symptom
It helps refill NAD+ at the source instead of masking fatigue with a stimulant buzz.
No spike, no jittery crash
Steady energy that builds over weeks, without the caffeine peak-and-drop.
Lasts the whole afternoon
Not a 90-minute peak. Most users report a softer dip and steadier focus into the evening.
Made for daily use
No tolerance build-up like caffeine, and gentle enough to take every single day.
But which one actually works?
Almost everything on this list gives you some kind of lift — that's why people keep reaching for them. The real question is whether that lift treats the cause of the crash or just papers over it for an hour. Most of them mask the problem. One addresses it. So we stopped guessing and scored them.
5 popular energy fixes put to the test
We compared the five most common afternoon-crash fixes over 30 days, scoring each on these five criteria:
Treats the cause vs. masks it
Does it address why your energy dipped, or just override the feeling for a while?
No crash or jitters
Steady lift, or a spike followed by an even harder drop?
All-day energy
Does it hold past 3 PM, or fade after a short peak?
Backed by a real mechanism
Is there an actual biological reason it works, or just a quick stimulant hit?
Daily-use friendly
Can you take it every day without tolerance, sugar, or a midday slump?
We expected the stimulants to dominate. They didn't.
Times
🏆 #1: Rootwella (NMN / NAD+)
Rootwella was the only fix on the list that actually went after the cause of the crash. Instead of a stimulant, it pairs a clinical 500 mg dose of NMN with the cofactors your cells use to convert NAD+ into usable energy: CoQ10, TMG, resveratrol and more.
By week three, testers reported the afternoon dip that used to demand a second or third coffee had simply softened — steadier focus into the evening, with no jittery spike-and-crash. It's the only option here that builds energy from the inside rather than borrowing it from caffeine or sugar.
#2: Energy drinks (Red Bull, Celsius)
The fastest hit on the list — and the most short-lived. Energy drinks lean on a big dose of caffeine (and often sugar), so you get a sharp spike followed by an even harder drop an hour or two later. They mask the crash rather than fix it, and daily use means tolerance, sugar, and a worse slump. Great for a one-off deadline; bad as an everyday answer.
#3: Caffeine + L-theanine
The "smart" stimulant: pairing caffeine with L-theanine smooths out the jitters and gives cleaner focus than coffee alone. But it's still a stimulant — it borrows energy you'll pay back later, builds tolerance, and does nothing for the underlying NAD+ decline. Better than an energy drink, still a band-aid.
#4: B12 / B-complex
B-vitamins genuinely help your body turn food into energy — but here's the catch: they only move the needle if you're actually deficient. If your levels are normal (most people's are), topping up does very little for the afternoon crash. A smart fix for a specific problem, not a reliable energy lever for everyone.
#5: Adaptogens (ashwagandha, rhodiola)
Adaptogens help your body handle stress, which can indirectly take the edge off fatigue. But they're subtle and slow, they're not a direct source of cellular energy, and most people feel little to nothing on the actual 3 PM dip. A nice supporting player for stress — not the fix for an energy crash.
Why the afternoon crash happens (and why coffee can't fix it)
Your mitochondria — the power plants inside your cells — rely on NAD+ to convert food into energy. When NAD+ is high, that conversion runs smoothly and your energy stays level. As NAD+ declines with age, the system sputters, and that shows up as the mid-afternoon wall, brain fog, and reaching for caffeine. Stimulants and sugar give you a borrowed spike, but they never refill the NAD+ your cells actually run on — which is why the lift always fades and the crash comes back.
What actually fixes the 3 PM crash
Refill NAD+ at the source
A direct precursor like NMN tops up the coenzyme your cells run on.
The right cofactors
CoQ10, TMG and resveratrol that turn NAD+ into felt, usable energy.
Steady release, no spike
Energy that holds through the afternoon instead of peaking and dropping.
A daily habit, not a quick hit
Something you take every day without tolerance or a sugar slump.
What to avoid
Stacking more caffeine
Past a point it stops working and just adds jitters and a harder crash.
Sugar and energy-drink spikes
A fast high followed by an even faster low.
One-off "energy shots"
Short-acting stimulants that fade before the afternoon is over.
Vague "proprietary energy blends"
They hide doses and rarely contain a meaningful amount of anything that works.
So can you really fix the crash at the source?
All signs point to yes. Across 30 days of testing, the fixes that only masked fatigue — caffeine, sugar, energy drinks — gave a short lift and a predictable drop. The one that addressed the underlying NAD+ decline produced something different: a steadier afternoon, a softer dip, and energy that didn't need to be topped up with another coffee. The key isn't a bigger stimulant. It's refilling what your cells actually run on.
The winner is clear...
After 30 days, the stimulants did what stimulants do — a quick spike, then the crash again. Rootwella was the only fix that targeted the cause: a clinical NMN dose plus the cofactors that turn NAD+ into steady, all-day energy — the kind that finally makes the afternoon coffee optional.
If you're done borrowing energy from your coffee maker and want it to come from your own cells instead, Rootwella is the clear winner.
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results vary.