While you’re enjoying a can of Relentless energy drink, the question of whether it will negatively impact your health may have crossed your mind.
Well, if you’re keen to find out the answer, then this is the post for you.
To cut to the chase, a Relentless Energy drink is not bad for you if you consume it in moderation.
Join me as I take a closer look at what’s inside this energy drink which promises to supply you with the stamina, and focus, and drive you to need to fuel your passion and creativity.
What we discover will ultimately help us figure out whether it’s a good or bad thing to have Relentless energy drinks as a regular feature in our diet.
To get things started, let’s take a quick look at what the Relentless brand is all about.
Relentless: The Origin
Relentless energy drinks were first created by the Coca-Cola Company back in 2006. The drinks were manufactured in Ireland and the brand debuted with the Relentless Origin drink.
Since then, it has grown into a well-known and much-loved beverage in the UK. It also became the first energy drink in Great Britain to be sold in a larger volume can of 500ml.
With product slogans like “No Half Measures” and “Be Relentless”, Relentless energy drinks are mostly targeted at youth. The brand is often associated with the music scene, party culture as well as sports such as skateboarding and BMX.
Relentless energy drinks are also imported and sold in the US.
What Flavors Are Available For Relentless Energy Drinks?
There are seven Relentless energy drink flavors to choose from:
- Origin (the original flavour)
- Zero (sugar-free version)
- Mango
- Lemon Ice
- Cherry
- Passion Punch
- Apple Kiwi
How Much Does A Relentless Energy Drink Cost And Where Can I Buy It From?
On average, a 500ml can of Relentless energy drink costs around £1 and can be found at local supermarkets in the UK as well as in various online stores across the Internet.
What Are The Ingredients In A Relentless Energy Drink?
A can of Relentless energy drink contains the following ingredients:
| Ingredient | Amount (Per 500ml) |
| Energy | 46kJ(108 kCal) |
| Carbohydrates(Excluding Sugar) | 31g |
| Sugar | 24g |
| Salt | 0.70g |
| Niacinamide | 16mg |
| Pantothenic Acid | 8.5mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.5mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 2.0μg |
From this list, let’s zoom in on these three major components:
- Caffeine
- Sugar
- Vitamins
Caffeine
Relentless has 160mg of caffeine in a 500ml can.
I usually like to limit my caffeine consumption to around 50mg to 100mg per serving.
Although what you’d find in Relentless is a little higher than that, it’s still perfectly fine for you to have this level of caffeine concentration in your drinks, assuming you are in good health.
I say this because the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) state that you should stick to consuming 200mg of caffeine per serving.
You won’t be exceeding that figure when you drink a can of Relentless.
However, EFSA also suggests that you don’t go over the maximum of 400mg of caffeine per day, so make sure to take that into account when deciding how many cans of Relentless energy drinks to have on any given day.
Bear in mind too that these guidelines are meant for normal, healthy adults. If you are facing any existing health issues, it would be better for you to consult your doctor before you reach for a can of Relentless to drink.
It’s important to avoid exceeding the recommended daily intake of caffeine if you want to avoid health problems such as these:
- Insomnia
- High blood pressure
- Caffeine addiction
- Rapid heart rate
- Fatigue
- Loss of bladder control
- Muscle breakdown
- Digestive issues
- Anxiety
Sugar
There’s 24g of sugar within each can of Relentless energy drink.
This is actually a lot of sugar, considering that it’s coming from just one drink.
A lot of the food we eat every day contains sugar, and there are often plenty of hidden sugars in our diet. So whenever we’re deciding what level of sugar we’re okay with having in our energy drinks, we’ve got to keep in mind how much sugar we’ve already included in our meals.
Guidelines given by the National Health Service (NHS) dictate that adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars in a day. (The term “free sugars” here refers to the same hidden sugars that I talked about earlier.)
After drinking one can of Relentless, you’ll only be able to consume another 6g of sugar for the rest of the day. Who’s to say that you won’t unknowingly go over your limits once you eat other food?
