8 Best Healthy Energy Drinks of 2023 (Registered Dietitian-Reviewed)

Q: Top 5 Healthy Energy Drinks

Q: How to Choose a Healthy Energy Drink – Buying Guide

・Look for Energy Boosting Ingredients ・Keep Sugars Low to Avoid a Crash ・Avoid Synthetic Ingredients >> Click here for details >> View Full Ranking

How to Choose a Healthy Energy Drink – Buying Guide

With a market full of options, we're here to help you know what to look for. Here's our buying guide on how to choose the best healthy energy drink for your needs.

Look for Energy Boosting Ingredients

Certain ingredients are known to boost energy levels, but too much of a good thing can be bad. Here's a breakdown of the ingredients to look for and how much of them you need.

The Right Amount of Caffeine Will Keep You Kicking

Caffeine can help to boost energy levels, but too much can also lead to jitters, heart palpitations, or headaches. To be safe, we recommend sticking to less than 400 milligrams per day. For reference, an average cup of coffee contains about 120 milligrams.

It's been estimated that you'll reach 400 milligrams of caffeine by drinking two commercial brand energy drinks, so try not to exceed that amount for your own well-being.

Extra Boosters: Amino Acids and Vitamins

In addition to caffeine, many energy drinks also employ other ingredients like amino acids and vitamins to enhance energy and benefit health.

An increasingly common ingredient is taurine. Taurine is an amino acid that has been shown to boost mental performance when combined with caffeine. However, while taurine is naturally occurring in meat foods like fish, it's usually synthesized for the sake of energy drinks.

Still, taurine has many claims to a healthier lifestyle, including the fact that it reduces the risk of heart failure and diabetes. So long as you keep your taurine consumption under 3,000 milligrams a day, you can certainly benefit from having it in your energy drink.

Vitamin C is also a popular addition to healthy energy drinks. It's an antioxidant and immune system booster. Vitamin D, yet another common ingredient, can help improve your mood and mental performance.

While healthy energy drinks do contain vitamins, we don't recommend relying on them for your nutrition needs. Please look to whole foods as your main source of essential vitamins.

Registered Dietitian (RD, LD)Rachel Binkley

Although some micronutrients included in energy drinks can be beneficial, they should not be the reason behind choosing to drink one. Unfortunately, sometimes these nutrients have more to do with marketing.

Vitamin C can absolutely support your immune system, though. If you are deficient in vitamin D, it may be beneficial to consume a supplement. These are all topics to discuss with a physician or dietitian.

Keep Sugars Low to Avoid a Crash

It almost goes without saying, but the first thing you should check for in any energy drink is the sugar content. Sugar is normally a key component in energy drinks due to the sudden spike in energy it can give you.

This energy, however, is very short-lived and will inevitably lead to a crash. Worse, there's a lot of solid research showing that too much sugar leads to an increased risk of health issues like diabetes, fatty liver, and tooth decay.

But you don’t want to be adding too many artificial sweeteners to your diet either, so stick to natural sugars in your energy drinks. A good rule of thumb is to look for a drink with less than 10 grams of sugar per eight ounces.

Registered Dietitian (RD, LD)Rachel Binkley

The energy you're getting from energy drinks is not the same as the energy that is provided with a well-balanced meal. With food sources, you can incorporate fiber or protein to help slow digestion.

When energy drinks are high in sugar, it will lead to a blood sugar spike. This can be more concerning depending on chronic health concerns. There's no doubt that caffeine and sugar will give you energy. The question is, are you looking for quick or sustainable energy? That will depend on your plans and lifestyle.

Avoid Synthetic Ingredients

Commercial energy drinks use synthesized caffeine made from urea and chloroacetic acid. While synthetic caffeine is structurally similar to the caffeine found in plants like tea or coffee, there's one dramatic difference: your body absorbs it much faster. This leads to jitters, post-caffeine crashes, and even an upset stomach on occasion.

Healthy energy drinks use natural caffeine sources like green tea and yerba mate, coffee beans, and the guarana seed. Some of these are denser in caffeine than others; guarana is even more potent than coffee! So long as you check the caffeine levels on your drink's label, you should be able to get the boost you need without overdoing it.

It goes without saying, but you'll also want to steer clear of artificial colors and synthesized flavorings in your search for a healthy energy drink. There are plenty of natural flavors that taste just as sweet, and no one really needs their drink to be electric green.

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