Celsius is made by Celsius Holdings in the United States. Celsius drinks are available in 12 fl. oz cans or powder sachets.
Celsius Energy contains caffeine (200 mg), sugar (zero grams), calories (ten calories), and other nutrients that are intended to keep you awake and energized all through the day.
Indeed, Celsius Energy Drinks are a great choice if you’re looking for a vitamin-dense beverage that also gives a lot of energy.
For a more detailed view of Celsius Energy ingredients, keep on reading!
Celsius Drink Products
Celsius drinks come in both ready-to-drink cans and also in powder form, sold in sachets. The company further breaks down its ready-to-drink range into the following 3 categories namely:
- Originals (200 mg caffeine per can)
- Naturals (200 mg caffeine per can)
- Celsius Heat (300 mg caffeine per can)
All of these categories come in 12 fl. oz cans and several different flavors.
Moreover, Celsius “On-The-Go” (powders) come in 4 different flavors and each sachet contains 5.9 g of powder and 200 mg of caffeine.
Come to think of it, these powders are similar to the likes of Spark drinks, Zipfizz, and REIZE.
Celsius Drinks Ingredients
For a more detailed breakdown, here’s a table for reference.
| Nutritional Value | Celsius Original (12 fl. Oz) |
| Calories | 10 |
| Caffeine | 200 mg |
| Carbohydrate | 1 g |
| Vitamin C | 60 mg |
| Riboflavin | 1.7 mg |
| Niacin | 20 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 2 mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 6 mcg |
| Biotin | 300 mcg |
| Pantothenic Acid | 10 mg |
| Calcium | 50 mg |
| Chromium | 50 mcg |
| MetaPlus Blend | 1.81 g |
Other ingredients included in Celsius “Originals” are:
- carbonated filtered water
- citric acid
- fruit and vegetable juice (for color)
- sucralose (artificial sweetener)
- natural flavor
For a comprehensive breakdown of all of the Celsius ingredients, check out my other post where I compare Celsius “Originals”, “Naturals”, “On-The-Go” and “Heat” all in one place.
Celsius Energy Drink Caffeine
All of the Celsius “Originals” and “Naturals” cans and “on-the-go” powder sachets contain 200 mg of caffeine per can.
Celsius “Heat” contains a hefty 300 mg of caffeine per can. That puts it fairly high on the list of energy drinks with the highest caffeine content. That’s about as much as having 3 cups of Joe, so be forewarned.
If you’re sensitive to caffeine you might find that it blows your head off.
This is probably a pretty good time to mention that you should always consume energy drinks in moderation to avoid any potential health threats.
Is Celsius full of caffeine?
Celsius Energy contains moderate to strong caffeine. That said, I’d say it is indeed full of caffeine.
A can of Celsius Energy contains 200 to 300mg of caffeine which can be too much for someone with low tolerance to the stimulant.
However, this amount is within the recommended limit which is 400mg of caffeine per day for healthy individuals.
I prefer 50 to 100mg of caffeine in my serving of energy drinks. Unfortunately, Celsius Energy has way too much caffeine for me. But that’s just me. You might end up loving the boost that you get after drinking a can of Celsius!
Celsius Drink Flavors
Celsius energy drinks offer a plethora of flavors for you to choose from. These include the following:
- Orange
- Grape Rush
- Watermelon
- Wildberry
- Kiwi Guava
- Cola
- Peach Mango Green Tea
- Raspberry Acai Green Tea
Celsius Naturals Flavors
- Grapefruit
- Cucumber Lime
- Orange Pomegranate
- Watermelon Berry
- Pineapple Coconut
- Strawberries & Cream
Celsius On-The-Go Flavors
- Orange
- Berry
- Coconut
- Cranberry Lemon
Celsius Burn Flavors
- Blueberry Pomegranate
- Cherry Lime
- Inferno Punch
- Strawberry Dragonfruit
- Tangerine Grapefruit
- Apple Jack’d
- Orangesicle
Is Celsius drink healthy?
Celsius drinks are certainly positioning themselves as healthy. Furthermore, they also definitely position the “Naturals” range as… natural.
However, Celsius energy drinks (including the “Naturals” range) do contain a bunch of artificial ingredients.
The fact that Celsius is sugar-free is great, but there are many other great energy drinks out there that are also sugar-free.
Indeed, the ingredients of Celsius energy drinks are typical of most energy drinks.
While Celsius drinks are likely no “worse” for you than any other energy drink, it’s also not clear that it is actually any healthier than any other sugar-free energy drink.
