Advocare Spark is an energy drink mix that comes in sachets with a variety of flavors. Advocare is a multi-level marketing product by Advocare, sold by independent distributors.
Advocare Spark has been marketed as a ‘vitamin and amino acid supplement’.
Though it’s promoted as a ‘supplement’, it’s still an energy drink. Advocare Spark needs to be mixed with 8 fl. oz of water to make a regular energy drink.
Maybe you’ve been having Advocare Spark energy drink for a while or perhaps you’re new to Advocare and are curious to know if it’s safe to consume Advocare Spark on a daily basis.
It’s alright to consume Advocare Spark every day as long as you’re a healthy adult and limit your intake to one sachet per day. Going beyond more than one on a daily basis may cause negative side effects like anxiety, palpitations, and increased high blood pressure.
In this article, I’ll be diving into understanding Advocare Spark as a whole and considering some aspects that concern our overall health.
Let’s get into it...
Advocare Spark flavors
There are ten different flavors that Advocare Spark energy drinks have:
- Cherry
- Grape
- Mandarin Orange
- Citrus
- Fruit Punch
- Mango Strawberry
- Pink Lemonade
- Green Apple
- Watermelon
- Blue Raspberry
Advocare Spark Energy Drink Ingredients
According to the packaging, every sachet of Advocare Spark has these ingredients:
- 15 calories
- 120mg caffeine
- 4 grams of carbohydrates
- Vitamin A
- 180mg of Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- 3mg of Thiamine
- 3.4mg of Riboflavin
- 60mg of Niacin
- 15mg of Vitamin B6
- 45mcg of Vitamin B12
- 50mg of Pantothenic acid
- 3mg Zinc
- 200mcg Copper
- 24mcg Chromium
- 500mg Choline
- 500mg L-Tyrosine
- 200mg Taurine
- 100mg Glycine
- 10mg L-Carnitine
- 10mg Inositol
- maltodextrin
- citric acid
- natural flavor
- artificial flavor
- sucralose (Splenda)
- silicon dioxide
I’ve written a more thorough review of the ingredients in Advocare Spark energy drinks that you can read here.
How much caffeine is in Advocare Spark?
Advocare Spark has 120mg of caffeine per sachet. For some people, this amount of caffeine is quite acceptable but in my opinion, the caffeine amount is a little more than I’d like in an energy drink.
The FDA suggests a limit of 400mg of caffeine per day for healthy adults. And Advocare Spark’s caffeine content is still within the safe range of caffeine consumption.
My regular caffeine intake per drink is around 50mg to 100mg per serving. I find that if I have more than that, I tend to get a slight headache and feel flushed for a while before the effects wear off.
But it really depends on your tolerance.
If you’re used to having a lot of caffeine each day, you won’t have a problem with Spark’s caffeine content. However, if your tolerance isn’t as high, I recommend that you try drinking half of the sachet and save the other half for another boost later.
Remember to take into account other caffeinated foods and drinks that could contribute to your overall daily caffeine intake.
Going over the recommended daily limit poses the risk of caffeine overdose.
A caffeine overdose may result in adverse effects like:
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Increased thirst
- Headache
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Irregular heartbeat
- Chest pain
- Confusion
You can avoid these side effects by controlling your consumption and drinking Advocare Spark in moderation.
What artificial sweeteners are in Advocare Spark?
Advocare Spark energy drinks contain sucralose (Splenda). Sucralose is a sugar substitute with a sweetness similar to sugar but has very few calories.
Sucralose is an FDA-approved non-nutritive sweetener that is found in many foods and sugar-free beverages. They’re safe for consumption and cause fewer side effects than sugar.
But this doesn’t mean that you can consume a lot of sucralose or other artificial sweeteners either.
An Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for these sweeteners has been established as well to make it easier for you to watch your consumption.
For sucralose, it’s 5mg per kilogram of body weight per day.
As long as your daily intake is within moderate means, you shouldn’t experience any unpleasant aftereffects.
Is Advocare Spark good for health?
Advocare Spark can be good for your health if you consume it in moderation. And by moderation, I mean consuming one or two sachets according to your caffeine tolerance.
