What Are The Best Energy Drinks

What Are The Best Energy Drinks?

Discover the top 5 best energy drinks on the market today to boost your energy levels (without the crash)

In this guide:

What makes a good energy drink?
Why mainstream energy drinks can actually wreck your energy levels
The top 5 best energy drinks on the market today, according to nutritionists

Top 5 Best Energy Drinks Of 2024

Discover the top 5 best energy drinks on the market today to boost your energy levels (without the crash)

In this guide:

What makes a good energy drink?
Why mainstream energy drinks can actually wreck your energy levels
The top 5 best energy drinks on the market today, according to nutritionists

For many people, sipping an energy drink is almost an essential ritual. They drink a can, and feel an instant boost of energy that makes them “ready for action” – whether they need a boost for a workout, a meeting, or an important exam.

Energy drinks have indeed been proven to improve mental alertness, boost focus, and enhance physical performance.

The problem is: most energy drinks come with unpleasant side effects, such as energy crashes, jitters, blood sugar disruption or even irregular heartbeats. After all, what’s the point of taking an energy drink if you feel even worse after drinking it?

Most importantly, are there any drinks that can boost your energy without causing bad side effects? Fortunately, there is, but there are so many options on the market today that it can be hard to know which one to choose…

In this guide, we will help you choose an energy drink that not only gives you a strong boost of energy for several hours, but also makes you feel good afterwards instead of draining your energy. Our guide has been carefully reviewed by professional nutritionists and dieticians, to ensure high-quality and accurate information.

What makes a good energy drink?

Energy drink brands are all claiming to be “the best” on the market. In that context, it can be difficult to know how to trust. The question is: what makes an energy drink “good” exactly?

Here are the top things to have in mind when buying an energy drink, according to nutritionists.

Does what it’s supposed to do: gives you energy

They’re called “energy drinks” for a reason: they’re supposed to give you energy! A good drink should boost your energy levels for several hours, enabling you to perform at your peak – both mentally and physically.

That said, there are several kinds of energy:

The quick boost of energy, followed by a sudden crash (usually 3-4 hours after consuming the drink)
The strong, sustained boost of energy, which keeps you energized for hours, before declining slowly instead of crashing fast

Ideally, you should look for energy drinks that are fast-acting (you feel the boost within 20 minutes) and that gives you a sustained boost of energy for a long time, without crashes.

What kinds of drinks can give you this strong, sustained boost of energy? Typically, drinks that contain a moderate amount of caffeine (under 80 mg) along with other stimulants like ginseng, green tea, or ginger. Drinks should also be low on sugar (less than 10 grams), to avoid sudden crashes.

Makes you feel good in your body

It’s one thing to give you energy, but if you feel like trash 30 minutes after sipping a Red Bull, you may as well not drink anything!

Many consumers report feeling bad after taking energy drinks, like something is not “right” within their body.

Typically, these bad, unpleasant sensations are due to an excessive dose of caffeine, too much sugar, or unhealthy chemicals contained in these drinks such as aspartame, ace-K, or artificial colors like Yellow No.5.

If you want to feel good and healthy (on top of having a clear boost of energy), you need to choose energy drinks that are low on sugar, without aspartame or acesulfame-K, and which contain ingredients that benefit your body instead of harming it.

Examples of natural ingredients that can make you feel naturally good include: vitamin B, green tea, saffron, ginger, among others.

Ingredients that make you feel bad:

Ingredients that make you feel good (examples):

Doesn’t destroy your health

Fact: one can of monster contains 63 grams of added sugar, or 16 teaspoons of sugar

According to the World Health Organization, that’s 152% higher than the daily recommended amount, in one single drink.

ONE CAN OF ROCKSTAR = 16 TABLESPOONS OF SUGAR

High consumption of sugar can have serious health consequences. It has been shown to increase your risk of cardiovascular problems, diabetes, dementia, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and several types of cancer.

But sugar is not the only problem here. There is one thing that is just as bad for your health as sugar, if not worse: Acesulfame-K and aspartame.

These sweeteners are highly-processed chemicals that make the drink sweeter to your palate. But numerous clinical studies have found that Ace-K and aspartame can cause long-term health damage.

How Ace-K And Aspartame Are Killing You

Aspartame

Synthetic chemical obtained from genetically modified bacteria
May cause headaches, anxiety, insomnia
May increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain types of cancer
May increase appetite and promote weight gain
In the list of substances to avoid, according to weight loss recommendations from the World Health Organization

Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)

Chemical compound 200 times sweeter than table sugar
May increase risk of obesity and gut chronic inflammation
May worse diabetes
May improve the risk of cognitive dysfunction, due to altering neuro-metabolic activity

8 out of 10 most popular energy drinks on the market contain acesulfame-K and aspartame. In other words, when buying an energy drink, you have an 80% risk of suffering from the damaging long-term effects of these chemicals.

However, we recommend also being careful about drinks that claims to be "free of artificial sweeteners". As we'll explain later in the article, they usually contain chemically modified stevia and erythritol, two sweeteners which have dangerous long-term effects on gut health and can cause heart problems. Despite some bad press, recent studies have shown that sucralose is a safer artificial sweetener that can provide a clean sugar-free sugar addition to energy drinks without any long-term heart health problems.

Tastes good

Last but not least, a good energy drink has to taste great! No one wants to drink something that tastes like “sparkling chemicals”…

To refresh your palate and satisfy your buds, nutritionists recommend looking for drinks that are made with fresh juice, that use safe sweeteners like sucralose, and that use high-quality ingredients free of additives and preservatives.

We’ll share a selection of energy drinks that respect all the criteria above (strong energy boost, makes you feel good, healthy, and great-tasting) in a minute.