Best Energy Drink Powders for Flu (Take Notes)
Now and then I see people with flu and to be honest it’s quite irritating when they can’t get hold of something warm like soup, coffee, or herbal tea.
With many people, not having the luxury of staying at home due to work can be troublesome, so if you’re thinking of getting some boost for your system to get through the day I’d say look for energy drink powders.
But the question is: do powdered energy drinks actually help with flu? Are they safe? And if so, what can be the best possible option for you?
From what I’ve seen, Zipfizz, Advocare Spark, and Celsius On-the-Go are great energy drinks for the flu. They’ve got the right ingredients for a boost and they’re packed with beneficial vitamins and minerals to help get you back in top condition.
If you wanna know more, keep reading.
Contents
Ingredients in Energy Drink Powders
There are certain core ingredients of energy drink powders that can provide you with a boost to carry your day. These are known as Caffeine, Sugar, B-Vitamins, and Taurine. Let’s check them out one by one.
Caffeine
You might already be familiar with caffeine. It’s found in coffee, tea leaves, and cocoa and is a known natural stimulant of the brain and central nervous system.
Being a core ingredient of energy drinks, caffeine works by blocking off the adenosine receptors in your brain and suppresses the feelings of fatigue to give you a mechanism boost for performance and endurance.
Caffeine is a fairly beneficial ingredient even in the case of the flu as it can help with drowsiness and fatigue. The only thing you should worry about is your daily dosage.
According to the FDA, a healthy adult can consume no more than 400mg of caffeine per day.
Of course, the limit isn’t placed for no reason. This is mandated by the FDA because caffeine consumption can lead to an overdose, which can then lead to the following potential side effects:
- Muscle Breakdown
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Addiction
It’s best to notice how your body reacts to caffeine consumption as every individual has different tolerance levels.
What I found working for me is about 100mg to 200mg of caffeine per day because my body is certainly used to this amount and it highly benefits my activities for the day. Your body may receive and need caffeine differently and so it’s important to make note of those responses.
In talks of caffeine overdose, continuous consumption will also lead to severe symptoms of caffeine withdrawal with symptoms such as an upset stomach, diarrhea, and a lack of concentration.
You can also check out this video of caffeine consumption and its side effects just to be sure of what you are consuming.
Caffeine is no doubt beneficial hence its continued inclusion in energy drinks but as with everything, it’s best to be taken within the recommendation.
Sugar
Sugar is a type of instant booster that provides you with quick energy. It can be good or bad depending upon your daily intake. If you consume sugar too much, you might experience a sugar crash.
Beyond that, sugar is also the leading cause of health risks such as high blood sugar and diabetes.
It’s better to keep an eye on your sugar levels because too much sugar inclusion can lead to:
- Cravings
- Brain fog
- Sleeping Difficulty
- Tooth Decay
- Heart Problems
According to the American Health Association, the maximum daily intake for men is 36g, for women is 25g and for children under 6 years is 19g.
In addition, too much sugar can lead to diabetes and high blood pressure. These limits are just for you to take notice of your daily dosage to avoid any sugar crashes or health complications.
Although beneficial, the presence of sugar has been largely excluded in most energy drink powders, and rightfully so. In the instance of the flu, a sugar boost might not be necessary once you’ve already got the caffeine there.
B-Vitamins
As a macronutrient, you need vitamins in small quantities for mechanism functioning. These are largely included in most energy drink powders, and you’ll even find certain complex groups as part of the nutritional label in popular energy drink brands.
B-Vitamins can help in a variety of ways depending on which ones are added. Energy drink powders often include:
- Thiamine
- Riboflavin
- Niacin
- Pantothenic Acid
- Inositol
- Cyanocobalamin
These can be beneficial in cell growth and cognitive boosts making you feel less tired and helping you overcome fatigue. Moreover, vitamins like Inositol and Pantothenic Acid function strongly in aiding the immune system.
This means that the inclusion of these in your energy drink powders can greatly contribute to helping your immune system up and running at its best.
