Best Energy Drink Powder for High Blood Pressure (Close Look)
High blood pressure isn’t a new health risk that’s made rounds in health conversations. This condition can be faced by almost anyone, young or old.
Stress, anxiety, excessive sodium intake, and an unhealthy lifestyle are the main factors that contribute to high blood pressure. If you are an energy drink lover and not quite sure about having energy drinks or not, this article is for you.
The best energy drink powders for high blood pressure are Zipfizz Energy, Advocare Spark, and G-Fuel as they have just the right ingredients to help with this condition.
Read on as I will cover the effects of energy drink powders on your blood pressure, whether they are good for you or not, and more about the best ones I’ve mentioned.
Contents
What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure is a medical condition caused due to narrowness of arterial walls which keeps on building pressure, therefore, causes the artery to rupture, and in some extreme cases resulting in a heart attack.
Although this condition is often seen with people of old age, more and more cases are rising with younger ages that have high blood pressure, especially for men in terms of hypertension.
For this condition, there tend to be spikes caused by many external factors. Here are the symptoms:
- Severe headaches
- Nosebleed
- Fatigue or confusion
- Vision problems
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Irregular heartbeat
- Blood in the urine
And as with any medical condition, there are certain restrictions when it comes to food and drinks consumption so it won’t contribute nor worsen the case of high blood pressure. And we’re here to see if energy drink powders fit the bill.
Disclaimer: It’s advisable to consult a doctor about your condition and the use of energy drinks with it. Don’t take my word as medical advice.
What should you look for in an energy drink powder?
Powdered energy drinks have a lot of inclusions, and in keeping your condition in mind, this is what you should be looking for in energy drinks in terms of ingredients: Caffeine, Sugar, and Vitamins.
These ingredients are often the core of most energy drinks and bring forth many benefits. Let’s dive into more details.
Caffeine Content
Caffeine is the natural energy-boosting agent of energy drink powders. It is mostly found in coffee, cocoa, and tea leaves.
It works as a stimulating agent of the brain and central nervous system, causing to reduce your fatigue and stress and making you feel more energized, and improves mental alertness and performance.
Caffeine is a good source of boosting your energy when you have low blood pressure, however, this doesn’t imply the same with high blood pressure.
But caffeine is known to spike high blood pressure for up to three hours after your consumption. However, this spike isn’t as drastic if you’re a frequent caffeine consumer. So if your caffeine tolerance is pretty strong, and caffeine is a constant in your diet, you won’t notice a difference.
With that, it’s important to be knowledgeable on how much and how often you consume caffeine so as to recognize any drastic changes in your consumption. I strongly suggest checking for the caffeine content in any energy drink.
Besides that, a caffeine overdose is also likely to happen. Overdosing on caffeine can cause palpitations, headaches, and anxiousness if you have high blood pressure.
According to the FDA, the daily intake of a healthy adult should be no more than 400mg. And if you are a person with high blood pressure I suggest you look closely into how much caffeine consumption is good for you according to your doctor.
Sugar
Similar to caffeine, sugar is also a core ingredient of energy drink powders. Sugar is known to provide temporary boosts of energy but that later causes sugar crashes leaving you feeling lethargic and may cause diabetes.
Beyond that, sugar is well known to spike high blood pressure in a variety of ways. Sugar tends to raise the uric acid present in your blood which then constricts the gas in your body responsible for the maintenance of blood pressure.
But there’s no need to worry! Most energy drink brands are switching their formulas to be sugar-free. If you have high blood pressure and are looking into energy drinks, I suggest you opt for one that is sugar-free.
Vitamins
Energy drinks contain vitamins such as Taurine, B-12, Magnesium, and much more. These vitamins are macronutrients that are often included in small quantities. The ones mentioned are also important vitamins used as supplements to lower blood pressure.
This research suggests that when vitamins such as Taurine are taken for 7 days straight for about 6 grams, it reduces blood pressure for people with borderline high blood pressure.
When it comes to Vitamin B-12, this study in the American Journal of Hypertension (AJH) says that a higher intake of vitamin B-12 is associated with lower systolic and diastolic pressure.
