Over the past decade, the beverage industry as a whole has really redefined itself. Nowadays, just about every convenience store has at least one entire refrigerator dedicated to promoting these trendy beverages, and why not, they sell for more money than other soft drinks and consumers can’t get enough of them.

 Energy drinks are characterized by very high levels of caffeine and sugar, although low calorie diet versions have been developed (only problem is they taste like a vial of chemicals). Another ingredient that defines most energy drinks is the presence of taurine (which is actually produced naturally in human bile). Taurine consumption isn’t necessarily bad for you, but it’s energy boosting claims may be completely nonsense. Recent studies have shown that taurine consumption isn’t associated with any ‘energy boost’ relative to placebo. The ’strength’ of an energy drinks is often gauged by the amount of taurine in it - unfortunately, you might as well be taking a placebo tablet.

Energy drinks have a lot of other ingredients that claim to revitalize you and keep you alert (such as special vitamins and chemicals), however most of this is just hot air. While some of these compounds are helpful when consumed regularly, they’re unlikely to give you any actual short term energy.

 So where does the ‘jolt’ from most energy drinks come from? It comes from the sugar and the caffeine - the only two ingredients in energy drinks that will actually affect your short term energy levels. This might be alright for some people, but a sugar+caffeine buzz followed by a crash isn’t what most consumers think they’ll be getting when they purchase an energy drink.

The bottom line is: if you feel your life is lacking energy and focus, get out and do some regular exercise. Have a healthy diet and get a good amount of sleep every night. That, my friends, will do more than any enegy drink ever could.