Like other energy drinks, there are precautions you should take note of when it comes to Advocare so you don’t run the risk of getting any nasty negative effects.
If you have any health conditions, it’s advisable to first discuss with your healthcare professional if Advocare energy drinks are suitable for you.
On the packaging of Advocare Spark, some cautionary advice is mentioned, which is “Pregnant or nursing women should consult a healthcare professional prior to use. Not for use by children or persons who are sensitive to caffeine or choline”.
Spark is already packed with considerably high caffeine content, a number of vitamins, amino acids, and other energy-boosting ingredients.
So, I think that staying away from other caffeine sources while consuming Advocare is a good way to avoid overstimulating your system.
It’s also a bad idea to have Advocare Spark near bedtime.
Studies have found that consuming caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime could disrupt your sleep and decrease your total sleep time by more than 1 hour.
Thus, stick to drinking energy drinks in the mornings or afternoons to get a good night’s sleep unless you’re planning to pull an all-nighter.
Are the amino acids in Advocare Spark safe to consume?
The amino acids in Advocare Spark are safe for consumption. Advocare Spark energy drink contains amino acids like L-Tyrosine, L-Carnitine, glycine, and taurine.
Each of these amino acids is naturally produced in your body and plays an important role in maintaining your health.
For L-Tyrosine, its main benefit is the positive effects on enhancing mental performance, especially mental alertness, and memory.
Glycine has a positive impact on better sleep quality and decreases the risk of muscle loss.
L-Carnitine could help protect your brain from cognitive decline and even reverse the decline in those who have brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. This amino acid also could help improve stamina and muscle recovery and reduce muscle soreness.
Taurine is beneficial in terms of enhancing athletic performance. Studies have reported that consuming taurine before exercise can improve performance.
However, in my opinion, the amount of each amino acid in Advocare energy drinks is too low for it to be directly beneficial.
Take, for example, L-Tyrosine.
For L-Tyrosine to have a prominent effect on mental performance, it requires a dose of 45-68mg per pound (100-150mg per kg) of body weight. So, someone who’s 160 pounds (72.6kg) needs around 7 – 11 grams of L-Tyrosine to feel its benefits.
Spark has 500mg of L-Tyrosine per sachet. I don’t think you’ll gain any benefits from this small amount.
Personally, I feel Advocare Spark isn’t a significant amino acid supplement. I recommend consuming the actual supplement that you’re interested in instead of depending on energy drinks for your daily dose of amino acids.
What is inositol?
Inositol is a type of sugar that is important for several of your bodily functions. It plays a role in regulating mood and controlling the actions of insulin. Inositol is also often labeled as vitamin B8, even though it isn’t technically a vitamin.
Inositol has positive effects on mental illnesses like panic and bipolar disorders, metabolic syndromes, and diseases that cause infertility in women like PCOS.
A 2011 study found that inositol could become one of the insulin-sensitizing substances that could help control blood sugar levels.
Since Advocare Spark is marketed as sugar-free, I’m not sure why inositol is added in as one of the ingredients. My guess is that it’s either to increase the sweetness of the energy drink or diminish the effects of sucralose.
Whichever it is, it’s hard to tell since the exact quantity of inositol isn’t mentioned. This could indicate that the amount of inositol is too little to be taken into account.
If anything, it’ll be more beneficial for you to consume the inositol supplement itself if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or severe anxiety rather than depending on drinking Advocare Spark for relief.
How long does Advocare Spark take to work?
Advocare Spark will take around 10 minutes after consumption to enter the bloodstream which then triggers an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Within 45 minutes, the caffeine would have reached peak plasma concentration, improving your alertness and mental concentration.
After that, the effects of the energy drink will diminish as time passes while it’s absorbed into your bloodstream. Within about an hour, you may start to feel the energy-boosting effects begin to wane.
As for how long Advocare Spark will stay in your body, caffeine has a half-life of about 5 hours.
After 5 hours, the amount of caffeine you consumed would be reduced by 50%.
After 12 hours, it will be fully absorbed into your bloodstream and you’re free to have another energy drink or caffeinated beverage.