Taurine
Taurine is an all-around present ingredient, and can often be found in meat, fish, and eggs. This is a necessary amino acid to have in your body that energy drinks supplicate you with without having to access meat, fish, or eggs.
Taurine is a type of amino sulfonic acid that regulates the metabolic process of one’s body. It also contains antioxidant properties. This means that along with the vitamins aforementioned, taurine also plays a big role in hand to hand aiding the immune system’s function in your body.
Taurine is also often used with caffeine in providing you energy and endurance to stay awake and focus on work.
Other vital roles that taurine has in your body are:
- Improving Heart Health
- Fighting Diabetes
- Boosting exercise performance.
With these benefits, you can notice how taurine can help you in functioning when you’re down with flu.
Do energy drink powders help with flu?
Energy drink powders are not formulated to heal you from flu, however, they can help relieve some flu symptoms.
Energy drinks powders have caffeine and sugar, the two core ingredients that can assist in minimizing the symptoms by refreshing up your mood due to blockage of adenosine receptors, which causes tiredness. These can help you stay up and running.
Other ingredients such as b-vitamins and taurine help the function of the immune system, making it more efficient in bringing you back to top condition.
Besides that, a selection of energy drinks helps with hydration and retaining water in the body, and if you’re coming down with the flu, this is the help you need.
Energy drink powders with a suitable amount of caffeine and a wide variety of helpful vitamins and minerals can be beneficial and safe to consume during flu.
Is it ok to drink energy drink powders when sick?
Yes, energy drink powders are okay to consume when you’re sick.
Coming down with the flu can reduce your efficiency to stay awake and focus on your work, draws out your hydration, and is evidently a show of a poor immune system.
Therefore, grabbing a powdered energy drink when you’re sick is beneficial as it’s got hydrating ingredients like sodium and B-vitamins, as well as amino acids and minerals that supplicate the function of your immune system.
If you’re looking to keep working during the flu which I highly discourage, this study shows that consumption of energy drinks improves memory, focus, attention, and reaction time.
With that, you can consume energy drinks when you’re sick, as long as it’s within limitations. Remember that energy drinks are not formulated to help you heal from your flu but they can help.
I suggest you take it with medication and likely a visit to the doctor.
Can you consume caffeine during the flu?
It’s totally ok to consume caffeine when you’re sick from the flu or any mild sickness as it can regulate your function and give you a mechanism boost improving your brain function and concentration.
As stated above, caffeine is a stimulant that blocks off adenosine receptors which prevent any sleep and drowsiness you may be feeling due to flu.
In extension, this experimental study found out that people with flu who consumed caffeine showed positive results in their post performances and alertness.
However, for a much worse case of sickness, it’s best to steer clear of caffeine. In most sicknesses, your top priority should be getting enough rest and stick to your meds, as caffeine helps you for a short time, but won’t help you get better.
You might notice people telling you to limit your caffeine intake as it’s a diuretic that may lead to dehydration but the facts here say it’s not actually true.
Your best bet is to take an energy drink with relatively low caffeine content and a lot of sustaining ingredients like vitamins.
Do energy drinks powders help you recover from fatigue caused by flu?
Yes! Energy drink powders do lessen the effects of fatigue caused by flu. This happens due to caffeine and taurine.
Flu can leave you feeling tired and sleepy and reduces your psychomotor functions. The caffeine in energy drinks can boost your energy and help you recover from lethargic feelings so you can function properly and get your things done.
Other ingredients like taurine and vitamins help in regulating the system for more boost.
Do energy drink powders interfere with medication?
It’s possible that energy drinks might interfere with the medication prescribed to you. For safety, it’s best you consult your doctor about the energy drink powders you’re looking to consume.
There is a wide selection of vitamins and minerals in an energy drink but they may not necessarily agree with the ingredients in your medication, thus it’s better to have professional health advice.
On a side note, if you want to avoid any unwanted side effects, I suggest you don’t take these side by side. Instead, take your medications with water, and have an energy drink sometime later in the day when you need its boost.
