Fast Facts
- If you’re short on time and just want the best option, we recommend Celsius Live Fit.
- Healthy energy drinks include vitamins and minerals, natural forms of caffeine, and less sugar than typical energy drinks.
- While sugar-free and low-sugar energy drinks are healthier than most, coffee and caffeinated tea are still recommended over them to boost energy levels.
- If your energy levels are consistently low, talk to your doctor about underlying issues that may be a contributing factor.
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A can of Red Bull or Monster can give you an energy boost when your ass is dragging at 3 p.m. on a Monday. But that vice may come with downsides: caffeine jitters and an eventual sugar crash. Fortunately, it’s 2023, and there are plenty of healthy-ish alternatives to the sugar bombs of youth.
Does that mean we can consider these new-wave energy drinks to be “healthy”? Not quite. Though some caffeine is perfectly healthy—it gives you energy and improves your ability to focus and concentrate—“some energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine that can be dangerous and negatively impact your heart, not to mention your anxiety and ability to sleep,” says registered dietitian Valerie Gately, MS, RDN, LD.
“When you consume caffeine, it stimulates your nervous system causing your heart rate to increase, which pushes blood to your muscles and signals your liver to release glucose, providing you with energy,” adds Gately. So it’s not about avoiding caffeine altogether, but rather about limiting your caffeine intake. You can do this with caffeine-free energy drinks, or even energy drinks that use caffeine-adjacent energizers like paraxanthine.
The average person can safely consume around 400 mg (or less) of caffeine per day, or about four small cups of coffee. If you’re starting your day with a quad-shot latte, reaching for an afternoon Americano, and taking down a Celsius before your men’s league basketball game, that’s overdoing it.
MORE ENERGY DRINKS
Energy Drink Ingredients to Avoid
Beyond excess caffeine and sugar (the latter of which could potentially raise the likelihood of hair loss), some popular “healthy” energy drinks, such as Celsius, also include guarana, whose seeds contain about four times more caffeine than coffee beans (1). The seed itself isn’t unhealthy, but it’s an NCAA-banned stimulant—it can show up in a urine test and shouldn’t be consumed by competitive college athletes, says Gately.
Then there are the sugar alternatives found in many energy drinks. Though faux sugars like stevia and sucralose (known as Splenda) have no sugar content, they also have zero nutritional value and can cause digestive issues. “Some people may experience GI distress, like diarrhea, after consumption,” explains Gately.
If artificial sweeteners don’t cause you GI distress and you don’t have a medical condition like diabetes or high blood pressure to consider, Gately says they are safe for most people to consume in moderation. “Though stevia has been generally recognized as safe, there are concerns over its impact on our overall health. Monk fruit is low-calorie and may contain antioxidants so it can be a good alternative to sugar,” she explains.
“As always, it is important to read the ingredient label, as sometimes stevia and monk fruit are combined with other unhealthy artificial sweeteners.”
In short, avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame for their potential to be digestive upsetting; look for monk fruit, agave, and honey, which are safer options. Just don’t go overboard on honey or agave—since they’re considered added sugars they can raise blood sugar, and increase your risk for insulin resistance (2).
The Healthiest Energy Drinks You Can Buy
Celsius Live Fit
Best Energy Drink Overall
Let’s start with the best healthy energy drink of the moment: Celsius Live Fit. Each 12-ounce can packs 200 mg of caffeine—more than any other drink on this list—and just 10 calories. It gets its high caffeine content from a combination of sources: green tea extract with EGCG (a highly potent antioxidant found in green tea and matcha that helps prevent free-radical damage and reduce inflammation) (3) as well as guarana seed extract.But what makes this one so popular? It’s accessible (you can get it at nearly every gas station or grocery store in America) and it’s damn tasty. There are 15 sparkling and non-sparkling flavors to choose from, six of which are in this variety pack. It’s deemed relatively healthy due to its lack of sugar and the addition of key natural health-enhancing vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C to support your immune system and several B vitamins for energy production. (If you’re curious how it fares against more traditional energy drinks, like Red Bull, here’s a breakdown.)It also includes chromium which may help control hunger (4) and ginger root for flavor and digestion—two claims none of the other energy drinks on this list own.
