Energy Drink Ingredients
Wine is grapes. Sure, there’s a lot of different kinds, but who really cares? Beer is hops, barley, water–again, pretty boring. Anyone who’s reasonably intelligent would look somewhere to see what they’re putting in their body. Especially if it makes you warm and tingly. Here, then, is your research, handed to your ass on a silver platter.
- Caffeine: The most common stimulant, found in coffee, Coke and Mountain Dew. Found in much higher quantities in energy drinks. Most energy drinks contain between 70 and 200 mg. A 5 oz cup of coffee contains 110-150mg for drip, 65-125mg for percolated, and 40-80 mg for instant. Dr. Pepper gives you 61mg, and a can of Coke provides 50mg. A full can of RockStar has 150mg. A lot of people experience side effects above 200mg, but I’ve personally known people that can handle a full gram at a time. They looked like an ADD monkey having a seizure, but they didn’t die. I don’t recommend it.
We’re tracking the caffeine levels of virtually all energy drinks. Go knock yourself out.
- Taurine: Taurine is an amino acid that your body naturally produces. It helps regulate heartbeat and muscle contractions, and energy levels. Usually your body makes enough that you don’t need to supplement. It’s thought, but not proven, that under “stress conditions” like illness, physical exertion, or injury, the body does not create enough and supplements can help. Taurine might be a “mild inhibitory neurotransmitter”, some studies show it helps with excitable brain states. While this isn’t exactly what we want, maybe it helps level us out so we function better with elevated levels of other stimulants.
- Guarana: Guarana comes from plants in South America. Amazonians have used it for a long time to increase alertness and energy. It’s more dense in caffeine than coffee beans (3-4% vs 1-2%). It’s not just called “caffeine” because it contains a couple other things: theobromine and theophylline. They’re found in coffees and teas, and are known stimulants. Marketing retards will sometimes call this one guaranine, as if it’s something different. It’s not.
- B Vitamins: These are essentially the things that help you convert crap to energy. Crap like sugar, which is found in abundance in energy drinks. The jury’s still out on whether or not they increase energy levels via supplementation, but they will sure help warding off the hangovers when you mix that energy drink with alcohol. Search the interweb for info on proper dosing of the different vitamins.
- Ginseng: Ginseng, an adaptogenic herb, is known to increase energy, has some anti-fatigue components, and supposedly relieves stress. Right now it’s suspected that gingseng helps stimulate the hypothalamic and pituitary glands, which then secrete something called adrenal corticotropic hormone. With a name like that, it can’t possibly be bad. Ginseng is nothing that’s naturally created by your body, so having this in your drink certainly won’t hurt. 200mg/day seems to be the standard dose, but you can safely take up to 2700mg.
- Ginkgo Biloba: It’s suspected that ginkgo biloba is the longest-living organism on this planet. Using the theory that you get something’s (or someone’s) powers by eating the brains, eating the oldest thing on the planet is probably a good thing. Or maybe it’s such a hardy mofo that it’ll kill you instantly. But that’s never been the case. It helps memory rentention, concentration, circulation, acts as an anti-depressant, and even shows signs of helping people with Alzheimer’s. The German government recognizes it as something that helps with memory loss, concentration, and depression. That’s some kick-ass stuff right there. 60mg is a standard supplementation dose, and you can easily take 240mg. If you don’t get this with your drinks, I’d highly recommend supplementing your diet with it.
- L-Carnitine: An amino acid usually created by your liver and kidneys, this stuff helps up your metabolism and energy levels. Because of the way it interacts with your body, it may act as a thermogenic and help increase weight loss and endurance during exercise. The jury’s still out on whether or not you need to supplement unless you have an unusual diet, but you can take 2-6 grams without worry. Make sure you get L-Carnitine, which is the type your body creates and can use. D-Carnitine is “inactive” and may actually hurt endurance levels. Some people take this to support their heart, so putting it in an energy drink that increases your heart rate… good stuff
- Sugars: Glucose is the body’s preferred fuel. That’s why you get hyper with a lot of sugar. Energy drinks contain a ton of sugar. Therefore, energy. It’s a carbohydrate, and a lot of exercise regiments suggest a good dose of sugar for workouts lasting more than an hour. A lot of athletes take it in the form of rice or noodles, so they have timed absorption. You can take a bunch of this easily… 150 grams in your system might get you wired, but probably won’t hurt you.
- Antioxidants: Antioxidants are things that help your body gracefully recover from the damage of free radicals. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, so claiming that your energy drink has a lot of antioxidants is like saying you’re buying really expensive orange juice. But they’re good, they help fend off illness and prevent cellular damage. Vitamins C and E, Vitamin A (aka retinol, beta-carotene), and selenium are all antioxidants.
UPDATE: See the new sugar in energy drinks database for a sortable table of beverage sugar content.
