Are you having trouble buckling up your pants?
That might be a gentle reminder that it’s time to get back to your diet routine and weight loss efforts.
You might be worried that sticking to a strict diet or trying to lose weight means quitting energy drinks.
If you need a quick recommendation for the best energy drink for losing weight, I’d say REIZE Energy!
In this article, I’ll be sharing my top choices for the best energy drinks for losing weight. Don’t stop reading until the end!
Energy Drinks and Weight loss
Caffeine
Energy drinks contain caffeine. Some contain a sensible amount, others contain crazy amounts of caffeine.
Drinking caffeine increases your metabolic rate and resting energy expenditure.
While drinking caffeine alone may not be sufficient to lose weight, there is good evidence to show that drinking caffeine in combination with exercise does have very good effects on the rate at which you can lose weight.
Therefore, simply due to the fact that energy drinks contain caffeine, they can be beneficial for weight loss.
I want to warn you against falling for some of the marketing messages from certain energy drink brands. Some brands claim that their unique and special blend of ingredients aids weight loss.
If you look closely at the science you’ll find that the only evidence to support their claims relates to caffeine, which is present in all energy drinks.
Proceed with caution whenever you see health claims that seem too good to be true.
With this in mind, here’s what the FDA recommends.
| Age | Recommended Daily Amount |
| Kids | 60-80 mg |
| Teenagers | 100 mg |
| 18 and above | 400 mg |
Sugar
Some energy drinks contain a scary amount of sugar, while others contain little or none.
Sugar is really bad for you if you are trying to lose weight. Even if you’re not actively taking steps to lose weight you should be trying to keep your sugar intake to a minimum.
If you’re serious about losing weight you should look for some sugar-free options.
I know a common concern about sugar-free energy drinks is that they don’t taste as good, which may be true. But, believe me, after you switch for a couple of weeks you won’t even remember what the sugar-filled versions tasted like and you will probably come to prefer the sugar-free versions.
What to Avoid
Sugar
Sugar is a carbohydrate therefore, the body will naturally choose to burn sugar instead of fat as a source of energy. But guess what, if you don’t eat any carbs or sugars your body will have no choice but to burn fat for energy.
If you’re trying to lose weight, that’s a good thing.
Any sugar you eat that isn’t burned will be converted into fat. That fat is then deposited in various locations around your body. This is counter-productive if you’re trying to reduce weight.
Healthline suggests that 25 to 37.5g of sugar is the maximum amount that we should be consuming each day.
Therefore, I would recommend you avoid sugary foods and try to consume energy drinks with low or no sugar.
This is an important point because it’s far too easy to reach for a sugar-filled soda and consume way more sugar than you realize. This is why sugary drinks are so bad for your health – because it’s really easy to consume a scary amount of sugar in a very short space of time.
Check my recommendations for sugar-free energy drinks here.
Processed Food
Refined carbohydrates, fats, sugars, and salt make up processed food. Besides that, processed food contains a lot of calories. None of that sounds like anything we should be consuming while trying to lose a few pounds.
Processed food is generally considered to be even worse than sugar. If you’re contemplating losing weight, you really should steer well clear of processed food due to the sheer amount of refined carbohydrates in it.
Does caffeine help in weight loss?
Yes, caffeine indeed helps with weight loss.
Caffeine has always been an ingredient used in both commercial weight loss supplements and pills.
Caffeine increases the rate of metabolism in your body which in turn helps to burn fat faster. Therefore, it is useful in providing a quick boost of energy to your body both physically and mentally.
Furthermore, this energy can be used while hitting the gym to burn all those calories/fats away!
But again, consuming caffeine alone is not likely to result in you losing weight. You need to combine caffeine with exercise to get results.
Is caffeine an appetite suppressant?
No, caffeine is not effective as an appetite suppressant.
While some research has been conducted that shows people who drank caffeine consumed 10% less food at a breakfast buffet than those who did not drink caffeine, the same study also shows that the effects did not last throughout the day.
It also appears that consuming caffeine does not have any impact on someone’s ability to estimate their appetite.
The bottom line is that caffeine may result in you eating slightly less in a single meal, but it does not have lasting effects and should not be relied upon as an appetite suppressant.
Can you drink energy drinks while on a diet?
There are many energy drinks that contain a ridiculous amount of sugar. There are also brands or versions of energy drinks that are either completely sugar-free or ones that contain negligible amounts of sugar.
The latter will contain less added sugar and lower calories. Therefore, you could consume these low-cal energy drinks without worrying, while trying to lose weight.
If you want to know more about the healthiest energy drinks, check out my other article where I go into a lot of detail on the topic.
Do energy drinks increase metabolism?
Yes, energy drinks contain caffeine, which increases your metabolic rate.
However, don’t be tricked by some brands of energy drinks that claim to have some kind of secret or unique recipe that can cause you to lose weight.