Celsius Drinks “MetaPlus” Proprietary Blend
The energy drink brands (in this case Celsius) haven’t invented anything new other than a fancy-sounding name that they can use for marketing.
Like many energy drinks, Celsius has their own special “proprietary blend” of ingredients.
Many brands trademark a proprietary blend so that they are the only ones who can say that they contain that particular blend. In truth, all of the ingredients within the blend already exist and are available for use.
However, the Celsius “MetaPlus” blend contains:
- 1.81 grams in total
- 200 mg of caffeine
- taurine (amount not specified)
- guarana extract (amount not specified)
- glucuronolactone (amount not specified)
- ginger extract (amount not specified)
- green tea leaf extract (amount not specified, but “standardized to 15% EGCG)
Celsius Drinks Marketing
The Celsius drink cans are plastered with pictures and phrases associated with health, wellness, and fitness. Celsius is definitely going after the health-conscious demographic with their highly caffeinated beverages.
They seem to be targeting everyone in the category from overweight women who want to get back into shape to muscle-bound gym freaks looking for that extra burst of energy to pump out another rep in the gym.
It seems to be working.
Celsius Holdings is listed on the Nasdaq (CELH), with reported revenue for 2017 of $36 million, more than double from the same period two years prior.
Business is booming and it looks like their marketing of the drink as healthy is doing the trick.
Watch the Celsius ad below!
University Studies on Celsius Drinks
Celsius drinks commissioned 6 studies to “prove” the effectiveness of their products.
In actual fact, I think all they proved is that caffeine is a great ingredient to include in an energy drink.
Study #1
The first study compared the effect of drinking Diet Coke vs. Celsius in a group of healthy people to measure the increase in metabolic rate after drinking the two drinks.
Celsius contains a lot more caffeine than Diet Coke.
It mentioned that previous studies had already shown that caffeine increases metabolic rate in accordance with the dose.
In other words, the more caffeine you consume, the more your metabolic rate increases.
Newsflash…
Celsius (and virtually every other energy drink) contains caffeine. If caffeine increases metabolic rate, then Celsius increases metabolic rate.
…along with most other energy drinks.
The study continues “These findings are not surprising considering that Celsius contains 4 times more caffeine than Diet Coke”.
The study concludes “the effects of repeated, chronic ingestion of Celsius on body composition are unknown”.
Did this study prove anything that we didn’t already know?
No.
We already know that caffeine increases metabolic rate and the more caffeine that you have, the more your metabolic rate increases.
Study #2
The second study looked at the effect of drinking Celsius on resting energy expenditure (REE), specifically to argue that drinking Celsius helps you to lose weight without doing anything else.
The study found that consuming Celsius did increase the resting energy expenditure and the number of calories burned in the 3 hours following consumption.
Why?
Because Celsius contains caffeine.
Just like almost all energy drinks.
The study continues, “Further, single 100 mg doses of caffeine have been shown to increase metabolic rate 3 to 4%”.
Study #3
A third study compared Celsius to a placebo over a 28-day period to measure the uplift in resting energy expenditure (REE), just like the 2nd study.
I won’t bore you with the details, but surprise, surprise, the study found that drinking Celsius does increase your resting energy expenditure.
...because it contains caffeine.
Study #4
A fourth study looked at drinking Celsius before a gym workout to test workout performance and compare Celsius with a non-caffeinated placebo.
You guessed it, the caffeine drinkers performed better.
Study #5
The fifth study looked at weight loss effects in overweight women over a 10-week period.
Yep, the caffeine drinkers lost more weight than those who didn’t drink caffeine.
Study #6
The final study looked at endurance amongst inactive men, comparing Celsius to a placebo.
Once again, the caffeine drinkers did better.
The interesting thing in this last study was that if someone drank Celsius but didn’t do any exercise there was no effect on their body composition after 10 weeks. This means that drinking Celsius and sitting on the couch won’t help you to lose weight.
To lose weight you need to actually do exercise. It also appears that combining exercise with caffeine consumption can be beneficial for weight loss.
All of these studies were commissioned and paid for by Celsius and all are now over 10 years old.
But that hasn’t stopped Celsius from banging that drum ever since the studies were completed and getting maximum mileage from their health claims.
In the end, I think that all they proved is that caffeine is fantastic.
However, Celsius is definitely not the only energy drink that contains caffeine.
Does Celsius energy drink burn fat?
Celsius contains caffeine, so yes, Celsius does help to increase the rate at which you burn fat. Just like most energy drinks.