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 12 fl oz.): 10 calories, 0 g total fat, 10 mg sodium, 2 g total carbs, 0 g sugar, 0 g protein, 200 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Sucralose
Zevia Zero Calorie Energy
Zevia actually got its start in the beverage aisle thanks to its stevia-based soda alternatives, so it was a natural transition into the energy drink space. It’s non-GMO verified, free from artificial colors and preservatives, has zero grams of sugar, and offers 120 mg of organic caffeine per 12-ounce can. Like its soda alternatives, Zevia’s energy drinks are sweetened with stevia-leaf extract, a plant-based sweetener, which has a funny, chemical-like aftertaste if you ask us, but consuming it won’t raise blood sugar levels and it’s safe to drink on the keto diet.
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 12 fl. oz.): 0 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 mg sodium, 0 g total carbs, 0 g sugar, 0 g protein, 120 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Stevia leaf extract
Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate
Yerba mate, a type of tea made from the naturally caffeinated leaves of the yerba mate tree, a member of the holly tree family, has been a staple in South American culture for centuries. According to Guayaki’s website, it has the caffeine strength of coffee, the health benefits of tea, and the euphoric feeling of chocolate. Now, you can find many of the best natural energy drinks using the ingredient—including the next entry on this list. However, many varieties also cram in lots of sugar to remove some of the bitter taste. This version of Guayaki’s Yerba Mate has zero natural or artificial sweeteners aside from three percent lime juice yielding just five calories per 12-ounce can. It has about half as much caffeine as many of the other options on this list, but it’s clean enough and calorie-friendly enough to warrant drinking two (if needed).
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 12 fl. oz.): 5 calories, 0 g total fat, 5 mg sodium, 0 g total carbs, 0 g sugar, 1 g protein, 80 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Lime juice
Clean Cause Yerba Mate
We meet the ancient yerba mate once again, this time in Clean Cause’s 16-ounce energy drink. If you like the sound of the previous option, but want something with a touch more sweetness, opt for this brand’s version which includes the addition of stevia leaf extract. It combines fair trade yerba mate and USDA-certified organic ingredients with sparkling water for a refreshing alternative to coffee. Plus, drinking this beverage supports a good cause (hence the brand name)—50 percent of the profits go to alcohol and drug addiction recovery programs. Just watch out for the erythritol, a sugar alcohol which may cause GI distress in some people that has been linked to increased cardiovascular risk (5). Each can contains 9 grams.
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 16 fl oz.): 0 calories, 0 g total fat, 5 mg sodium, 0 g total carbs, 0 g total sugars, 0 g added sugars, 0 g protein, 160 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Organic stevia and organic erythritol
Hiball Energy
When we think about the best energy drinks, our mind goes to something in-line with soda—flavorful and sweet. That’s where Hiball flips the script. Branded as an energy seltzer, Hiball is milder in flavor than most other options on this list, with some reviewers comparing it to Perrier sparkling waters. It’s completely unsweetened. Though the taste is mild, it still packs 160 milligrams of caffeine, plus 50 milligrams of guarana, and 50 milligrams of ginseng per each 16-ounce can for naturally boosted energy levels.
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 16 fl oz.): 0 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 mg sodium, <1 g total carbs, 0 g total sugars, 0 g added sugars, 0 g protein, 160 mg caffeine
Sweetener: None
Nuun Sport + Caffeine
Pack a tube of Nuun in your gym bag if you’re looking for a zap of energy to get through a tough workout. This healthy energy drink comes in convenient tablets that dissolve in water and deliver hydrating electrolytes including sodium to replenish levels during a sweaty workout, and 80 mg of caffeine. It certainly doesn’t have the same effect as pre-workout, but that’s what makes it work for an everyday pick-me-up. Nuun doesn’t use artificial flavoring or sweeteners (just stevia). Plus, each tube contains 10 servings, so it delivers more bang for your buck than every other option here.
Nutrition Facts (1 tablet): 15 calories, 0 g total fat, 300 mg sodium, 4 g total carbs, 1 g total sugars, 1 g added sugars, 0 mg protein, 80 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Stevia leaf extract, dextrose
FOCUSAID Clean Energy
Looking for a boost of energy and focus? FOCUSAID’s got you covered. Each 12-ounce can contains 100 mg caffeine and just 40 calories, plus a host of supplements that it says may help enhance your cognitive performance: GABA (for stress relief, focus, and clarity); Rhodiola Rosea (for concentration), Alpha-GPC (for memory and cognition); Panax Ginseng (for learning); and Acetyl-L-Carnitine (for neurotransmitter support). If you like your energy drinks sweet, you’ll love the addition of organic agave nectar in this one, which helps diminish some of the stevia aftertaste that most zero-sugar healthy energy drinks deliver. That does, however, mean that it contains 7 grams of sugar per can, so if you’re watching your intake, it’s best to go with another option on this list.
