As anyone who plays games on consoles and PCs knows, marathon sessions in front of the screen are not uncommon. Hours can be spent blasting aliens or questing in dangerous zones. To stay in tip top form (or even just to stay awake) sustenance is required in the form of energy boosting food and drink.

Fortunately, there\’s a whole host of food and drink available that will do just that, mainly from America where gaming in this fashion is very common! Energy drinks are, of course, an obvious choice but alongside those there\’s a range of sweet, sugar packed drinks a dedicated gamer could try.

One of the most popular drinks in America is Mountain Dew, a citrus flavoured drink. the original version is sweet enough, but for an extra kick, Mountain Dew Voltage has ginseng added to increase energy levels. Other energy drinks gamers could try include Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star. For those looking outside of the energy drink range, however, they could go for root beer, such as A&W Root Beer or IBC Root Beer, or Gatorade in all its many forms. The advantages to gamers of all of these drinks is the hit of either caffeine or sugar, which increases awareness and concentration when consumed in the right amounts.

Colas, lemonades and other fruit-flavoured sodas are readily available – it\’s all a matter of personal taste and personal gaming habits. Hardcore, 12 hours at a time gamers will no doubt opt for the energy drink, but for those playing for just a couple of hours at a time, root beer or cola is probably quite enough!

American candy and other snacks are an ideal accompaniment to gaming too. In no way are we recommending eating an unhealthy amount of these types of food, but in moderation they can provide benefits to gamers. They shouldn’t be messy foods as the gamer needs to concentrate on the task at hand. They should be easy to handle, not melt or crumble too much and should be easy to actually eat.

Some examples of this are Jolly Ranchers and Wonka Nerds (both hard candies that won\’t get sticky and make a mess) in the American sweet division and Cheetos and Fritos in the potato / cheese / corn chip department. Even the likes of Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs would qualify for gaming fodder, though they can be a little stickier and more prone to creating a mess!

Potato chips such as Pringles are another option, while soft candies like Laffy Taffy and Tootsie Rolls can also be considered, as can popcorn. Cookies are a possibility if you don’t mind the crumbs as well! Again, personal taste is going to be the deciding factor.

There are, of course, some foods that just don\’t go with marathon gaming sessions. Chocolate is a complete no-no, it will melt as it sits there or worse, it will melt in the hand, making a mess of the control pad or keyboard, not to mention the gamer!

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of American Soda, importers of American Candy to the UK.

Category: Food and Drinks
Keywords: gaming, american candy, american drinks, american food