The process is shorter if you regularly drink caffeine instead of having it only once a week. It really depends on your tolerance to caffeine and as such, everyone has different preferences.
Therefore, it’s important that you know what’s in your energy drink before drinking it.
Is it safe to drink Advocare Spark every day?
In my opinion, Advocare Spark is safe to drink every day as long as it’s in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. I recommend starting with one sachet to see how your body responds before increasing your intake.
To stay under the FDA’s recommended daily caffeine intake, it’s best that you stick to a limit of two packets of Spark to prevent any unwanted side effects.
If you’re on medication or taking any over-the-counter medicine, you should discuss it with your doctor first in case Advocare Spark causes a bad reaction. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Otherwise, I think Advocare Spark can be a good energy booster that can help you in your workouts or at work.
To get the best of its benefits, I suggest drinking Advocare at least 30 minutes before you start for the caffeine to kick in.
However, I must say I find the amount of B vitamins in Advocare to be a little concerning.
The amount of each B-vitamins exceeds the daily recommended requirement by quite a lot.
| B-vitamin | Recommended quantity | Advocare Spark quantity |
| B-1 (Thiamine) | 1.5mg | 3mg |
| B-2 (Riboflavin) | 1.3mg | 3.4mg |
| B-3 (Niacin) | 16mg | 60mg |
| B-5 (Pantothenic acid) | 5mg | 50mg |
| B-6 (Pyridoxine) | 1.3mg | 15mg |
| B-12 | 2.4mcg | 45mcg |
Although some nutrients are required in greater quantities, large excesses can be potentially harmful to your health. You also need to be careful of vitamin overdose too.
Large amounts of vitamins from foods are unlikely to cause any risk to your health, but if you consume it from other sources it could lead to some unpleasant health outcomes like:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Diarrhea
Hence, if you’re sensitive to large doses of vitamins, Advocare Spark might not be the energy drink for you. You could always look for other energy drinks with nearly similar or lower amounts of caffeine with smaller doses of vitamins.
Do Advocare Spark energy drinks have any side effects?
If you drink too many Advocare Spark energy drinks, you could experience side effects like:
- Caffeine overdose
- Diabetes
- Cavities
- Obesity
Fortunately, Advocare Spark is sugar-free. So, you don’t have to worry about the likeliness of developing diabetes from drinking Advocare regularly.
Although Advocare Spark uses sucralose as a replacement for sugar, you still need to consume sucralose within the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) to avoid developing health issues like:
- Weight gain
- Poor gut health
- Diabetes
- Stomach problems
In the case of a caffeine overdose, you won’t need to worry about that if you only drink one to two sachets of Advocare Spark within 24 hours. Two sachets of Spark total up to 240mg per day which I think is still safe.
Where to buy Advocare Spark
A sachet of Advocare Spark is usually about $2.20. It’s usually sold in packs of 14 or more.
You can purchase Advocare Spark online from Amazon and eBay. If you’re lucky, you might be able to find great deals. You can also buy Advocare from MLM resellers but take note that it may be sold at a higher price so that they can make a profit.
Alternatives to Advocare Spark
There are many great alternatives to Advocare Spark out there. If you’re looking for one, I’ve prepared a guide you can easily refer to:
| Ready-to-drink energy drinks | Powdered energy drinks |
| Red Bull | Gfuel |
| Monster | Zipfizz |
| Bang | REIZE (my number one choice) |
| Celsius | |
| XS | |
| Bing | |
| Guru |
REIZE Energy Drink (10 out of 10)
In my opinion, REIZE is a better choice than Advocare Spark.
REIZE has a sensible 50mg of caffeine, which is around half the amount of caffeine in Spark. Plus, REIZE is loaded with great energy-boosting ingredients like ginseng, taurine, and B vitamins.
This smart blend of ingredients works together to ensure you get a good energy boost to start off your day right, without inducing any side effects later.
Besides, REIZE is also sugar-free and has only 11 calories per serving.
The best part?
REIZE costs only around $1 including shipping right to your door. That’s a lot more affordable than Advocare Spark.
Give REIZE a try and you might soon agree that it’s a smarter option than Advocare Spark.