And Magnesium is often taken as a supplement next to other blood pressure medications as it works hand in hand in lowering your blood pressure.
These inclusions are often found in energy drinks and are great ingredients to spot when choosing your drink. If you’re curious how this works, check out this video:
Can you drink powdered energy drinks with high blood pressure?
Yes, you can surely drink powdered energy drinks! I still strongly encourage you to consult professional advice on behalf of this decision.
Some articles recommend that you don’t consume any energy drink if you have high blood pressure, others say you can. But in my opinion, you should take a final word from your doctor as it’s not necessary to cut out energy drinks completely.
However, if you’re unable to meet with a doctor, you can rely on a couple of factors: caffeine tolerance and zero sugar.
If your body has gotten used to caffeine consumption over time, then consuming energy drinks with high blood pressure won’t affect you that much. I still suggest opting for an energy drink with significantly lower caffeine content.
Going sugar-free in your choice of energy drink will also assure you that sugar won’t contribute to your high blood pressure in any way.
To be extra cautious, try to avoid drinking powdered energy drinks right after an exercise, weightlifting, or other activities that naturally increase the blood pressure. You wouldn’t want to add to that.
In addition. you might want to check your blood pressure before consuming the drink, or about 30 minutes after consuming it. Any increase in blood pressure for about 5 to 10 points might be a sign that you can be sensitive to caffeine.
Lastly, moderation is key. Always consume beverages in moderation to avoid side effects especially with a medical condition such as this.
Does caffeine increase your blood pressure?
Yes. caffeine increases your blood pressure. If you are a regular caffeine consumer, chances are your body might already have become tolerant to it and spikes in your blood pressure are unlikely.
Studies such as this have shown that 200mg to 300mg of caffeine can cause an increase of 6-8mm Hg of systolic blood pressure which is quite a common increase for people with blood pressure.
Therefore, it proves that whenever you drink energy drink powder, it’s likely to increase your blood pressure temporarily as with everyone.
But I don’t recommend consuming that high of caffeine even outside of a medical condition as it’s cutting too close to the limit. It’s best to be wary and aware of how your body responds to caffeine.
If you have high blood pressure, I suggest you consult with your doctor first and whether it is appropriate for you to consume powdered energy drinks or not.
Does sugar increase your blood pressure?
Yes, sugar can significantly increase your blood pressure. Consuming sugar can increase your insulin levels which can cause an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure.
If you have high blood pressure, you can reduce your sugar intake by opting for less sugar or sugar-free drinks because sugar can have both short-term and long-term effects on your blood pressure.
Regardless of whether or not you have high blood pressure, it is necessary that you limit your sugar intake as too much sugar can cause sugar crashes or health risks such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
According to the AHA, the recommended daily intake of men should be 37.5g, for women it should be 25g, and for children no more than 19g.
Therefore, it is important to keep a tab on your daily intake to avoid health problems.
Fortunately, there are many sugar-free energy drinks powders for you to choose from.
Do energy drinks cause high blood pressure?
Yes, powdered energy drinks may contribute in increasing your blood pressure because of the sugar and caffeine content it contains.
Although sweetness is often acquainted with energy drinks, most formulas are going sugar-free! In addition, most brands have flexible amounts of caffeine that you can adjust to be as little or as much as you need it to be.
If you have high blood pressure you can avoid highly caffeinated drinks and opt for ones with less caffeine, as well as reaching for ones that are sugar-free.
I still highly recommend you consult your doctor before any final decisions.
How do energy drink powders affect your blood pressure?
The caffeine and sugar in blood pressure can cause a temporary increase in your blood pressure.
This study of 34 healthy volunteers showed that consuming energy drinks daily for 3 days caused a spike in systolic and diastolic blood pressure from about 4mm Hg to 5 mm Hg.
Hence the sudden surge of caffeine causes an increase in blood pressure which is why you might feel anxious and experience palpitations and headaches.
If your drink has a lot of sugar it might lead to long-term effects on blood pressure, therefore it’s better to cut down your sugar levels.
But as suggested, opting for sugar-free and low caffeine formulas is your best bet if you’re still looking to consume energy drink powders.
