Relentless is made in Ireland and is a popular energy drink throughout the UK. The brand was created by The Coca-Cola Company back in 2006 and was the first to introduce larger drink sizes (500ml cans) for sale in Great Britain.
Relentless features a strong lineup of energy drinks in several attractive fruity flavours, but is it truly worth your time and money to buy a can for yourself?
In this article, I’ll share my honest opinion and review of Relentless Energy Drink.
Let’s get started…
Does Relentless Energy Drink Really Work?
I would say Relentless did work for me, but it contains a little more caffeine than I usually prefer to have in a single serving.
But that’s just my opinion, you can give it a try and decide for yourself.
In order to see for myself whether the Relentless energy drink actually works or not, I got a can to try it out and drank it with my lunch.
That day, my schedule consisted of about six hours of work, followed by a gym session in the afternoon.
I thought the taste was quite refreshing, though quite sweet.
The boosting effects of Relentless were great as it helped me power through my work and I managed to maintain my concentration most of the afternoon. I even managed to survive the day without topping up with a coffee.
By the time I decided to call it a night, I genuinely felt tired as the effects of my Relentless had completely worn off. No complaints there.
My verdict?
It seemed to give me a good boost for about 90 minutes, but then I noticed my energy flagging. I guess this was a sugar crash.
I’m surprised that the boost was OK before my energy started to dip though. Usually, I don’t like my energy drinks to contain more than about 100mg per serving.
Relentless Energy Drink Review
Visuals
The Relentless can have a visually pleasing design and is quite eye-catching, in my opinion.
The ingredient information provided on the product label was satisfactory.
Taste
For me, I found the taste of Relentless very refreshing but somewhat sweet.
The yellowish tinge of the drink can be a bit repulsive at first glance, but after I tasted it, I enjoyed the flavour.
The best part of drinking Relentless was that it did not leave any bitter aftertaste which I had experienced with some other energy drinks.
On the whole, I’d say Relentless has an enjoyable taste and is possibly quite addictive.
Ingredients And Effects
Let’s evaluate the effect Relentless will have based on its ingredients.
A 500ml can of Relentless Origin contains:
- 108 calories
- 160mg caffeine
- 31g carbohydrates
- 24g sugar
- 0.70g salt
- 16mg niacin (vitamin B3)
- 8.5mg pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
- 2.0µg cobalamin (vitamin B12)
- Carbonated water
- Sucrose
- Citric acid
- Erythritol (Flavor enhancer)
- Taurine (0.4%)
- Sodium citrate (Acidity regulator)
- Potassium sorbate
- Sodium benzoate
- Caramel E150d (Color)
- Sucralose
- Guarana seed extract
Caffeine
Relentless contains 160mg of caffeine in a 500ml can and this is an acceptable quantity for you to drink in one serving.
According to the guidelines given by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), you should only drink up to 200mg of caffeine per serving. Besides that, it’s also recommended that you keep to a daily caffeine intake of no more than 400mg per day.
Personally, though, I prefer to only drink between 50 to 100mg of caffeine per serving.
Much has been said about the dangers of caffeine, but in my opinion, as long as you’re taking it in moderation, I believe it can actually do a lot of good for you.
Caffeine helps to enhance your physical endurance and mental performance (alertness and ability to concentrate) during times of weariness.
Of course, you will need to be careful so that you do not exceed the 400mg daily quota. Otherwise, you may face problems like these:
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- High blood pressure
- Muscle spasms
- Headaches
- Hallucinations
- Stomach ulcers
Check out this resource for some useful tips on how to consume caffeinated drinks like Relentless more strategically in order to benefit the most from them.
Sugar
Every 500ml can of Relentless contains 24g of sugar.
Personally, I feel that having 24g of sugar within a can of Relentless is quite a lot.
It’s important to monitor not just how much sugar we consume every day, but also which sources we choose to get our sugar from. Ultimately, this is to reduce our chances of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
So, although drinking one can of Relentless make you exceed your recommended daily intake for sugar of 30g per day, I’d still stick to one can only per day.
However, it’s worth noting that the sugar content from just one can of Relentless already takes a big portion out of your daily consumption limit.
Having said that, our bodies actually need sugar to function as this is how our cells get their energy to perform their daily tasks.
It’s just that we need to watch how we consume it (controlling our portions) and which food sources we are getting them from (foods with complex carbohydrates like grains and beans are preferred over soft drinks and candies).
