I was in a local dollar store, and noticed those “energy drinks” at tyhe checkout counters. There seemed to be 5-6 brands…and I wonder if:
-these drinks have been analyzed for the presence of harmful drugs
-these have been tested for safety
A lot of them come from China-I’d be very wary of products like these.
Caffeine and sugar. At a minimum, these are the ingredients if they are cheap. Would not be shocked to see some cheap B Vitamins, too. All can be found in cheap energy drinks.
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They do include an ingredients list on the side like all prepackaged for sale consumables.
And I believe most of them say “Sugar Free” on the front of the package.
Geeze, can’t you simply pick up one of them and read the federally mandated nutrition and contents label?
My guess is caffeine and a few Chinese herbs.
Items have to be certified as GRAS, generally ragarded as safe. However, the combination of ingredients may never have been studied for safety because of the complexity of such a study. I too would be afraid to experiment much with products taken internally that came from China. However, I admit purchasing frozen vegetables from China sold at Dollar Tree. The appearance and taste exceed domestic labeled products.
OK, try one and see how much energy you have. Try it on a day where you don’t have to work the following day just in case you can’t sleep for 24 hours.
Are you wondering how they can make them so cheap, when the ones at the 7-11 are $3.99 for the same little bottle? You’re wondering in the wrong direction - it’s that the ones at the “regular” stores are obscenely overpriced, not that the dollar store ones are cheaping out.
Caffeine and artificial sweeteners and water. That’s generally what’s in them. Some have a few drops of some “herbal formula” or “proprietary blend” containing herbs and/or B vitamins. (Trust me, I’m an herbalist - if there *are *herbs in there, they’re at nowhere near therapeutic levels. There’s just no hiding the taste of the herbs on the label at reasonable doses, and I can’t taste 'em.)
As with everything in the dollar store, they make a bit less per unit, because they make it up in volume.
Most of them are just really bad soda with more caffeine, a few B vitamins and usually, some Taurine, which is an Amino acid (found mainly in bile).
From wikipedia;
“In 1993, approximately 5,000–6,000 tons of taurine were produced for commercial purposes; 50% for pet food manufacture, 50% in pharmaceutical applications. As of 2010, China alone has more than 40 manufacturers of taurine. Most of these enterprises employ the ethanolamine method to produce a total annual production of about 3,000 tons.”
I also like, from the same page;
“A review published in 2008 found no documented reports of negative or positive health effects associated with the amount of taurine used in energy drinks, concluding that “The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events”.”
they contain nothing of value beyond what you get from strong coffee with sugar for a much smaller price. So people who spend money on this are not acting like informed consumers, IMHO.
You have clearly never participated in one of ralph’s threads before.
Some don’t even have caffeine in them (and are, in some cases, prominently marketed as such… more NATURAL energy, doncha know, as if caffeine isn’t natural.)
Basically, they’re snake oil. There’s nothing at all to them; it’s all hocus-pocus. You’d get as much energy from a coffee, if they have caffeine in them, or a glass of tomato juice, if they don’t.
The pricing is pure price discrimination. Some are $1 and some are $3.99 so that they can get money from both the people who’ll pay $1 and the people who will pay $3.99. In fact, you can pay more; premier brand energy drinks are available for even higher prices, but it’s all the same bullshit.
This is true, but not everyone likes coffee.
It’s also worth noting most of them have no more or sometimes less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. I always find it weird when someone who is both a coffee drinker and an energy drink user talks about downing a Red Bull or Rockstar energy drink as though that is the “heavy duty stuff” when compared to coffee.
Red Bull has something like 80mg of caffeine in their normal 8.5oz cans, and a 4 oz. coffee can have as much as 200mg of caffeine.
true. But those people could also drink caffeine pills with their favorite sweet beverage - hopefully one that doesn’t cost as much as the energy drink.
Well, some people actually do *like *the taste of energy drinks. I do.
But I’m also a cheapskate, so when I can find No-Doz (harder than I expected it to be), I’d rather spend $6 on a bottle of 30 100mg pills than $6 on 2 to 6 energy drinks.
they are ripping you off with No-Doz. 200mg pills of other brands are available online for a lot less, shipping included. Stock up now before the rise in coffee prices drives up the price
Also keep in mind, every time I’ve bought any beverage at a cheaper store, it’s tasted “off”, like it sat in a hot truck (or container) for a month…
Cite?
(IOW, linky, please? I have no problems buying 'em online…)
More likely, they’re past the sell-by date.
So the whole thing started with Krating Daeng, a Thai energy drink consumed by truckers to keep them awake. Which was based on a Japanese energy drink called Libogen. Krating Daeng was taken to Europe, toned down and carbonated by an Austrian chemist, and marketed as Red Bull. And the rest are imitators of some sort or another.
I’ve had Red Bull in Europe, and I’ve had Krating Daeng in Thailand, and I assure you they’re different beasts entirely. I don’t know what the hell is in Krating Daeng, but it’s like rocket fuel. It makes people absolutely loco, especially combined with alcohol. Wikipedia research indicates mainly taurine (1000mg), with some caffeine (80mg) thrown in too. I also suspect it has some amphetamines in it too, but have no proof whatever. You can feel it rushing through your veins.
Could it contain Kratom? This legal but addictive herb is described as a very strong motivator, and the name Krating Daeng sounds similar enough to ping my radar. Google kratom and read some user experiences. Is yours similar?