Nutrition Facts (1 can): 40 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 mg sodium, 9 g total carbs, 7 g total sugars, 7 g added sugars, 0 g protein, 100 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Organic stevia leaf extract, organic agave nectar
Zoa Zero Sugar Energy Drink
Dwayne Johnson is synonymous with action-packed movies, and healthy living (have you seen his biceps?) So it makes sense that Zoa, The Rock’s zero-sugar energy drink, is pretty good for you. We looked into it and found that it mostly lives up to its claims: it delivers a jolt of energy and tastes great doing it. Much like Celsius, it’s packed with vitamin C to support immunity, and Zoa says it’s added B vitamins to support mental energy and focus, potassium and magnesium for hydration, branched-chain amino acids which recent research suggests may help improve muscle growth, and natural caffeine for energy. Two things to note: the sodium content is exponentially higher than every other pick at 200 mg; and it includes some questionable sweeteners: sucralose and Ace-K, which are both artificial.
Nutrition Facts (1 can, 12 fl. oz.): 10 calories, 0 g total fat, 200 mg sodium, 3 g total carbs, 0 g total sugars, 0 g added sugars, 0 g protein, 160 mg caffeine
Sweetener: Sucralose and Ace-K (Acesulfame Potassium)
Why Your Energy Levels Might Be Low
Energy drinks—even healthier ones—are a quick fix. If you feel yourself constantly in desperate need of a nap or a Venti cold brew, there might be an underlying issue. “If you find yourself reaching for large amounts of caffeine, step back and evaluate why you are feeling fatigued,” says Gately. Ask yourself:
- Are you hydrating properly throughout the day?
- Are you fueling adequately and eating breakfast daily?
- Are you consuming carbohydrates before, during, and after workouts?
- Are you recovering properly?
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Are you taking time to manage your stress?
The answers to all of these questions may tell you what’s contributing to consistent zombie-like feelings and may mean it’s time to look at the root cause. “Sometimes you find yourself in a pinch and need a boost,” says Gately.
But there could also be larger problems at hand, such as a hormonal imbalance or vitamin deficiency. If you answer yes to most of the above questions and still feel fatigued, it’s wise to get your blood checked by a doctor to discuss treatment options. There are even many energy drink enjoyers who are tired because of their energy drink consumption.
Want to test your hormone levels? Order Hone’s at-home hormone assessment.
Want to try B12 injections? Speak with a Hone doctor about starting a B12 regimen.
How to Increase Energy Levels Naturally
There are safer and healthier alternatives to energy drinks if you’re in a slump, the top two being caffeinated coffee and tea. Gately also recommends eating simple carbs, like fruit or crackers, for energy. Some of her other tips include:
- Eat every three to four hours during the day
- Make sure to get all three macros daily (protein, carbs, and fat)
- Eat a solid meal a few hours before a workout and a small serving of carbs close to the workout (about an hour before you exercise)
- Hydrate and keep an eye on your urine color (bright yellow = dehydrated; clear = hydrated)
- Eat a combo of carbs and protein after a workout
- Adopt a stress-busting bedtime routine
The Bottom Line
Caffeine, in moderation, is a perfectly safe way to boost energy levels. Butdietitiansrecommend getting it via coffee and tea rather than energy drinks—even so-called “healthy” options. If you must have an energy drink, go for one of the options on this list, which are all sugar-free or low-sugar, andmanyinclude extra vitamins and minerals foradditional health benefits, such as focus and recovery. However, if you can’t function without energy support daily, it might be time to talk to your doctor about underlying conditions.
- Guarana provides additional stimulation over caffeine alone in the planarian model.
- Sugar Consumption, Metabolic Disease, and Obesity: The State of Controversy.
- New insights into the mechanisms of polyphenols beyond antioxidant properties; lessons from the green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin 3-gallate
- Effects of Chromium Picolinate on Food Intake and Satiety.
- Erythritol and Cardiovascular Events.