Best Energy Drink Powders for Flu
Some of my recommendations for the best energy drink powders are Zipfizz Energy, Advocare Spark, and Celsius On-the-Go. You can choose amongst these drinks according to your preferences of caffeine content, sugar content, price, and calories.
Energy drink powders are convenient to carry around, they are affordable and carry a good amount of caffeine per serving to boost your mechanism. The amount can vary from 100mg to 200mg. These powdered drinks are available in tubs, sachet, and pouch sticks and are easily accessible online and nationwide.
Moreover, you can mix these drinks with any of your favorite juices, water is not always the default.
Let’s dive into the details.
Zipfizz Energy
Zipfizz is a powdered energy drink that comes in tubes and is very convenient to carry around. Its formula is sugar-free so you don’t have to worry about sugar crashes, and it also contains 20 calories.
This caloric amount can be beneficial for the flu as it’ll help your body acquire necessary calories that you might not be gaining from meals.
In terms of caffeine, Zipfizz has 100 mg of caffeine per serving which in my opinion is a good margin for you to have a quick boost. This is also just enough for a push but not too much to interfere with any possible medications.
Zipfizz comes in a small pack of tubes with 20 servings for $37.99, which is about $2 per serving which is considerably higher than other brands.
It has a fruity theme to its flavors with a total of 14 in variety and we all know how picky your taste can get when you’re sick so a good selection can give you lots of options.
You can check out this article for more details on nutrients.
Advocare Spark
Advocare is another powdered energy drink with amino acids and acts as a supplement. It is also sugar-free just like Zipfizz. With its amino acids and lack of sugar, it can benefit your body’s immune system during the flu.
Its caffeine content is a little higher than Zippfizz, with a total of 120mg caffeine per serving which can be a good boost but considerably higher caffeine for medication. With this, I suggest you take it when you’re only experiencing mild symptoms of the flu.
It’s available in stick sachets with about 10 flavors in total such as grapes, watermelon, and cherry, mango. This isn’t as much of a variety as Zipfizz but its flavors are pretty straightforward that you’ll come to find one you like.
Each of these contains about 15 calories which can be helpful to gain your calories another way if not through your meals.
In extension, the price for this powder drink is on par compared to other drinks. A tub of 42 servings costs a total of $54.99 which is only a little over $1.
If you’re interested in more of Advocare Spark, check out this article.
Celsius On-the-Go
Celsius is the most caffeinated powder drink on the list with about 200mg of caffeine per serving. I only strongly endorse this drink when you’re dealing with mild symptoms of the flu, and you’re needing the boost
It is sugar-free and has 10 calories. This is not as many calories as the others which can’t supplicate you with your need so I suggest you take this with a hearty meal.
The downside is that it only has 9 flavors which are limiting options if you are picky. Celsius comes in sachets mostly in boxes with about 14 servings for $16.63 which is a little over $1 per serving. This is a good price and a good sachet to have around for a quick mix.
This amount of caffeine is good for boosting your mental health for a while to get your work done but this should be consumed within limits as 200mg is about half of the daily recommendation by the FDA.
If you want more details about Celsius, here is an article to guide you with more information.
Summary
With this, the best powder drink is the one with low caloric content and a suitable amount of caffeine and other nitrifying ingredients when you are sick. I’ve identified these are Zipfizz, Advocare Spark. and Celsius On-the-Go.
Every energy drink is packed with ingredients like caffeine, sugar, vitamins, and amino acids that are helpful in boosting, hydrating, and aiding the function of your immune system to get you back on track in no time.
However, take note to consume this is a wariness of your condition. A good amount of caffeine is helpful for milder cases of flu, and a variation of vitamins can go a long way.
It’s also best to be mindful of the limitations of your intake as you don’t want to be coming down with another health risk while already dealing with one.
With this discussion, I hope you got all your answers and now are able to choose a powder energy drink for yourself.
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