If you look closely at the facts, you’ll always notice that the health claims that they make are because of the inclusion of caffeine in their list of ingredients.
That’s not unique to any particular brand of energy drink.
Can you lose weight by drinking Red Bull?
No, drinking Red Bull won’t cause you to lose weight.
Please don’t even contemplate trying the Red Bull diet. I personally think that it’s very unhealthy for you to just drink any brand of energy drink. You also need a balanced diet to get other nutrients.
According to NZ Herald, a lady lost close to a total of 99lbs (45kg) in 8 months, while taking part in a Red Bull Diet. (Insane!)
The Red Bull diet is when you only drink Red Bull. Each day, she drank around 10-14 cans of Red Bull without any breaks in between. This went on for weeks, up to eight months.
According to the lady, Red Bull helped to suppress her appetite, which helped her to lose weight. However, she said that it affected her sleep cycle and sleep in general.
I’m not surprised. Yikes, that’s a lot of caffeine!
The consequences?
A minor heart attack and ongoing health problems led her straight to the hospital. She was diagnosed by the doctors to be addicted to Red Bull and was experiencing severe withdrawals from it which included shaking, nausea, and sweating.
The verdict.
You could apparently lose weight by drinking Red Bull.
But should you?
No, and a big NO at that!
An average person should only be consuming a maximum of 400mg of caffeine per day. That’s guidance direct from the FDA.
A can of 8.4 fl oz of Red Bull contains around 80mg of caffeine. Multiply it by 10-14 – that’s around 800-1,120mg of caffeine each and every day. That’s 2-3 times the recommended daily amount.
This is an extreme example, but it does showcase the potential dangers of abusing energy drinks.
There are many other alternatives out there to lose weight, which are tried and tested, and more importantly, they don’t cause you health problems.
Best Energy Drinks for Weight Loss
Monster Energy
Regular Monster is unlikely to help you lose weight due to the high sugar content in my opinion.
Of course, if you run a caloric deficit and are careful to not consume simple sugars elsewhere in your diet, it’s theoretically possible to lose weight while drinking a can of Monster, but there are probably better ways to go about losing weight.
For starters, you could swap the regular Monster with a low-cal version from the Monster range. Monster is aware that not everyone wants a mountain of simple sugars in their energy drinks, so they have made some sugar-free versions for the health-conscious.
I wrote an entire article on the topic of whether Monster energy drink is bad for you which you should check out before making the switch to Monster.
Currently, there is no legitimate evidence that shows that energy drinks are unhealthy when it comes to losing weight.
However, it must be noted that there isn’t any research that suggests that they help with weight loss either – besides the fact that they contain caffeine.
Hence, I will be recommending energy drinks based on the assumption that natural flavorings, artificial sweeteners, and carbonated water won’t hinder weight loss.
Redbull Total Zero
This is one of the most popular energy drinks, known for its zero sugar and zero carbs. Its ingredients include caffeine, taurine, B group vitamins, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, and alpine water.
It contains 80mg of caffeine per can. Some of its ingredients, such as caffeine, taurine, and B-group vitamins are all useful in boosting metabolism. As a result, it will allow you to burn more fat, and thus, helps to reduce weight.
If you’re wondering about the difference between Red Bull Total Zero and Red Bull Sugar-Free, watch the video!
Rockstar Sugar-Free
Rockstar Sugar-free consists of taurine, Panax ginseng root, guarana seed extract, and caffeine which helps with losing weight. Furthermore, it contains 160mg of caffeine per 16 fl oz can.
Personally, I consider that to be too much caffeine, but maybe it works for you, so try it and see what you think.
These ingredients listed above also help to boost metabolism, which in turn helps to burn fat more quickly. As a result, this will help with your weight loss efforts.
Besides Rockstar Sugar-Free, there are other products which are manufactured by Rockstar which are also sugar-free:
- Zero Carb
- Rockstar Pure Zero
REIZE (10 out of 10)
My personal favorite, REIZE is a powder energy drink that you mix with water to make an instant drink whenever you need it.
REIZE contains taurine, caffeine, B vitamins and ginseng extract. All of them are great nutrients for losing weight. It has 1000mg of taurine and 50mg of caffeine, which is a sensible amount that won’t blow your head off.
Taurine is an amino acid that’s beneficial for weight loss. It helps burn more fats by boosting the body’s metabolism.
Ginseng also provides energy and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years.
With all three of them combined into a single energy drink, it provides the perfect energy boost for your body to help you with your workouts. The more you work out, the more fat you burn, and the more weight you will lose.
At the bargain price of around $1 per drink including shipping, REIZE is amazing value for money. Choose from monthly deliveries or one-time purchases to suit your needs.
Give REIZE a try and you might just find that it’s the best energy drink for your weight loss journey too.