An Energy Drinks Roundup? 268
NecroWraith asks: "Ok, I'm sure most folks on Slashdot have something they eat or drink that helps you stay awake far beyond what your body wants you to for, whatever reason: late night gaming sessions; late nights at work; or late nights in the pub. The big one now is energy drinks. I swear I see a new one on the shelf every week. Rockstar, Red Bull, Monster, Hansen's, Jolt, Red Jak, Lost, Sobe, Bawls, Amp, MDX, the list goes on. So, what have you tried, and what do you like? What tastes best? What works best? Which one is the best deal?"
No More Sugar! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:2)
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the main reasons for caffeine giving you a wake-up call is that it forces the liver to hydrolise glycogen into glucose. So you if you are drinking a caffeinated drink your blood sugar level will rise regardless of the sugar level of the drink. This will give your brain food as brain can consume only glucose (nothing else can traverse the hematoencephalic barrier). As a result you wake up.
In fact, I have found high-sugar containing fruit like grapes to be nearly as effective as a whole jug of expresso when waking me up. If I do not wake up by the end of the second expresso jug I usually munch down half a kilogram of grapes. That does it and usually does not stick on the "rubber ring" the way junk food does.
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:2)
People who ingested caffeine in a controlled experiment had 21% higher blood sugar levels than people who took a placebo after eating breakfast (which is equivalent to amount reduced by diabetes-controlling drugs). They also did an experiment where they had a bunch of sedentary, obese men go on an exercise program to lose weight. At the end, those who were given caffeine saw none of the benefits to their bloo
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:2)
I only drink it in the summer time when I ride my bike, so my results are skewed.
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:2)
Think of your heart/etc too (Score:4, Informative)
Ob "Roadhouse" quote (Score:2)
Feel the vibe baby (Score:2)
One of my favorites is Vibe [877getvibe.com]
Seriously, this stuff gets sucked into your bloodstream almost instantly and gives you a rush for hours, without ephedrine, caffein, or any other stimulants... it's freakin amazing...
Re:Feel the vibe baby (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Feel the vibe baby (Score:2)
One other thing I noticed, this is apparently the only vitamin product to be listed in the Physicians Desk Reference because of its ORAC score. I don't have a copy of the PDR to verify, if someone else does, can you look it up?
Re:Feel the vibe baby (Score:2)
Directions:
Adults: Take 1 Ounce Daily (2 Tablespoons).
Recommended: 1 Tablespoon in AM - 1 Tablespoon in PM
Children...blah blah blah...
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:3, Interesting)
Plenty of low/zero carb energy drinks out there (Score:3, Insightful)
Of the ones I've tried (I've tried a lot over the past few months), I can't tell any difference in their actual ability to give me energy. They don't help if I'm totally exhausted (very late at night), they don't make me feel super-tiptop-shape (they are a bit overhyped in this regard.) They DO help me feel a bit more human (more so than caffeine only) if I'm a bit borderline. (Such as any time before noon.)
A list of most of
Oh, and I forgot (Score:2)
Re:No More Sugar! (Score:2, Funny)
Three Ingredients To Your Taste (Score:2)
2. Sugar
3. Water
Re:Three Ingredients To Your Taste (Score:2)
Monster (Score:2)
In the UK (Score:2, Informative)
Red Bull - Way too expensive, certainly not worth the price, especially with all the alternatives available.
Blue Bear - It used to be great. You could get it in 1.5 Litre bottles for £1.50 or something like that. It is sold in Spar, but they've discontinued the large bottles now, so you have to get the measly 250ml cans.
Kick - This one's from Tesco. Well worth it. My friend once bought 10 bottles (1 litre each) at 50p each (I think the
My favorite.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Not at work... (Score:2)
The Bull (Score:2)
H2O (Score:5, Interesting)
It's also required that I walk back and forth to the bathroom multiple times during the course of a night.
Re:H2O (Score:4, Interesting)
If hydration is the problem, caffeine can actually make the problem worse because it is a diuretic. I advise anyone who is having energy or concentration problems to try drinking more water and do some stretching.
-matthew
Re:H2O (Score:2)
My forumula (Score:2)
1) Coffee
2) Code (while sipping coffee)
3) Coffee
4) Coffee (thinking about code)
5) Code
6) ???
7) Profit!!
No wonder I'm not yet independantly wealthy...
My secret energy drink (Score:2)
Half hour of strenuous working out helps, too, of course.
If you haven't tried Fiji, though, get some today. It is the only bottled water I buy, and it is the tastiest I've ever had. Water + body fat = energy waiting to be taken advantage of.
