What are the Healthiest Energy Drink Powders? (Must know)
Energy drinks are renowned for their energy-boosting abilities and ability to improve the outcome of your physical and mental activities, among other benefits. However, various findings have concluded otherwise.
While it’s true that energy drinks aren’t the healthiest drinks in the market, how much energy drink you consume on a daily basis also determines the positive or negatives of this substance to your health.
But which ingredients can make energy drinks the best option for you? What should you look out for if you’re considering energy drinks as a beverage?
On the other hand, I think that Zipfizz, Gamersupps GG, Razorwire, and Advocare Spark Energy are some of the best options out there. The energy drink powdered version is also a better choice than its canned counterparts since it gives its users full control of how much they can consume per serving.
If you want to know more about the so-called healthier side of the energy drink industry, then keep on reading!
Contents
Are energy drinks healthy for you?
Energy drinks are not the healthiest beverages in the market. However, they can be a great option when you need an instant or strong kick of energy on certain occasions like sports or during a night shift.
The excess caffeine and sugar in some energy drinks, especially in most popular brands, make energy drinks quite bad for you. Personally, you may opt for healthier alternatives that include a moderate amount of sugar and caffeine in their formula that complements well with other vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that are beneficial for your health.
You can also check out this Youtube video to ease more into the world of energy drinks!
Are powdered energy drinks healthy?
Compared to ready-to-drink energy drinks, powdered energy drinks are a much better choice because they usually have a richer collection of health supplements like amino acids, guarana extract, and vitamins. You can also partition your consumption in energy drink powders to half a serving to make sure you’ll not experience symptoms of caffeine overdose.
However, despite the advantage of powdered energy drinks, I don’t think we can consider them purely ‘healthy’ because these are not natural foods and beverages. I believe this cannot replace natural sources of vitamins and minerals such as fresh and healthy vegetables eaten in a balanced diet.
Why are energy drinks not good for you?
Energy drinks are good for an occasional energy boost but it’s generally not good for you especially if you built dependence on them.
Remember, caffeine has an addictive property so frequent and too much consumption of energy drinks are not good for your body.
It is not meant to replace regular meals and make up for lack of sleep and exercise to supply you with energy. Consuming energy drinks once in a while is okay as long as you make sure that your body can tolerate the caffeine level and you do not abuse it.
What to consider while choosing an energy drink?
When buying different products, we look at different parts and other attributions. When purchasing an energy drink, on the other hand, we mainly consider the following:
Caffeine content
It’s essential to check the amount of caffeine in the energy drink you’re choosing to know if it will suit you or not.
Caffeine is one of the major and the most crucial ingredient of any energy drink. It’s one of the reasons why energy drinks are an effective energy booster and source of alertness and better brain function.
While caffeine has some benefits to your health, it can also cause several health problems if consumed in an excessive amount or a quantity that your body cannot tolerate. The FDA recommends that a healthy adult can consume up to 400 mg of caffeine per day.
Excess caffeine can lead to:
- Dehydration
- Insomnia
- Dizziness
- Dental problems
- Jitters
- Diarrhea
- Abnormal heartbeat
- Anxiety
On the bright side, small or moderate doses of caffeine can result in these health benefits:
- weight loss
- Increases alertness and sports performance.
- lessens risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- Improves memory and reduces fatigue.
- Prevents type II diabetes.
I’d not suggest any caffeine for someone who is yet to reach 18 years of age. However, the recommended amount of caffeine for ages 12-18 is up to 100 mg.
Sugar content
Personally, choosing an energy drink with little to no sugar can eliminate the risk of stumbling into several health conditions.
One of the major reasons that energy drinks are claimed to be dangerous for your health is their high sugar content. Sugar is used to enhance the taste and flavor of the beverage and also provides you with energy through glucose, but can its presence can result in a sugar crash at a later time.
Unrestrained sugar consumption can result in the following health complications:
- Heightened risk of heart diseases
- Weight gain
- Dental cavities
- Risk of developing Type II diabetes
- May trigger certain types of cancer
- Mental health disorders
- Skin problems
Moreover, the AHA recommends that most women can consume up to 24 grams of sugar per day while the suggested quantity for most men is 36 grams per day. Staying in the recommended amounts gives you a higher chance of preventing any adverse side effects from occurring soon and later in life.
There are also energy drinks that are marketed as sugar-free. These brands make use of artificial sweeteners which are popular for their low-calorie content.