So that’s something you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re trying to figure out whether grabbing a Relentless energy drink would be bad for you or not.
Being careful about your daily sugar consumption would be a wise thing to do since you’d want to avoid the health hazards from excessive sugar such as:
- Weight gain
- Heart disease
- Acne
- Type 2 diabetes
- Cancer
- Depression
- Skin aging
- Fatigue
- Fatty liver
- Kidney disease
- Gout
- Dental cavities
One way to avoid this issue altogether is to just go for the sugar-free version of this drink, Relentless Zero.
Vitamins
Below are some of the significant vitamins and minerals that you’ll find in a can of Relentless:
- 16mg niacin (vitamin B3)
- 8.5mg pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
- 2.0µg vitamin B12
Let’s take a quick look at each of these ingredients and how they might impact our bodies when we consume them.
Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Niacin or vitamin B3 helps your body by:
- preventing heart disease
- lowering the risk of type 1 diabetes
- enhancing your brain’s abilities
- protecting your skin against damage from sun exposure
- soothing arthritic inflammation
- preventing pellagra
Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for niacin differs according to age and gender, but in general, men need 16mg of niacin daily whereas women only need 14mg.
Based on these figures, the 16mg of niacin found in Relentless energy drinks would suffice to help you meet your daily needs. Not to worry though, even if you do exceed your DRI, niacin is water-soluble so your body can easily excrete anything that it doesn’t need.
Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5)
Meanwhile, you would usually need 5mg of pantothenic acid or vitamin B5 every day.
Vitamin B5 helps with:
- digestion
- relieves inflammation and nasal congestion
- treating heart disease
- wound healing
- improving stress tolerance
The 8.5mg of vitamin B5 in Relentless Energy more than adequately covers your required daily dosage.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 contributes toward your personal well-being by:
- preventing memory loss
- supporting the body’s energy production
- reducing the risk of heart problems
- ensuring the health of your nails, skin, and hair
- helping to regulate your mood (metabolizes serotonin)
- reducing the probability of age-related eye diseases
- preventing osteoporosis
- reducing the risk of birth defects
- supporting the development of healthy red blood cells
It is recommended that you take 2.4µg of vitamin B12 daily. You’ll get 2.0µg of vitamin B12 with every can of Relentless that you drink.
Conclusion: Relentless Energy Drink Ingredients
Since these vitamins and minerals have been included in a can of Relentless, you could say that this energy drink actually is good for your body in some ways.
However, you need to be mindful of its caffeine and sugar content too. As long as you ensure you remain within your recommended daily limits, there really is no harm in indulging in Relentless as and when you feel like it.
Can You Fall Sick From Drinking Relentless Energy Drinks?
It really depends.
It’s quite unlikely that you’ll become ill just from a few sips of Relentless or from drinking one can a day.
However, if you consume a lot of Relentless energy drinks on a regular basis, there is always a possibility that you might experience bad health effects from it.
This might happen due to caffeine, sugar, or vitamin overdose, or because of an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients in the drink.
Caffeine Overdose
Caffeine, when consumed in reasonable amounts, can be useful as it helps you to stay alert and elevates your energy levels.
But when you go overboard in your caffeine consumption, you may start to encounter health issues like:
- Anxiety and nervousness
- Insomnia
- Digestive issues
- Muscle breakdown
- Minor addiction
- High blood pressure
- Rapid heart rate
- Fatigue
- Loss of bladder control
Depending on your personal circumstances, there may be additional precautions you need to take.
For example, if you’re pregnant or a breastfeeding mother, you may need to be even more vigilant about your caffeine intake as your baby may be ingesting caffeine through your breast milk.
It also goes without saying that youth and children should be discouraged from drinking energy drinks like Relentless as they have a much lower tolerance for caffeine than adults.
Allergic Reaction
There’s a chance that you may have an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients used in Relentless or any energy drink for that matter.
