Energy Drink Ingredients – What are Energy Drinks Made of? –

Posted on October 31, 2007. Filed under: Crave Energy Drink, energy drink ingredients, Energy Drink Reviews, Marketing | Tags: Crave Energy Drink, energy drink ingredients, Energy Drink Reviews, energy drinks |

Until Crave Energy Drink officially launches (soon soon, very soon , we won’t have the ingredient list handy. But I figure it’s probably interesting to energy drink drinkers to know a little about what they may already be drinking in their energy drinks.

So today, a list of energy drink ingredients that is not specific to Crave Energy Drink or any other energy drink … as soon as I have the Crave packaging in hand, I’ll update with a new post and link it here.

Common Energy Drink Ingredients:

Sweetners – All energy drinks have sugars or artificial sugars as one or more of their ingredients. Standard sweetner options include:

Glucose – A simple sugar that is a major energy source for all cellular and bodily functions.
Sucrose – table sugar
Aspartame – A sugar substitute, formed from aspartic acid, that is said to be 180 times sweeter than sugar.
Splenda - (aka. sucralose) – An intensely sweet, heat-stable derivative of sucrose that contains no calories.
Acesulfame potassium – a low-calorie sweetener approved for use in the United States in 1988.

Stimulants -

Caffeine – often touted as “equal to a cup of coffee” — which tells us next to nothing, of course because cups of coffee just like coffee itself varies greatly from product to product (wondering why full disclosure is not required)
Guarana – Made from the seeds of a plant native to Brazil, guarana speeds up the brain’s activity and is used to promote weight loss due to its stimulant and diuretic effect. Guarana contains 3% to 5% caffeine.
Yerba maté - A stimulant beverage similar to tea, very popular in South America, brewed from the dried leaves and stemlets of a member of the holly family. Also contains some caffeine.

Amino Acids – amino acids are often referred to as the building blocks of proteins.

Taurine is a common one. Taurine is an amino acid that was first discovered in bulls. It is naturally occurring in humans and deserves it’s own post.
L-Carnitine – An amino acid usually created by your liver and kidneys which helps raise metabolism and energy levels.

B-Group Vitamins – B-6, B-1, B-2 in particular – Known for increasing energy levels; B vitamins are needed to convert food into energy.

Other misc. nutritional additives …. varies from energy drink to energy drink.

I’m looking forward to sharing where Crave Energy Drink falls in this list Also planning a page with links to energy drink review sites — there are some great ones out there!