Some of the common sugar substitutes are sucralose, aspartame, and xylitol. Don’t fret as small portions of these substances go a long way and their recommended amount per product is monitored by the FDA.
Other Ingredients
It’s wise to pick an energy drink that has a balanced amount of other ingredients such as taurine, guarana, B-vitamins, etc. This creates a positive impact on the users since the energy drink in question is also keen on keeping the body in shape and not just concerned with how much energy you have left.
For starters, B-vitamins help to turn your food into energy and are essential for your bodily functions. However, exceeding the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) may lead to several issues in your body such as excessive thirst and nausea.
Taurine is an amino acid that supports nerve growth and cognitive functions. However, the body naturally produces such product so consuming it elsewhere may cause growth problems to a child.
Meanwhile, Guarana is an effective stimulant that’s capable of elevating fatigue. Its major flaw, however, is triggering nervousness in its user.
The flavor line of an energy drink can also become a deciding factor of a supposed healthy energy drink, but it falls on the brand itself.
What are the other healthy beverages for energy besides energy drinks?
There are tons of beverages in the market that are indeed healthier than your average energy drink. You may find them useful below:
| Beverages | Benefits |
| Yerba Mate | Provides similar energy to caffeine, with anti-inflammatory nutrients, vitamins, and crash-fee. |
| Green juices and smoothies | Reduces inflammation, promotes a healthy heart and brain. Supports healthy digestion. |
| Water | Keeps the body hydrated, aids in fat loss protects organs, and tissues, flushes bacteria from your bladder, etc. |
Healthiest energy drink suggestions
Just to recap, energy drinks aren’t the healthiest beverages you will find. It’s not even suitable for teenagers and older people!
However, the following are what I think can pass off as a decent energy drink that leaves you contented instead of sickly.
Zipfizz
Zipfizz is guaranteed as a crowd favorite amongst American households for its uniqueness. It can be one of the brands that are the closest thing one can get to a ‘healthy energy drink’ due to its low caffeine content and sugar-free attributions that are accompanied by a great choice of supplements.
One serving includes 100 mg of caffeine which will provide energy without jitters as well as 20 calories and 24 nutrients. Zipfizz comes in tube packaging in 10 different flavors with each tube costing $2, easily making it one of the well-known brands with a medium-sized flavor pool for users to try.
Curious why Zipfizz is a popular ‘healthy’ energy drink? Read this article to find out!
Gamersupps GG
Gamersupps GG is gaining popularity due to its remarkable ingredients list and ability to perform like, or even better than the top brands due to its caffeine content and lack of sugar, calories, and carbohydrates.
Gamersupps also contains only 100 mg of caffeine, making it suitable for people with low caffeine tolerance. The best part is that it contains zero sugar, calories, and carbohydrates so you can consume them if you’re on a diet without worrying about weight gain.
This energy drink mix also contains important vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to keep you hydrated, boost your immune system along with other health benefits. It also doesn’t disappoint in the flavor department since it has the most unique flavor set in the market.
In this article, you can read all about Gamersupps GG if you feel like meeting the greatest underdog in the industry.
Razorwire
Looking for a low-key energy drink that’s guaranteed to keep up with your lifestyle? Razorwire may just be the answer to all your problems with its 150 mg caffeine and zero sugar!
It also has 16 calories and 1.5 grams of carbohydrates in one serving.
You can take a look at this article to know about the benefits of minerals and vitamins present in Razorwire Energy.
Advocare Spark Energy
Advocare Spark was promoted as a supplement for amino acids and vitamins. However, it has a very similar formula to energy drinks due to the combination of its caffeine content, nutrient values, and most especially in sugar content.
It holds 120 mg of caffeine, 16 calories, zero sugar, and 4 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Advocare spark is available in both bulk packaging and single-serve sachets.
Are you curious why Advocare Spark is such a hit in the energy drink industry? Read along this article to find out!
Conclusion
Energy drinks are unsurprisingly not the healthiest drinks you may encounter. This is due to the fact that a lot of brands contain high traces of caffeine and sugar per serving.
While you can regulate your consumption of energy drinks and ensure that their ingredients and supplements are within the recommended amount by various organizations, it’s still important to remember that consuming energy drinks is not the healthiest beverage option.
There are also other beverages that can be considered as a healthier option if you’re not an active person or someone who isn’t fond of caffeine and sugar.
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