Does caffeine interfere with blood pressure medications?
Yes, caffeine does interfere with your blood pressure medications.
This study says that caffeine may complicate blood pressure treatment and the diagnosis. The American Journal of Hypertension (AJH) has found that patients who drink caffeine occasionally could be reducing the effect of medication.
As said, caffeine does have a short-term effect on your blood pressure as it increases your blood pressure while on the other hand, your medications are working to lower your blood pressure and these two are working in opposing forces.
if you’re wanting to still try energy drinks while on medication, I suggest one with a lot lower caffeine content.
However, just to be on the safe side, I suggest you take this up with your doctor who knows the contents of your medication better.
Is taurine good for high blood pressure?
Taurine is well known to lower blood pressure. It is the most abundant, semi-essential sulfur-containing amino acid.
This study says that taurine treatment improves blood pressure and vascular functions especially in prehypertensive individuals with high or normal blood pressure.
With this in mind, opting for a drink with taurine is not a bad idea to aid in lowering your blood pressure. Be reminded that energy drinks are not formulated for this purpose.
Best Energy Drink Powders for High Blood Pressure.
Keeping the condition of high blood pressure in mind, I have collected some powdered energy drinks with low caffeine content, typically sugar-free, and with fewer calories. Check them out below.
| Brands | Caffeine | Sugar | Calories |
| Zipfizz Energy | 100mg | 0 | 20 |
| G-Fuel Energy | 150mg | 0 | 25 |
| Advocare Spark | 120mg | 0 | 15 |
These are evidently relatively low in caffeine and with sugar-free formulas! Let’s take a closer look at each of their components.
Zipfizz Energy
Zipfizz is among the lowest caffeine content among its peers. It has 100mg of caffeine per serving with is a good amount for hypertensive people.
In addition, it’s also sugar-free so that you don’t have to worry about it contributing to any blood pressure spike, as well as a sugar crash, or other health risks such as diabetes.
It comes in 14 different flavors with about 20 calories per serving.
For price and availability, it costs around $37.99 for a pack of tubes with a total of 20 servings, which is about $2 per serving. You’ll find that this is the most costly on this list.
Zipfizz has about 2.5g of Vitamin B-12 added which can help reduce your blood pressure as stated above.
More information on how Zipfizz works in the body is here in this article.
G-Fuel Energy
G-Fuel is an energy drink powder with over 20 different flavors. In terms of caffeine, it has 150mg of caffeine which is higher than Zipfizz but relatively on the average amount for energy drinks. If you’re worried, I’d say going for half a serving is a good choice.
G-Fuel is sugar-free just like other drinks with a caloric content of 25 per serving.
G-Fuel is available in sachets and tubs at $35.99 for a tub with 40 servings that’s about less than $1 per serving. That’s a lot of sugar-free options to choose from.
If you want to know more about G-fuel, I have got the right article for you.
Advocare Spark
Advocare Spark is another great powdered energy drink with 120mg of caffeine per servings. This content is between the two aforementioned and I’d say is a good in-between. It’s a good boost but not too much caffeine to spike your blood pressure.
This comes in stick pouches and is sugar-free, so you don’t have to worry about your blood pressure having a spike here either.
It has 10 different flavors to choose from such as grapes, watermelon, mango, cherry and has a caloric content of 15g per serving.
Price-wise, this energy drink powder offers a tub of 42 servings for the price of $54.99. It may look daunting but that’s only a little over $1
If you’re curious about Advocare, check out this other article for more information.
Summary
Every energy drink powder is packed with ingredients like caffeine, sugar, carbohydrates that can vary in quantities depending on the brand formula.
Contents such as caffeine and sugar are safe for your blood pressure in low amounts or being completely free like sugar. Caffeine tolerance also plays a big role in this.
Now all the details have been listed, you’ll see that the best energy drink powders for high blood pressure are Advocare Spark, Zipfizz Energy, and G-Fuel Energy.
However, you should always consult your doctor before consuming any powdered energy drink to avoid any health issues and to stay within the recommended limits of each ingredient.
With this discussion that I have provided, I hope you can have your best picks
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