This Just In! Energy Drink Sugar Levels Anger Tooth Fairy

You know that icky crash that always follows that oh-so-lovely sugar high that keeps kids up til midnight like grown ups and keeps grown ups buzzing around the streets like kids?

We buy energy drinks because we need a boost. We have lots of reasons for needing that boost, but at the end of the day, it’s that little extra energy we’re after.

Sugar tends to be one of the main ingredients in energy drinks, but if it’s energy we’re after, then an overdose of sugar isn’t going to be the best solution. We’ll end up having to chase that sugar high and ward off the inevitable crash like some kind of junkie.

energy-drink-sugar Let’s have a look at some of the energy drink sugar levels in the most popular brands out there and then see if we’re in the clear as far as our intake. After all, I ain’t no junkie…

Different drinks come in many different sizes, so it’s important to take into consideration not the total sugar content, but rather the grams of sugar per ounce of drink. It turns out that there’s not actually an enormous difference between the popular drinks and your average soda. Most come in just above or around your average caffeinated soda:

Energy Drink
Rockstar
Monster
Coca Cola Classic
Redbull

Grams of Sugar per Ounce
3.75
3.38
3.25
3.19

Now that we have this information, we need to think about whether or not we’re consuming too much sugar in a day.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that a person on a 2,000-calorie diet should consume no more than about 40 grams of refined sugar per day.

So how much sugar is in a whole can of the most popular energy drinks?

Energy Drink
Rockstar 16 oz
Monster 16 oz
Coca Cola Classic
Redbull 8 oz

Total Grams of Sugar per Can
60
54
39
27

Remember, that’s ONE can. Most of us don’t stop at one…

With overwhelming scientific and medical evidence pointing to a link between high-sugar diets and obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease, perhaps we should wonder whether this “healthy” alternative to coffee is really all that healthy.

My recommendation: moderation.

Check the label on that can or shot you’re about to tip back and do a quick calculation to find out the total sugar content. If you can’t get a hold of low-sugar or sugar-free energy drinks, then by all means guzzle away (we all do sometimes). Just be prepared for that sugar crash because at the end of the day, in one for or other, it’s inevitable.

This is Part 1 in a series of 5 articles pertaining to Energy Drink Nutrition. To read more, do continue: