10 FAQs on energy drinks.

There are some questions out there in the energy drink community. Like, why does this taste like camel urine, and more importantly how do I know what camel urine tastes like?

Well I have no answer to those two but I do have a few that I have compiled through some interweb searching for you reading pleasure.

1) What on earth does caffeine from all sources mean, isn't caffeine caffeine?
Well, the caffeine content of energy drinks comes from propitiatory energy blends, including ginseng and all kinds of vitamin Bs. A list with brief explanations of these can be found here.

2) Don't energy drinks cause (insert medical issue here)?
Energy drinks are full of all kinds of ingredients that people react o differently, some may people may have poor reactions to some of these. However the rumors about energy drinks causing STDs and giving people heart attacks when they look at a Monster can for too long are false. Don't listen to the mom groups trying to get you to run away from the fun things in life.

3)Is it okay to mix energy drinks with alcohol?
No. Mixing a stimulant and a depressant is a bad idea. Don't do it. One vice at a time people.

4) I heard some companies put hard drugs in energy drinks before they were regulated.
This comes from the idea that Coca Cola had cocaine in it. It didn't, it had coca leaves but not cocaine as we know it today. Also during World War II the German caffeinated chocolate Cho-ka-kola had amphetamines in it to keep German soldiers alert on night missions (don't get too mad at the Germans, we do it to this day). Modern energy drinks however do not, and have not ever had drugs beyond what are essentially cocktails of supplements to zap the nervous system.

If your day is done and you want to ride on, Scho-ca-cola

5)Can I really be addicted to energy drinks?
Yes, caffeine is a drug, however mild. You can be addicted and will go through withdrawal if you quit. However addiction and drug are rather strong words to describe what we are talking about. Is there a German word for slightly addictive, but not really?

6)Do energy drinks dehydrate you?
Absolutely. It is not the caffeine however, it is the massive amount of sugar in most energy drinks that dehydrates you.

7) Why do energy drinks always make me pee way more than normal.
Caffeine is a diuretic it makes ya need to pee. My trick is to time slamming a can of something so that I can be near a bathroom no later than half an hour later.

8)How can I tell how much caffeine is in a drink?
Some cans list caffeine content, but don't trust it. I wrote a post about this here.

9)How many energy drinks per day is too many?
Your genes hold the answer to that. The link to the left gives a great explanation on what genes are responsible for caffeine metabolism and what it means. 400mg a day for a healthy adult is generally considered the cap on safe caffeine consumption but your body may be able to handle way more, or far less.

10) Does drinking energy drinks as a teenager stunt your growth?
No. Playing heck with your nervous system as a teenager is not a great idea, but the caffeine does make you shorter when you reach adulthood. So it is genes, not drinking coffee regularly from the age of 12 that made me 5'6''.

One of these things is pretty much like the other, one of these things is almost exactly the same.

 I was at my local gas station today when I noticed something. A lot of energy drink companies are coming out with punch flavored products now. So, armed with dreams of being a sommelier of energy drinks and a few Amazon photos I set out to compare NOS Rowdy Punch and Monster Punch Baller's Blend.

I began with the outside of the can. I compared ingredients, and caffeine content and found something interesting. They are darn near identical. They both have 160mg of caffeine or so they say. They both have all kinds of vitamin b including a bunch of niacin (vitamin b3, you know, the stuff that supposedly gives you hepatitis). Even their full ingredients list seems to be just a scrambled list of the other, both even having the same food coloring, red #40.

So on paper they are pretty much the same thing, I hear the voices in my head say, but they cannot possibly be identical in taste as well.

They taste pretty much the same. After my first sip of the Monster I said to myself "I like this better", because the Monster was much less carbonated and ever so slightly less sweet. However after a few sips of both, washing my mouth out in-between. After doing a blind study with opaque cups, a blindfold, and my New York card-shark skills. After feeling my sanity slip away trying to taste a significant difference in the two and drinking both at once. I can confidently say they they are as different as off-white and eggshell.

The only noticeable difference I can see is that the NOS is an opaque pink, and the Monster is a transparent red.

Perhaps they have a different kick, with their ever so slight difference in energy blends, but I was not about to sit here and down roughly 320mg of caffeine at the end of my day. So I will leave finding a difference between the two for you to find out.

"I don't know why I had a heart attack, I only had two drinks" or how the energy drink companies are lying to you.

You pick up an energy shot at your local gas station. You had a cup of coffee this morning but work has kicked your butt today and you need a boost. The shot lists caffeine as an ingredient but does not list the amount. You have always had a high tolerance for caffeine, so it's fine. Little do you know that you are in for a ride, that shot has 300mg of caffeine, 400mg is considered safe.

The FDA has been cracking down on energy drink companies reporting of caffeine content in their products, but they are still finding loopholes that let them report inaccurate numbers, if at all.. Some drinks merely labeled their caffeine content as coming from proprietary blends, with no specific content listed.

If you are like me, and actively attempt to keep blood out of your caffeine system, watching your daily intake closely is a must.


Luckily there are sources available online like caffeineinformer that will help you track your drink's actual content and keep you from having an anxiety attack at best, and a heart attack at worst.

I am the last person to push for more government regulation, 

                                                      This guy is my spirit animal
but I am all for asking energy drink companies to accurately report their contents. I will continue to drink their stuff, probably to excess, but at least I can be well informed about my excesses.