Signs that you have developed an allergy include hives, acne, and severe itching.
If you suffer from any of these symptoms after drinking a can of Relentless, I would suggest you see a doctor immediately.
Although it’s rare, some allergies can trigger serious complications and it can be fatal so it’s important to be careful if you’re trying Relentless for the first time.
Vitamin Overdose
Despite vitamins and minerals being important for your health, you should not take too much of any particular vitamin or you’ll risk experiencing the symptoms of a vitamin overdose.
This is a serious condition that can result in problems such as hair fall, nerve damage, and jaundice.
You can experience a vitamin overdose from consuming Relentless energy drinks too, so be cautious and control the amount of Relentless you drink each day.
Is It Safe To Drink Relentless Energy Drinks Every Day?
In our earlier discussion, we found that the amount of caffeine (160mg) and sugar (24g) present in one can of Relentless does not exceed the daily recommended intake advised by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the National Health Service (NHS).
So it’s safe to say you should be able to enjoy at least one can of Relentless a day without any worries.
But if you’re planning to have more than one can, then you would need to exercise caution or else you might end up suffering from one or more of the health issues I mentioned earlier.
Whatever you choose to do, remember to always keep in mind what your body’s tolerance levels are and to think about the long-term consequences of your actions.
To make things simpler, I’d recommend that you stick to just one can of Relentless per day.
Will I Die From Consuming Relentless Energy Drink?
It is very unlikely that you will die from having Relentless energy drinks.
Unless, of course, you have an underlying health issue. If this sounds like you, please talk to your doctor to figure out if Relentless is safe for you.
There was a case that I read online where a youth went into cardiac arrest due to consuming 470mg of caffeine during the span of two hours. This isn’t even a safe quantity of caffeine for healthy adults to take in an entire day.
Just for your reference, the lethal dose of caffeine is about 10g for most people, though it varies according to each individual’s health and caffeine tolerance level.
So, it’s important to be aware of your body’s warning signs and to know when you need to stop your caffeine intake for the day.
As long as you keep these things in mind, then it would be perfectly safe to consume Relentless energy drinks and they should not kill you any more than your daily cup of juice or coffee will.
So… Is Relentless Energy Drink Really Bad For You?
Now that we have reviewed the ingredients contained in a can of Relentless energy drink and considered the risks and benefits that it could have on our health, I think we can safely conclude that Relentless energy drinks aren’t bad for you in general.
However, this also depends on your overall health condition, how many cans of Relentless you will have at a time, and how often you will be drinking them.
If you have pre-existing health issues, then it may not be a good choice for you to consume Relentless energy drinks.
Drinking too many cans of Relentless in one go would be a bad move too, especially when the combined amount of caffeine, sugar, and vitamins and minerals you consume exceeds healthy limits.
Watch this video for a good summary of what I have discussed in this article. You’ll find that these principles apply not just to Relentless, but just about any energy drink out there in the market.
Alternatives To Relentless Energy Drink
If you’re curious about what alternative options there are out there for Relentless energy drink, here’s a list of good alternatives that you might find helpful:
You might want to consider powdered energy drinks too. This gives you greater flexibility as you can mix the powder with any drink of your choice. The compact nature of energy drink sachets also makes them easy to bring along with you wherever you go.
Here are a few suggestions that you can consider:
- Gfuel
- Zipfizz
- Advocare Spark
- REIZE (10/10)
REIZE
REIZE is a great energy drink and a worthy alternative to Relentless.
With only 50mg of caffeine per sachet, REIZE is much more manageable and won’t be overpowering. However, it still provides a great boost with no crash that will have you feeling great for hours.
It’s also sugar-free and packed with other health-enriching ingredients such as ginseng, B vitamins, and taurine.
You’re also getting great value for your money as REIZE is priced at only around $1 per sachet and that includes shipping charges too.
Don’t just take my word for it though, try REIZE for yourself.
You won’t regret it and you might also find that it’s a better option than Relentless.