After multivitamins, energy drinks are the second most consumed dietary supplement in the world, with the US spending over $12billion alone on energy drinks every year!
While the caffeine in energy drinks can often give you a kick during the day or pre-workout, it’s far from the optimal choice. With this being the case, why do so many people still consume a Red Bull or similar, when they could be taking a pre-workout which has numerous additional benefits? This article compares the benefits obtained from an energy drink compared to PRE-KAGED, the world’s leading pre-workout.
For $2 - $3 per bottle or can, this is what the average energy drink contains:
So, in short the potentially “beneficial” ingredients are:
- B Vitamin Complex
- Sodium
- Taurine
- L-Carnitine
- Large amounts of sugar
- Calories
- L-Carnitine
While these ingredients may seem beneficial, the truth is that the driving factor in all energy drinks (and most poorly formulated pre-workouts) is simply expensive caffeine. Although other ingredients such as B Vitamins and Taurine can be useful, they are not going to help you optimize performance like creatine, beta alanine, BCAA would.
In addition, there may actually be some detrimental effects for over consumption of energy drinks, especially if you are not going for the calorie free or low-carb options! In one study reviewing the safety of energy drinks highlighted:
“Users who consume two or three energy drinks could be taking in 120g to 180g of sugar, which is 4 to 6 times the maximum recommended daily intake”, also highlighting that people who consume energy drinks could be at risk for obesity and dental problems.
We all know the long-term health and metabolic issues caused from the over-consumption of sugar. However, when taken as pre-workout the strong rise in blood sugar can actually cause decreased performance because of the rapid change in blood sugar levels. Known as “hypoglycemia”, it can lead to weakness, dizziness, fatigue and even cause people to pass out, so, although carbohydrates can help with performance, it’s often not recommended to take large amounts of sugar pre-workout.
Apart from the obvious issues with sugar, commercial energy drinks follow a similar trend to most pre-workouts, which contain a ton of nasty artificial flavors and sweeteners. These artificially sweetened chemicals such as aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and a ton of sugar alcohols have been linked to many serious health problems - from weight gain and obesity to disease.
The issues don’t end there, with energy drinks ALSO containing harmful acids such as carbonic acid, citric acid and phosphoric acid being the common ingredients seen in most energy drinks. These acids can cause issues to your teeth, damaging tooth enamel and also damage to the gastro intestinal track, stomach and bones, with some evidence linking them to bone degradation and osteoporosis.
As you can see, the artificial ingredients making energy drinks taste good can cause serious issues for your health. Bodybuilders need to optimize every aspect of health, digestion and cellular health within the body, so, avoiding these ingredients is a priority. From a health, performance and cost perspective it really makes no sense to pick an energy drink over a well formulated pre-workout such as PRE-KAGED!
Cost Comparison - Energy Drinks vs PRE-KAGED
From a cost perspective energy drinks simply can’t contend with PRE-KAGED. Not only is PRE-KAGED actually cheaper per serving, it contains a ton of beneficial ingredients that can help you maximize performance, fat loss and muscle mass!
For example, most of the popular energy drinks are going to set you back at least $2 per can, more than a whole scoop of PRE-KAGED! Even a can of soda will struggle to contend cost wise with PRE-KAGED and the can obviously provides none of the benefits.
The Choice is Clear
As we’ve discussed, the benefits of an energy drink do not extend much beyond caffeine and, when we consider all the nasty artificial ingredients, the negatives certainly outweigh any benefit.
However, if you’ve read any of the other articles on the site, you may be well aware of the benefits obtained from a single scoop of PRE-KAGED, including improved strength, power, muscular endurance, fat loss, recovery, energy and focus!
To top it all, you receive all these benefits in an extremely safe and cost effective manner, protecting your health and even costing LESS than a typical energy drink!
Now you have a breakdown of the two, you should see the choice is obvious. Stop wasting your money, time and calories on energy drinks; instead, reach for one scoop of PRE-KAGED 30-45 minutes before hitting the gym!