421 Comments
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I just drank half a can of Monster and I’m about to DIE!
I’m so hyper I think I’m going to throw up! Energy drinks definatly aren’t for me…
urgh, i also drank a nos energy drink and i felt very light headed and dizzy sometime after
wow…finaly some people who are smart….
allthough you shouldnt blame the energy drink untill you are SURE it is the cause…
i drink an energy drink every morning at school. I love them i dont care if im gunna die faster. i always start shaking ang get super hyper. ITs awesome.
i wana know do people think you should be 18 or over to buy energy drinks or not caz some places do have tat rule… me myself, i think they shouldt have that caz i think people are reapscibal enugh to know if they should drink them or not
Bad, acts like a alcohol
hey “Punk”, if you think people are responsible with these drinks…think again…just read back a few pages and find out for yourself…
lol….. energy drinks act NOTHING like alchohol, unless there is some in it….
Hey, this might sound stupid
but are there any caffeine free energy drinks?
or is that the point of a energy drink .. (high dose of caffeine)
Although you can’t have an energy drink without eating something. Otherwise you’ll be completely drained. I LOVE MONSTER ASSAULT!!!
people should try the new “vitamin Energy”
it tastes awesome and is good for you… in ways ^ ^
could you please not say “served to your @$$ on a silver platter? I’m trying to use this website for a school project (and i can’t if you have that on there)Please take that off so i can use it as a source. thank you.
p.s. this site RULES i got a bunch of info here.. you’re smart
xXkilokillerXx April 7th, 2007 7:55 am
hey i remembered (the next day)
when you are constantly drinking caffeine your body gets used to the caffeine and when you stop for a day or two it is almost like a withdrawl… then the next drink you have is just your body going back to its “normal” caffeine level that you have set…
Yeah, that’s called an addiction…It’s the same thing people have been talking about when they say “caffeine addiction.” It can happen with almost anything, really.
This site DOES have some good info, though it IS a pro-energy drink site, so it doesn’t have a whole lot of the negative effects…Which DO exist, contrary to some of your beliefs. I drink energy drinks occasionally, though normally I stick to soda, and even then I normally stick to Sprite, which doesn’t have any caffeine.
Well after reading most of this site, I personally picked up the habit of drinking energy drinks. The past few weeks, I would feel sluggish, wanting to take naps, and so on. This would be almost everyday no matter the amount of sleep (little or alot) or my diet. It interfered with school work due to how awake I was for class. Energy drinks aren’t bad at all, it helps give people the certain boost they need in their day. If someone doesn’t feel well after an energy drink, but you see so many other people that are just fine drinking it, its the person, not the drink. Get that through your heads. Honestly, energy drinks are great, an alternative to coffee. A kid could walk into any Starbucks and order a drink (that may contain a lot of caffeine) but thats ok, but a kid couldn’t drink energy drinks? Cmon now, wtf… Use but don’t abuse it
hey you hard core forum-er, kilokiller, you should probably get a life. cumming back to the same forum a million times a day, is really lame. and quit acting like you are an educated activist on this subject
hello i am 23 years old my name is Gabe. I use to drink up to 4 energy drinks a day from red bull and monster mostly. But the last couple weeks iv been feeling really poopy. Waking up in the middle of the night at all hours . Waking up sore with headaches and stomach aches. Come to find out that the other night while i was sleeping i had a seizure. Did not remember it or know of it until my Mother told me about it the next morning. I do not have a history of seizures or am i epileptic. I Had a seizure back in 04 but did not know what triggered it?. I had two seizures in a matter of 4 hours. Went to the hospital ran all the tests nothing wrong with me gave me some pills to make sure i did not have another one my perscrip ran out stopped takin them did not have another one till this last week in fact i had 3 in a matter of a 4 day period. My mother thought i turned in to a heavy drug user but no, I told her straight up weed only thing i do and told her i have been offered a few things but said no thanks. I did not know if a energy drink could trigger a seizure. but i can say this last Monday was the last energy drink i had one and was also the last day i had a seizure to. I can say from searching the internet to see if energy drinks cause any one else to have a seizure that it has to a few people. I recommend if you drink a lot of energy drinks that you please try to stop and go to doctor if you feel the same symptoms i said being sore or waking up with headaches or vomiting. I can say from the what i now know that i am never going to drink another energy drink again.
Gabe Detroit Michigan
Does Full throttle energy drinks make you have a low sperm count or effect you in anyway about having kids, or are there any other dangers that I should know about when drinking full throttle??????
THANKS
LOL people are funny…. yeah caffein addiction is real….if you have had sezzures (the spelling is an inside joke) before….caffine was probly not the smartest thing…it might or might not be from the drink… but COMMON SENSE (full caps to people who think i act like an educated activist) would be not to drink energy drinks….
hey “hellzkellz” if you look at the post dates… well…. you might find that i am not posting every day…not even every week for that matter… i like to help the people curious about energy drinks…
dont be hatin ’cause i like to know alot about what i consume….
