Energy Drink Ingredients

Its seems energy drink companies are cramming more and more ingredients into their products. “What do all these ingredients supposedly do to/for my body?”, has become a common question among consumers. So here is a list of the most common ingredients and their alleged effects on the body.

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. An 8 oz cup of coffee contains 110-150mg for drip, 65-125mg for percolated, and 40-80 mg for instant. Dr. Pepper gives you 41mg, and a can of Coke provides 34mg. A full can of RockStar has 160mg. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system giving the body a sense of alertness. It can raise heart rate and blood pressure while dehydrating the body. A lot of people experience side effects above 200mg, which include sleeplessness, heart palpitations, headaches, nausea, and most commonly the jitters.
We’re tracking the caffeine levels of virtually all energy drinks. 

Taurine

Taurine is an amino acid that your body naturally produces. It helps regulate heartbeat, 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 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 food to energy, 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. Search the interweb for info on proper dosing of the different vitamins. Common names for B vitamins are insotol, niacin, riboflavin, cyanocobalamin, and pyridoxine hydrochloride.

Ginseng

Ginseng, an adaptogenic herb, is known to increase energy, has some anti-fatigue components, supposedly relieves stress, and increase memory. Right now it’s suspected that ginseng 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. Rare side effects such as diarrhea and headache have been reported.

Ginkgo Biloba

This ingredient is named after the rare tree it originates from. It is believed to help with memory retention, 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. 60mg is a standard supplementation dose, and you can easily take 240mg. It is advised, however, that most energy drinks do not contain enough ginkgo to be of any benefit. People on anti-depressants shouldn’t take ginkgo and some of the other side effects include blood thinning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, and restlessness.

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. Rare side effects include include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

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 carbs for workouts lasting more than an hour. However, too much sugar intake has been linked to diabetes. 

Anti-oxidants

Anti-oxidants are things that help your body gracefully recover from the damage of free radicals. Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant, so claiming that your energy drink has a lot of anti-oxidants 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 anti-oxidants.

Sources: Kavita M. Babu, MD, Richard James Church, MD, William Lewander, MD. “Energy Drinks: The New Eye-Opener For Adolescents”. Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine. 2008