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Best Energy Drinks for Adults (Revealed)

Best Energy Drinks for Adults (Revealed)

Short Answer: In my opinion, the best energy drink for adults is REIZE Energy.

As an adult, work, and life can sometimes take a toll on you.

We’ve all been there, tired, stressed, and wondering how we’re going to get through the day in a semi-productive fashion.

What if there was a solution for times like those? Well, there are – energy drinks.

If you don’t like the taste of coffee or just want a few more great ingredients with your caffeine than you get in the average cup of Joe, energy drinks might be the drink for you.

Energy drinks are great for adults, but they are not suitable for children or teenagers due to caffeine and other potentially harmful ingredients.

So, if you’re old enough, stick with me, and let’s dive in to find the best energy drinks for adults.

How to Find the Best Energy Drink

With tons of energy drink brands to choose from, it can be a little intimidating.

I’ll focus on the main components of energy drinks – sugar and caffeine as determinants for choosing the best energy drinks for adults.

Sugar

First and foremost, the sugar content plays an important role in determining how healthy a particular energy drink is for you.

Too much sugar can cause some serious health issues, especially in the long term.

The American Heart Association recommends that adult males consume no more than 37.5g of sugar per day, while adult women consume no more than 25g per day.

Sugar-filled energy drinks will not only cause an increased risk of developing type II diabetes, but they can also lead to a major sugar crash a couple of hours after drinking them.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great sugar-free energy drinks to choose from. I don’t want you to think that all energy drinks contain a lot of sugar because that’s certainly not the case.

But, some do. In fact, a regular Monster Energy contains a whopping 54g of sugar in a 16-ounce can.

Watch the video to learn more about the effects of sugar on your body.

Watch this video for a more detailed discussion about the effects of too much sugar in the body.

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most important energy-boosting ingredient in energy drinks.

Caffeine is enjoyed by a huge number of people around the world each and every day. But, too much caffeine can be dangerous, so it’s important to keep track of how much you’re consuming.

The FDA recommends adults consume no more than 400mg of caffeine per day. That’s an important number to remember because some very strong energy drinks contain 300mg of caffeine, or even more in a single can.

Consuming too much caffeine may cause problems for your health and well-being in the long run. The caffeine content in an energy drink varies from brand to brand, so make sure you check the label.

Personally, I prefer energy drinks with 50 to 100mg of caffeine per serving. That’s the sweet spot for me. More than 100mg of caffeine can be a bit much, leaving me unable to focus or think straight. It sometimes gives me hot flushes.

Energy drink with less caffeine like REIZE is much safer to consume more frequently compared to energy drinks with more caffeine, such as Bang. This is because REIZE contains just 50mg of caffeine per serving compared to Bang’s 300mg.

Caffeine affects different people in different ways. So, know your body and your tolerance, but always stay under 400mg per day.

You can read more about caffeine withdrawal and caffeine addiction in my other articles if you think that these might apply to you.

Which energy drinks are good for adults?

5-Hour Energy

Caffeine: 200mg
Sugar: 0g
Price: about $2 per 1.93 fl. oz bottle

As the name suggests, 5-hours of increased energy and productivity levels is exactly what you’re going to get.

With 200mg of caffeine in single-serving, 5-Hour Energy contains a bit much caffeine for my liking, but it might work for you.

It also contains B vitamins which are essential in the energy production process in your body.

Bang Energy

Caffeine: 300mg
Sugar: 0g
Price: about $2.50 per 16 fl. oz can

Bang Energy is one of the best-tasting sugar-free energy drinks out on the market in my opinion. Being both sugar-free and calorie-free, Bang isn’t like your typical sugar-filled energy drink.

The biggest downside of Bang is the caffeine content, which is pretty insane at 300mg per can.

Keep in mind the FDA guidelines of no more than 400mg per day for adults, so you shouldn’t ever drink two cans of Bang in a single day.

It’s great for those who like a strong dose of caffeine, but be careful if you don’t have a high tolerance. 300 mg of caffeine can definitely drive you close to the edge!

Bang Energy also contains other ingredients such as Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and B12, niacin, and magnesium which are all essential for your body.

Allegedly, it’s also loaded with other great ingredients like creatine, BCAAs, and CoQ10. However, these ingredients are the center of some controversy.

Also, Bang has had a number of lawsuits filed against them for false and misleading advertising, so do your own research about Bang before taking the plunge.

You can read my complete review of Bang here.

Monster

Caffeine: 160mg
Sugar content: 54g
Price: about $3.20 per 16 fl. oz can

Through aggressive marketing, Monster Energy has grown to be one of the biggest players in the industry. 

Unlike Red Bull which comes in a smaller 8.4, fl. oz can, Monster comes in a much larger 16-ounce can. It contains 160mg of caffeine which is a bit more than I like, but not crazy.

Monster also comes with 200% of your daily recommended intake of Vitamins B2, B3, B6, and B12.

Not to mention it also contains other good ingredients like taurine and ginseng to give you an additional boost.