Coffee, maybe. (Score:2)
Re:Coffee, maybe. (Score:2)
That said, rockstar and wired are my choices for twitch gaming sessions.
-nB
Re:Coffee, maybe. (Score:2)
Yes, I crash mightily when I get home. Fortunately, I only do this 2-3 times a year, so I'm really not concerned.
Why RockStar? Well, you get 16oz, instead of 8, to start. I haven't tas
None of them (Score:5, Insightful)
Take your vitamins.
Stick with coffee and drink it in moderation (1-2 cups per day).
Drink water when not drinking coffee.
We computer people already spend hours sitting relatively motionless at our desks. Adding calorie intensive drinks to that habit isn't the smartest thing to do.
Re:None of them (Score:5, Funny)
Stick with coffee
I think I'm going to need a bigger cup.
Re:None of them (Score:3, Funny)
Re:None of them (Score:4, Interesting)
That's why you feel so sleepy and sluggish. You need to get up and around to get the blood flowing every once in a while. It is very hard being a desk jockey. I always make a point to keep the temperature cool (67 degrees) if I can and always have a jug of plain water nearby. The cool temps plus the water makes for a full bladder and that entices me to get up periodically. I also exercise quite a bit and after a while of doing it, you get more energy all the time. I do my running and weightlifting in the evening so that I am not tired during the day as exercise does wear you out after you do it.
I drink Google Gulp (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I drink Google Gulp (Score:2)
Scary to think that it will probably be a practical product in 30 years.
fine print (Score:2)
From time to time, in order to improve Google Gulp's usefulness for our users, Google Gulp will send packets of data related to your usage of this product from a wireless transmitter embedded in the base of your Google Gulp bottle to the GulpPlex(TM), a heavily guarded, massively parallel server farm whose location is known only to Eric Schmidt, who carries its GPS coordinates on a 64-bit-encrypted smart card locked in a stainless-steel briefcase handcuffed to his right
Bawls Guarana (Score:2, Interesting)
It tastes good, comes in a pretty, decorative blue bottle, and the name can inspire an endless stream of juvenile humor.
Plus, mixed with orange juice, tastes just like a mimosa.
I have NO idea if it actually "works."
No better than Dew/Pepsi/etc (Score:2)
If you're going to spend the mone
The best deal (Score:3, Interesting)
None (Score:5, Interesting)
As for the sinus problems, when I went off meds, I had the "usual" problems a few weeks later, and just gave myself more time to rest. It took a few days, but then I felt fine. About a month later, I had sinus problems again, but they went away faster this time. That happened two or three more times, each time effecting me less and less and lasting less and less. My body had seemingly become conditioned to receiving meds to heal and soon learned to work the natural way. I started feeling better overall and found I had much more energy.
So I'd say my answer is what you don't want to hear: balanced diet and exercise, don't spend all your time in front of the computer (or only at the computer then the pub!), and don't continually push your body beyond what it tells you it can handle. If you do that, then when it comes time for those 48 hour coding sessions, you'll do fine and probably have more energy than most of your co-workers. You can be dependent on energy drinks and such or dependent on good health. I've picked the the latter. I'm not saying you should or have to, but I've found it is easier and works better all around.
Re:None (Score:3, Informative)
It basically broke down tasks like this: A task is either important or not important. Then, a task is also either urgent or not urgent. Things like taking care of your health are not urgent (until it's too late)
Since nobody's posted it yet (Score:3, Informative)
H2O (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless you're trying to stay up to entertain a woman [or man if you're a woman I guess], then staying up really late using drugs just isn't worth it.
Awww Mom, (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Awww Mom, (Score:2)
Re:H2O with Cialis (Score:2)
Iced Tea / Lemonaid (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't even think about this until one time at work I bought one for a coworker that moonlighted as a teacher at the fire academy. The next day he said he was running circles around his cadets, and he said the only thing he did different was to drink 32oz of what he called my "monkey brew." He started drinking one every afternoon before he went to teach and swore it was the best energy drink he ever had.
Re:Iced Tea / Lemonaid (Score:2)
Yeah, but if you squeeze your own lemons too much, you go blind!
Er, or so I've heard.
Now, where the hell is that submit button...
Re:Iced Tea / Lemonaid (Score:2)
It tastes amazingly close to the real thing, and doesn't have the metallic aftertaste that most concentrates have. And the fact that it comes in little packets makes it real easy to keep some in my desk for adding to water or tea at the office. They make a good lime powder as well.