If you have too much sugar in your diet, you’ll likely suffer from:
- Diabetes
- Low energy
- Chronic fatigue
- Weight gain
- Weakened immune system
- Premature aging
Vitamins
Relentless contains 16mg of niacin (vitamin B3), 8.5mg of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), and 2.0µg of cobalamin (vitamin B12).
These vitamins are usually included in drinks like Relentless in order to help boost your energy levels.
What’s important to remember here is that B vitamins themselves do not give you energy just because you consume them. They are useful only because they help your body in converting the food you have eaten into energy.
Here’s how the number of B vitamins in a can of Relentless compares to your daily recommended intake:
| Vitamin | Quantity In Relentless Energy Drink (500 ml) | Daily Recommended Intake |
| Niacin (B3) | 16mg | 16 mg (men) 14mg (women) |
| Pantothenic Acid (B5) | 8.5mg | 5mg |
| Cobalamin (B12) | 2.0µg | 2.4µg |
Although some doses of B vitamins included in a can of Relentless are more than what’s required for your daily needs, it’s not something you’d have to worry about.
Due to their water-soluble nature, any excess B vitamins that aren’t used up by your body will just get eliminated through your urine.
Taurine
For Relentless, it was not mentioned how much taurine is actually added to the drink.
It has only been stated at 0.4%, which could possibly mean that it makes up 0.4% of the drink’s contents.
Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid that can improve athletic performance.
According to some research studies, it can also help enhance your mental capabilities when it is taken together with caffeine.
Guarana Seed Extract
It was not indicated on the ingredients list for Relentless just how much guarana seed extract has actually been included in this product.
Guarana is a Brazilian plant that is naturally high in caffeine. It has a higher caffeine content than coffee beans.
For example, there’s between 1% to 2% caffeine found in Arabica coffee beans whereas there’s 3% to 4% caffeine in guarana.
The guarana seed extract is made by grinding the berries into powder.
Guarana is a natural energiser. Among the benefits you can enjoy from it are improved concentration, better memory, reduced risk of heart disease, pain relief, and much more.
Conclusion: Ingredients And Effects
The combination of ingredients we see used here shows us that Relentless has something worthwhile to offer us in the form of an energy booster.
However, as an individual, you’ll need to be aware of how each of these ingredients affects you personally so you can be certain whether there is any risk to your health from taking Relentless energy drinks.
In my case, I found that the drink positively enhanced my performance without any side effects so it worked great for me.
Final Verdict
My take on the Relentless Energy drink is that it’s a great beverage.
It is tasty, refreshing, and has a certain sweetness to it that makes it very nice to drink.
It helped keep me alert throughout the day as I expected it to and I didn’t experience any nasty snapbacks from consuming it.
So as long as you drink it in moderation, I think it would be a good complement to your lifestyle.
Is Relentless Energy Drink Good For Your Health?
In order to determine whether Relentless is good for your health, you’d need to look at these areas:
- Assess your current health situation.
- Decide what health benefits you are looking for.
- Compare that to what Relentless has to offer you as an energy drink.
If you are facing any health issues at the moment, then introducing Relentless into your diet would not be a good idea. In fact, it would probably be better if you consulted a doctor first before even buying a can to try.
However, assuming you are in the green for health, Relentless might be helpful as an energy booster whenever you need something to perk you up on a tiring day.
But just like all other food and drinks, Relentless can have really bad side effects if you drink too much of it. This is mostly due to the excess caffeine and sugar that you have consumed.
As long as you know your limits, drinking an energy drink like Relentless should not negatively impact your health.
Alternatives to Relentless Energy Drink
Here are some other great energy drinks you can try besides Relentless:
You can also try powdered energy drinks if you like having a more portable and versatile option:
- Gfuel
- Zipfizz
- Advocare Spark
- REIZE (highly recommended)
REIZE
REIZE is a powdered energy drink and my personal favourite.
It contains only 50mg of caffeine per sachet and is sugar-free.
In addition, it has other enriching ingredients like ginseng and taurine which are also beneficial for your well-being.
All of these great ingredients work together to provide a great energy boost without the sugar crash.
REIZE costs only about $1 per sachet and you can enjoy free shipping when you order it online.
Give it a try and see. You just might end up liking it more than Relentless.