The main downside of Monster is the 54g of sugar in a single can. That’s around twice as much as most adults are supposed to get in two days.

Yikes!

However, if you’re a big fan of this green beast there are also sugar-free versions of Monster Energy available. You could just opt for one of those instead of the regular version.

I’ve written extensively about whether Monster energy drink is bad for you. You should definitely check that article out if you’re considering making the switch to Monster.

Price-wise, Monster is somewhat on the expensive end of the scale, so it might not be suitable as an everyday option.

Despite having double the caffeine and sugar as Red Bull, when measured on a per-fluid-ounce basis Monster and Red Bull are almost identical.

If you want to get the complete picture of the differences between Red Bull and Monster, check out my other article where I cover absolutely everything you need to know about the two brands.

ZipFizz

Caffeine: 100mg
Sugar: 0g
Price: about $2.25 per tube

ZipFizz is an energy drink powder, sold in tubes. It’s one of the most popular energy supplements in that category.

Unlike your traditional energy drink, it comes in a single-use tube that contains powder. All you have to do is dump it into your cup or bottle and mix it with water and voila, you have yourself an energy drink.

A single serving of ZipFizz contains an ideal 100mg of caffeine, which is sufficient enough to give you a nice energy boost. It also contains a blend of vitamins and minerals which are great for you.

The best part is that Zipfizz contains no sugar, which makes it much healthier compared to other energy drinks.

You can check out my ZipFizz review where I try and rate 10 of the Zipfizz flavors.

Personally, I’m a big fan of energy drink powders, including Zipfizz. But some flavors are certainly better than others in my opinion.

One downside to Zipfizz is the way they try to use having 41,667% of the recommended vitamin B12 like it’s something great.

You can read more about this here, but basically, you just pee out anything more than 100% of your daily requirements, so it’s a little misleading to position that as a reason to buy the product.

Rockstar

Caffeine: 160mg
Sugar: 31g
Price: about $2 per 16 fl.
oz can

Party like a rockstar is the famous tagline behind this world-famous energy drink. 

A single can of this rock-and-rolling energy drink is bound to give you the energy to party like a rockstar. Well, that’s not much of a surprise since a single 16-ounce can contain 160mg of caffeine and about as much sugar as you should consume in an entire day.

Rockstar also contains tons of other great energy-boosting ingredients like B vitamins. In fact, a single can contain 200% of your recommended daily intake of niacin and 400% of vitamin B2.

However, just like Zipfizz, anything above 100% of your daily requirements is sent straight into the toilet bowl on your next visit.

On top of those ingredients, it also includes herbal extracts such as guarana seed extract and Panax ginseng root.

Rockstar is a popular energy drink among adults, I suggest you try it for yourself and see if you like the way it makes you feel.

Red Bull

Caffeine: 80mg
Sugar: 27g
Price: about $2 per 8.4 fl. oz can

The granddaddy of all energy drinks, Red Bull is the world’s most popular energy drink. The Red Bull that we know and love today is actually a spin-off from its Thai version Krating Daeng.

Every 8.4 ounces of this bad boy contains 80mg of caffeine – almost equivalent to an average cup of coffee.

Just like REIZE, Red Bull also contains other great ingredients such as taurine which is beneficial for muscle recovery and reduces physical fatigue.

Besides that, Red Bull also contains lots of B vitamins such as B3, B5, B6, and B12 which are all great for enhancing energy production and cellular efficiency in your body.

Similar to Rockstar and Monster, Red Bull contains quite a bit of sugar with 27g per 8.4 fl. oz can.

With all this sugar you might be wondering whether it’s safe to drink Red Bull every day or whether Red Bull is bad for you. 

However, Red Bull does also come in a sugar-free version, which uses artificial sweeteners like aspartame to replace sugar.

This is a much better choice in my opinion.

Furthermore, here’s a brief rundown of what a can of Red Bull contains.

IngredientsAmount
Caffeine80 mg
Calories110 cal
Glucuronolactone600 mg
Niacin (Vitamin B3)5.1 µg 
Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5)5.1 µg 
Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)5 mg 
Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)5.1 µg
Nutrition Facts of Red Bull

Other Alternatives

There are tons of other great energy drink brands out there that you could also try such as:

If you’re looking for other great powdered energy drinks, you can check out:

REIZE (10 out of 10)

If you’re looking for a great energy drink that gives you a nice energy boost at an affordable price, REIZE might be just the drink for you.

Did I mention the fact that it’s also delicious?

REIZE Energy Drink is one of the best energy drinks for adults.
REIZE is the best energy drink for adults in my opinion.

The fact that REIZE has a sensible amount of caffeine, gives me an amazing energy boost. Also, it’s sugar-free, and very affordable which makes it the clear winner in my opinion.

If you’re trying to reduce the amount of caffeine that you drink, REIZE could be a nice transition to quitting caffeine completely since it contains less caffeine than most other energy drinks. Quitting caffeine is something that some people struggle with.

Choose between monthly deliveries (set and forget) or one-time purchases, whichever you prefer. Talk about convenience.

Try REIZE today!

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