Re:Iced Tea / Lemonaid (Score:3)
I brew 1/2 gallon at a time, using two tablespoons of lose leaf tea (1 TBLSP black, 1TBLSP Jasmin) and a handful of mint if I have it.
half fill the pitcher with water and refrigerate
bring water to boil
once full boil is reached add tea
let steep for 5 minuets (ok, I just let it sit until it's cooled and it doesn't tend to get biter. I think it's because the water reaches saturation point before it can dissolve any of the nasty tasting bits in the tea leaves.
Strain tea consid
V all the way.... (Score:2)
You can get V Black now, which has a yummy cola taste, and double the taurine. Gives you a real kick.
www.v-energydrink.com [v-energydrink.com]
Enter my cube (Score:5, Interesting)
Best:
- Venom: best tasting of the bunch, actual flavor balancing quasi-bitter with sweet (but not sickly sweet).
- Amp: essentially "Distilled Mountain Dew", good flavor with strongest keep-awake effect I've found.
- Source Burn: a fine general energy drink with a few vitamins.
- Monster Khaos: actually contains 70% juice, tastes good.
Of note:
- Avoid the 16 oz. cans; they tend to have more "stuff" than some bodies can comfortably handle. Von Dutch has the strongest unpleasant aftereffect feeling (tastes pretty good though).
- RockStar is reportedly made by the/a son of Michael Savage (nutrition expert and political pundit) claiming it's the best balance of "energy" ingredients.
- Red Bull is the standard to measure all others against.
So far my collection includes in no particular order:
Large cans:
- Raw Energy Fuel
- MDX
- Extreme Energy Shot
- Lost
- Von Dutch
- Rooster Booster
- Horse Power
- Hansen's Energy Delux
- Full Throttle
- Monster
- Monster Khaos
- Monster Assault
- Rip It
- FirePowerEX
Small cans (preferred size):
- Crunk
- Donkey Kick
- Rush
- Amp
- Rooster Booster
- Hansen's Energy
- KMX
- ROX (Austrian)
- Red Bull
- RockStar
- Hair of the Dog
- Source Burn
- Diablo (Canadian)
- Sobe Adrenaline Rush
- Liquid Z
- Glaceau SmartWater
SmartWater is actually the best: just water, distilled & selected electrolytes - just what your body ACTUALLY needs.
Distilled Mountain Dew? (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, at this one site, they had mountain dew, but the CO2 and water weren't hooked up. Mmm....Mountain Dew syrup. That was a buzz.
OT (Score:2)
Had that
Red Bull standard (Score:2)
I'd like to deem Amp or Venom as the standard, but availability is iffy.
Water! (Score:2)
I've never had the need to drink some sort of stimulant to stay awake. Even in university when assignment deadlines were looming, I wouldn't bother drinking anything to stay awake - I knew I had to stay awake, so I did. I've always had the ability to stay awake (and alert, within reason) when I've needed to. It's a useful talent!
I do remember one guy in U
Re: (Score:2)
It's all sugar water (Score:2)
I'm sure these drinks may be fun to drink once in a while, but don't fool yourself-- most of these "energy drinks" are pretty much the same thing --- sugar water with varying levels of caffine. There are other ingredients for taste. Sometimes they have ginsing, ginko-biloba, or some other herb-of-the day as an extra stimulant, but largely the herbs are there for show, and that extra energy boost is from the su
My choices... (Score:2)
1) Coffee - use Millstone Foglifter or Columbian Supremo beans
2) Cherry Vanilla Coke
3) Tropicana Twister - various flavors
4) plain old h20
Of the actual "energy drink" brands, I like the taste of the Monster stuff, but I rarely drink 'em.
Why energy drinks? modafinil (Score:2)
If you want to stay awake, then so far modafinil appears to work for many people. But I'm not sure of the side effects. Use at your own risk.
Japanese green tea keeps me awake (too well sometimes), and it doesn't seem to be causing significant premature deaths among the Japanese.
Do note that not getting enough sleep is hazardous to your health.
Try sleep! (Score:2)
But seriously, I had serious problems waking up in the morning until I decided to give up caffeine. After a few days of headaches, I found that I didn't have as much problems with my energy. I've read that using caffeine to keep awake ends up hurting in the long-run. For me, it seemed to be true (but who knows due to a large number of variables), so it mightn't hurt fo you to try.
Slow releasing energy is the key (Score:2)
Foods which are digested slower will keep your blood sugar more constant.
This is largely the basic of the Gi diet and I've tried it and it works.
Re:Slow releasing energy is the key (Score:2)
Mackerel is packed full of omega 3, protein and lots of good stuff.
I can get tins of mackerel in a mustard sauce, reasonably inexpensively, with a pull lid. It's a *fantastic* snack.
