Clean Energy Drinks, how do they compare? Well, I will be comparing 5 drinks in this post, though one is not a clean energy drink per-se.
I will be using Yuka’s mobile application as a comparison tool, if you’re not familiar with Yuka, they specialise in analysing the ingredients used in everyday foods.
You can find their website here: https://yuka.io/en/, their mobile app can be downloaded on the Play store for Android, and the App store for IOS.
I’ve also included the mobile app download links below:
- Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.yuka.android&pli=1
- IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yuka-food-cosmetic-scanner/id1092799236
No, without further ado, lets go into each product:
PerfectTed Healthy Energy
You may have heard of this product from Steven Bartlett on his DOAC podcast (The Diary Of A CEO), this product uses natural ingredients, such as green tea, and matcha.
It contains 80mg of caffeine, a relative standard for energy drinks that use a 250ml volume can
they offer 4 different flavours thus far, and are based in the UK, I’ve included a purchase link below for those interested in this product:
Apple Raspberry Healthy Energy
The Yuka score for this product is 50/100, rating it as good, with the 15kcal being cited as the risk (the app considers this “A bit too caloric”.
Overall, it’s a good product, though PerfectTed may want to extend their flavour range as this market is very competitive.
Now, onto the next drink:
Reign Storm Energy
This product uses more ingredients compared with most of the products compared in this post, the main ingredient that stands out for me is sucralose, an artificial sweetener.
It uses a 355ml can, it is significantly larger than most of the products cited here, RedBull also have this size can as an option for many, if not all of their drinks.
There is a particular emphasis on B Vitamins, and electrolytes with this drink (Sodium Chloride is an ingredient), that is because Reign target their products at athletes, who may benefit from these ingredients during their workouts.
Reign are perhaps, most known for their “Total Body Fuel” energy drink, that comes in a 500ml can, contains 200mg of caffeine, and also contains magnesium, and branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs).
I don’t have the Yuka rating for this product at this time, but will update this post in due course, the purchase link is below:
Remedy Energy
This one is an interesting one, as this drink contains kombucha live cultures, contains 110mg of caffeine, and is in a 330ml can (they offer 250ml cans also).
the texture profile is very much like their kombucha soft drink, if you’re not familiar with it, it can be described as a fizzy, less viscous form of kefir.
The Yuka rating for this product is 57/100, this gives it a good rating, and pits it higher than PerfectTed’s product.
The sweetener used is steviol glycosides, an alternative to sugar, and artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame-k.
The texture isn’t what most people who consume energy drinks would be used to, but it’s a sound product none-the-less.
Virtue Energy
A clean energy drink with few ingredients, and very little calories (4kcal), a clean alternative to many energy drinks on the market.
The can used is a 250ml caffeine, with 80mg of caffeine sourced from Yerba Mate, whose leaves are used to make herbal teas.
The sweeteners in this product have a limited risk: erythritol, and steviol glycosides.
The Yuka rating for this product is also 57/100, like the Remedy Energy Drink, this puts it firmly within this market, and should be a very competitive product.
Lastly, I will briefly review RedBull’s sugar free version of their winter edition energy drink.
RedBull Sugarfree Winter Edition
Not marketed as a clean energy drink, but wanted to include it in the list as its a sugar free version, and is a new flavour.
Personally, I love the flavour, but I think the product would benefit from including different ingredients as its sweeteners (steviol glycosides may be an option here).
whilst 355ml cans are offered for the sugar free RedBull editions, the one included here is a 250ml can.
The Yuka rating for this product is 39/100, giving it a poor rating, this is because of the additives used.
It is likely, that if sucralose and acesulfame-K weren’t included in the ingredients, that this product would rate higher.
Like the other drinks using the 250ml volume, it contains 80mg of caffeine (RedBull were very popular in the 90s, and the EDE set the standard for the volume size).
Summary
I would like to conclude that when looking for an energy drink, and depending on your needs too, you will likely want something with a moderate amount of caffeine (250ml 80mg caffeine is moderate I would say).
Fewer additives, and certainly less-risky sweeteners, I would say steviol glycosides are preferable to sucralose, or acesulfame-k.
The caffeine can be sourced from a variety of sources, whether it’s green matcha, yerba mate, or coffee beans etc.
Other ingredients, such as electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium) are useful too, but this depends on intake from other sources, athletes will likely have more need for these, as electrolytes are lost in sweat.
Of course, people engaged in hard, physical labour in warm or hot conditions, can of course benefit from electrolytes also.
Why should caffeine be moderated? Please refer to my post here, and the sources contained in the post, you may also find further information elsewhere.
Honourable mentions include Acti+, which I have not reviewed, but scored a rating on 69/100 on Yuka.