^ ^
smile
i know a couple of people who have almost no caffine sensitivity…. they laugh at me and tell me i am wasting my cash on these drinks… well maby they’re
right… but ohh well ^ ^
the new Monster Java tastes WIKID awesome
its worth trying
not if u drink them evreyday=p u dont have the crashes anymore now i dont even feel the energy kick in for like 6 hours. Heres a little log lol
12:30 - Buy AMP ENergy
1:00 Drink AMP
2:00 Feel like shit
2:30 stop feeling like shit
6:00 Feel ready to run a mile, do pushups instead =p
I love energy drinks. They are a big help for antidepression, but DON’T take them with Ritalin. I just dink them to make myself more active and impulsive. I get dizzy alot as well as repeated head rushes when i don’t have them. DON’T SMOKE!!! DRINK!!!
i saw that taurine in rockstar triple dose is 1000mg. is that ok?
ohh der
taurine
the triple doesnt have 1000 it has 3000mg
and it being ok depends on how it will affect you
I don’t think the energy drinks should be considered the root of all “evil”
It’s the people’s decision to drink what they drink, but it’s also his or her fault for not living a healthy enough lifestyle to have the energy needed to get through every day.
I drink energy drinks, but only if I’m going to be awake for a while doing homework or something. They do help, and I accept the fact that it is bad for me.
So…uhm….yeah, the energy drinks aren’t the whole problem, it’s the people too.
Oh yeah, there’s a warning on every can for every energy drink not to drink more than TWO a day. so..yeah..that solves that problem.
XZUDE Energy Drink…
16 oz can has 640mg caffiene
i drink monster all the time and i def get energy…its good if your tired and need to drive somewhere for instance!
i drink AMP its awesome and it gets me and my friend wired
energy drinks are awesome they get you high and taste great i dont drink them to often though 4 a week but thats cause my parents think there bad for me i used to drink 1-4 a day
“…they get you high…”
Ummm, no they dont’…
If you think an energy drink gets you “high”, you don’t know what high is.
and secondly, even if you aren’t naive and you know what being “high” really is, it’s still not a good idea to start assocoating the word high with energy drinks. It’s only a matter of time before conservatives and retards get wind of “The rising energy-drink epidemic” and start banning shit.
Sorry :p
I love energy drinks too! 5-hour is my latest favorite. I just don’t want to see them go away!
why do i feel sick after having a nos energy drink and can it hurt you in anyway?
I’ve been doing a little research about energy drinks. First of all, I recently started drinking energy drinks. I drink about two a day and I have had no negatvie side effects at all from them. As a matter of fact, I have suffered with headaches for years and since I started drinking the energy drinks my headaches have virtually disappeared. I’m sold on energy drinks just on that aspect.If you are a headache sufferer then you know where I am coming from. When I have a migraine I would put myself in a coma to make it stop. I even brought it up with my doctor and he was completely ok with it and just warned me to cut down on other caffeinated drinks which I did anyway. I primarily drink water or juice.
My wife asked me what the energy drink does for me and I told her it just makes me feel good and it truly does. I don’t get jittery, I don’t get jumpy or have problems sleeping. The only noticeable side affect is that it supresses my appetite. This isn’t necessarily bad since I have a tendency to overeat anyway.
Most of the ingredients are healthy and in the right quantities can be very beneficial. Caffeine can cause a problem if taken in great quantities without allowing the body time to naturally metabolize it. Most energy drinks have about the same (or a little more) caffeine as a cup of coffee and most people readily accept coffee as ok. People also dump massive amounts of sugar in their coffee and that is considered ok as well. Not to mention fattening cream etc. etc. Take a look at the contents, calories, fat etc of a starbucks and you will see what I mean.
If you are worried about the sugar then there are sugar free energy drinks available. Sobe makes one that tast pretty good for a diet drink.
I also recommend staying away from the drinks such as monster, vault etc. These have very few of the good ingredients and massive amounts of the bad. These drinks are basically a soda that has been pumped full of caffeine.
Sobe’s energy drinks seem to be very balanced. Rockstar has the highest doses (that i have found) of the “good stuff” but even the “good stuff” can be bad if not taken in moderation and besides Rockstar doesn’t tast very well.
I couldn’t find Lost Energy Drink. IT’s a good un, i drink bout 3/4 a day. Very good, a bit sugary but good. Mix it with vodka and 2 shots of espresso and it is amazing. Tis all.
My son took only a sip of NOS energy drink and the following day he has flu symptoms. I’d stay away from that stuff!
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well…allanah…. just scroll up and read the ingreedients listed…. or…just click on the tab “caffine in drinks/food ect….
i recoment clicking on “death by caffein… funny results ^ ^