One time at work I got to work in the morning, hadn't had any breakfast and I was sitting in the corner wimpering, and the guys around me decided to do an IQ test; I was feeling dumb as a rock, but after a tin of mackerel my brain was really zipping and I scored 159 (normally I s
Jack Bauer (Score:2, Funny)
Sorry just still psyched about 24 being back on.
Re:Jack Bauer (Score:2)
I dunno, 24 is a little boring this season. The last 2 episodes were kind of...*yawn*
Re:Jack Bauer (Score:2)
Re:Jack Bauer (Score:2)
Better than Bawls for $25 (Score:2)
My Drink (Score:2)
YTMND likes.... (Score:2)
http://ytmnd.com/list/?search=gayfuel [ytmnd.com]
Emer'gen-C (Score:2)
Strawberry: http://www.alacer.com/cgi-bin/dbsearch.exe?mdb=/pr oducts.mdb,tbl=products,DB_code=107,DBCOMP=ABS,tem plate=/products/returntitle.htm [alacer.com]
Super Orange:
http://www.alacer.com/cgi-bin/dbsearch.exe?mdb=/pr oducts.mdb,tbl=products,DB_code=46,DBCOMP=ABS,temp late=/products/returntitle.htm [alacer.com]
Caffeine content? (Score:2)
in lieu of that, does anyone know a definitive place where one can find that information? Ideally it'd be a web page with a simple "Name / Serving size / mg Caffeine per serving" table.
Re:Caffeine content? (Score:2, Informative)
Ups and downs (Score:2, Interesting)
The so called energy drinks might give you a high for a short while but you'll be crashing down soon enough. I've recently switched my usual carb loaded lunch with a glass of whey prote
What about Tab? (Score:2)
Hey, you left out Coke's new product, Tab Energy [tabenergy.com]!
It's as if millions of Y-chromosomes suddenly cried out in terror...
150 energy drink reviews (Score:3, Interesting)
How about this one? (Score:3, Funny)
Check out the ingredients some time. (Score:2)
* Caffeine
* Sugar
* B-vitamins (1: Thiamin, 2: Riboflavin, 3:Niacin, 12, )
* 1 more substance (at least in the can I most recently looked at). I can't remember the name, but it's normally produced in the body unless you are an infant (where the normal source is breast milk).
The concentration of B vitamins can be between 50% to 200% of the RDA, depending on the drink.
Check out the Vitamin facts [askdrsears.com], B-vitamin groups [vic.gov.au], or check out a nutrition textbook.
Energy drinks
Sparks! (Score:2)
Probably makes yer testicles shrivel up like raisins, but what the hell. S'tasty.
smoothie (Score:2)
Well, let me join them. I've been doing some contract work at a place that happens to have a Whole Foods conveniently nearby. I sometimes stop by there and check out their juice. So far I've found that Arthur's 'Green Energy' smoothie works best for me. (I'm not sure how widespread this brand is; it may or may not be fairly local.)
So, yeah, y
VPX Redline (Score:2)
Mountain Dew MDX (Sugar Free) (Score:2)
Vespa Amino Acid Mixture - VAAM (Score:2)
Monster Lo Carb (Score:3, Interesting)
I've actaully been able to pick it up by the case. Go to their website and call them, they'll tell you who is the local distributor. I've gotten cases for paintball tournaments that I've hosted for $32.00 (24pack).
I'm not addicted, I can stop any time I want...
Xcess Energy Drinks (Score:2)
For those days when I feel like my arse is dragging (we all have those days), I like Xcess Energy Drinks. All they are is liquid vitamin B12 with flavoring (the rootbeer is great!). No jitters from caffine or herbal additives, you don't feel burned out afterwards, and it is ab
Here's one that you should maybe stay away from (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's the text of the review of Redline, though.
Quite Possibly the Most Powerful Energy Drink Ever
October 7th, 2005 3:34 pm
Seriously, the drink may mean the end of this blog. In the before time, conversations generally went a little something like this:
So, whats a good energy drink in terms of strength?
Well theres a lot to choose from, based on caffeine content, taurine, ginseng, green tea extracts
Well what if Im just interested in caffeine content?
Well just go to The Caffeine Database and look around!
The point, probably lost, is that theres a lot of drinks, in varying sizes and caffeine contents, that also contain a lot of other things.
So then this new thing came out. Its called VPX Redline Fat Burner. Amazon is lacking a little information, so heres a little more:
Check out this freaky scientific VPX breakthrough: RED LINE®: is the only matrix ever developed to shred fat through the shivering response in the body. By shivering the body burns huge amounts of stored bodyfat for energy in an effort to keep the body warm. Thats not all! In addition to shivering, youll also be sweating up a thermogenic storm. The combined mechanisms of these two processes results in unparalleled fat loss!