However, Celsius’ own studies confirmed that drinking Celsius in the absence of any exercise DOES NOT BURN FAT.
Although some people on the internet like to talk about how drinking a can of Celsius burns more calories than it contains, their own studies confirmed that caffeine needs to be combined with exercise to get fat-burning benefits.
Does Celsius energy drink accelerate metabolism?
Caffeine increases metabolic rate in proportion to the dose.
Celsius contains caffeine, so yes, drinking Celsius does increase your metabolic rate.
The same is also true for most other energy drinks.
Where to Buy Celsius Drinks
You can buy Celsius energy drinks in major retail outlets, including:
- Target
- 7-eleven
- GNC
- The Vitamin Shoppe
- Hi-health
Just taking a look at the places where you can buy Celsius energy drinks shows the effectiveness of their marketing, branding, and positioning as a healthy product.
You can also buy Celsius drinks online and in these places:
- Amazon (probably the best deals and the easiest way to buy it)
- eBay
- Supplements Geeks
- Nutra Health Supply
Including shipping, you should expect to pay around $2.25 per can to get Celsius shipped to your door.
Celsius Energy Drink Price
I paid $26.99 for a mixed 12-pack of Celsius energy drink on Amazon.
That works out to be $2.25 per drink, which isn’t the cheapest option in the wide world of energy drinks but isn’t the most expensive option either.
I would say that Celsius Energy Drink is reasonably priced and is about the middle of the road in terms of price when compared to alternative products.
However, even at $2.25 per drink, it’s still more than double the price of REIZE Energy Drink.
Review of Celsius Ingredients
The list of ingredients is something that lets Celsius energy drink down, particularly in light of the way they use the ingredients for marketing purposes. This is something that I consider to be deceptive.
Now, I’m not saying that Celsius is any worse for you than any other energy drink, I don’t believe that, but Celsius does make a big fuss about their MetaPlus proprietary blend, which I don’t believe is anything special.
In fact, the way that they splash all of their health claims (all with asterisks mind you) all over the Celsius cans is tacky.
Worst of all is the way that they don’t even mention caffeine being included in their MetaPlus blend, despite all of the university studies that they paid for mentioning that caffeine is known to increase metabolism and increase resting energy expenditure.
It’s as though they want you to believe that Celsius is some kind of wonder drink that is somehow superior to other energy drinks.
Why might that be?
…Marketing.
So, because of the way that they market their ingredients, I’m going to score Celsius a 6 out of 10 on this metric.
Is Celsius drink good before exercise?
This might’ve just been in my head, but I felt like there was a little bit of tightness in my chest for a couple of hours after finishing a can of sparkling orange.
This particularly concerns me with regard to Celsius because I know that they are marketing the drink as something we should consume before exercise.
Personally, as someone who drinks a lot of caffeine and who also does a lot of exercise, I wouldn’t want to drink a can of Celsius before doing any kind of strenuous exercise.
It just feels like the risk of something bad happening, however small an increase, combined with what is clearly too much caffeine to be able to think straight just isn’t a good idea for me.
I just don’t want to combine that kind of energy boost with any kind of strong physical exercise.
I give Celsius a 4.5 out of 10 for its effect.
Sure, it will blow your head off, but that’s not usually what I’m looking for in an energy drink.
Alternatives to Celsius Energy Drink
While Celsius energy drinks come in a wide range of flavors, there is an entire world of amazing energy drinks out there just waiting to be explored.
Why limit yourself to just one energy drink, even if they did pay for 6 university studies?
Wink, wink…
Here are some other great brands and flavors that are similar to Celsius drinks:
Or, if you prefer lightweight, versatile, and lower-cost energy drink powders, here are some brands that you might want to investigate:
- Zipfizz (also check out this review)
- Advocare Spark (I reviewed this drink too)
- GFuel
- REIZE Energy Drink (my all-time favorite)
If energy drinks aren’t your thing, you might like to consider something like Mio water enhancer or Vivarin pills.
All of the above products contain caffeine, thus, all of them will boost your metabolic rate and help you burn more fat if you exercise.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
REIZE Energy
If you are looking for a great energy drink that is also sugar-free, contains about the same number of calories, and ships right to your door for less than half the price of Celsius, then you might want to take a look at REIZE Energy Drink.
REIZE contains caffeine, taurine, electrolytes, and other energy-boosting properties that work well in providing you with the energy that you need.
REIZE ships right to your door for about $1 per drink.
REIZE is the smarter choice if you’re looking for a great alternative to Celsius drinks.