What fun. Now, its pretty obvious looking at the ingredients that theres caffeine. But get this: all of the aforementioned goodness, and the serving size is FOUR ml. About one TENTH of an ounce. The whole bottle has 240 ml, or 60 servings. Basically, a bottle of this, less than the size of a normal can of coke, WILL kill you. This is nothing to be playing around with.
I have friends. Not just normal friends, mind you. The kind of friends that voluntarily live on the streets. The kind of friends who, when drinking, race to forgetting. The kind of friends who take caffeine pills, ephedrine pills, and asprin.. all at once. One, in particular, drinks and consumes over a gram of caffeine daily, to stave off the headaches. So you know this is a serious review:
oh yeah, its definately 90% caffeine. the aftertaste is unmistakeable. the best part is that since i didnt have my normal dose this morning, i probably wont actually feel sh*t.
[10 minutes later]
the caffeine kicked in a lot faster than i expected. though in retrospect, it normally does when its in syrup form and tastes like ass.
feel oddly cold too. took me a minute to realize that while i still was warm, it was that shiver reflex kicking in. its a lot like when
you get a chill at the back of your neck, but somewhat continuous.
So whats in this magical bottle of awesome? Caffeine, Green Tea, Yerba Mate, 5-HTP (5 hydroxy-1-tryptophan), cAMP, Yohimbe, Evodiamine, and Vinpocetine. And a few other things.
I know, I know, so heres some more info:
cAMP is cyclic adenosine monophosphate. It supposedly sparks many intercellular processes. Whatever that means. Increased concentrations supposedly raise thyroid horomone levels, and help fat burning (would help explain why its in a fat-burning supplement).
Yohimbe is a bark extract from a tree in Africa. Its considered a natural aphrodisiac, and sold here to treat imotency, dialate pupils, and stimulate fat loss. It can also mess with your blood pressure, so watch out.
Evodiamine is derived from some Chinese fruit called Evodia Rutaecarpa. Supposedly burns fat.
Vinpocetine is an alkaloid derived from some periwinkle plant. It is used in Europe, Japan, and Mexico to treat crebrovascular and cognitive disorders. Some people claims it elevates metabolism, but with no proof.
And the interesting one in the group: 5-HTP. I made sure to spell it out, so the smart ones in the group have already figured out the key: Tryptophan. It
gyokuro (Score:2)
the only drawback is the insane price
I am ADDICTED to caffeine (Score:2)
The weird thing is, I have no problem staying awake all day without coffee. But I develop a strange craving for some by mid-afternoon. Not because I feel worn out or sleepy, I just crave it. I never use coffee to stay awake when I should be sleeping, like a lot of people do, and I hardly ever drink it after 3:00 PM.
I'm obviously addicted to it in s
Roundup on Slate (Score:2)
Steven Segal juice! (Score:2)
Chuck Norris needs to come out with a competing product.
Cold Turkey (Score:3, Interesting)
It contributed massively to my continuing downhill hill slide in the general health area.
Coffee is a diuretic, diuretics cause you to lose water from your system, the less hydrated you are the more sluggish and lazy you feel, after a while (if your lucky) you wake up and realize that you stopped exercising a long time ago and now your an unhealthy fat fucker.
You can do one of two things..
Sue Starbucks (not gonna win)
Get up off your lazy fat arse and go exercise _every_ day
Bet ya most people sue
The stuff is subtle and dangerous, consumers beware.
XS Energy with 8 calories (Score:2)
If your goal is to stay up, why use Caffeine? (Score:2)
As a side bonus, depending where you live, its probably easier to get then bawls.
Re:My Favorite - SOBE No Fear (Score:3, Informative)
Re:My Favorite - SOBE No Fear (Score:2)
Where did you get this information? Guaifenesin is an expectorant, meaning it increases the production of mucus in the lungs which helps make your cough more "p
Amen (Score:2)
The suppressant suppresses the symptoms, the expectorant actually helps somewhat in dealing with the root cause. When looking for cough syrup, I always try to buy expectorant-without-suppressant (guafenesin).
Actually, Sudafed Sinus is great if you have a cold - pseudoephedrine for nasal/sinus decongestant, and guafenesin to soften up lung and nose/sinus mucus. (The combo of PE and guafenesin works far
Re:My Favorite - SOBE No Fear (Score:2)
Re:My Favorite - SOBE No Fear (Score:2)