They say great things come in small packages, 5-Hour Energy emphasizes this by offering you a small bottle with a high amount of caffeine that can certainly keep you awake.
Manufactured by Living Essentials LLC, 5-Hour Energy was first launched in 2004 and is now one of the top-selling energy shots that’s competing with popular energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster.
5-Hour Energy has zero sugar and zero fat and only 4 calories. The amount of caffeine is 200mg which is okay as long as you don’t drink more than one bottle a day and continue to monitor your caffeine intake for the rest of the day.
For more information on 5 Hour Energy and what exactly you’re getting out of each shot (both good and bad), read on to find out.
Contents
5-Hour Energy Nutrition Facts
Reading the nutrition facts, along with ingredients, is by far the most important way of deciding what foods or beverages you should buy.
When looking at the nutrition facts, you’re able to see how much nutrient a food or beverage has, and you’ll also be able to determine whether it’s healthy or unhealthy.
Here’s a table showing the nutrition facts of 5-Hour Energy:
| Standard Value | 5 Hour Shots (1.93 fl.oz) |
| Energy | 4 calories |
| Protein | 0g |
| Fat (Of which Saturated) | 0g (0g) |
| Carbohydrate (Of which Sugars) | 0g (0g) |
| Sodium | 15mg |
| Potassium | 15mg |
| Caffeine | 200mg |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 30mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 50mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 500μg |
| Choline | 2mg |
Calories in 5-Hour Energy
Amazingly, 5-Hour Energy only contains four calories.
Calories are a unit of energy that gives you information on how much energy a food or a beverage can give your body – calories can also be used to measure how much energy we use throughout the day.
As much as possible, you should maintain a balanced diet by maintaining the calories you consume and the calories you lose, throughout the day, in order to prevent excess calories from being stored as fat in the body.
The recommended intake of calories for women is 2,000, whilst the recommended intake for men is 2,500 calories. However, the 2015-2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans stated that women often need to consume 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day, and men, on the other hand, need 2,000 to 3,000 calories every single day.
Keep in mind that the recommended calorie intake varies from your age, size, height, lifestyle, overall health, and activity level.
How Does 5-Hour Energy Give You Energy?
There is one particular ingredient that makes energy drinks and energy shots possible, that ingredient is caffeine.
Caffeine can be naturally found in leaves and some fruits of plants, it [caffeine] acts as a blocker of adenosine receptors or basically means that caffeine prevents you from feeling sleepy.
5-Hour Energy contains 200mg per 1.93 fl.oz, it’s a lot for an energy drink since most energy drinks only consist of 80mg to 160mg of caffeine per 16 fl.oz – that’s why energy shots can really surprise you once you take a shot of it.
According to the FDA, the recommended daily intake for caffeine is 400mg. And although caffeine is considered safe for adults, the notion of children consuming caffeine is not really a good idea.
Women who are pregnant and breast-feeding should also be cautious about their caffeine intake and should limit themselves to only 200mg of caffeine daily.
Consuming too much caffeine can lead to side effects like:
- Increased Heart Rate
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Dehydration
- Anxiety
- Caffeine Withdrawal
Does 5-Hour Energy Work?
When it comes to giving you energy throughout the day, 5-Hour Energy definitely works for you. The caffeine that it can give you can last for hours which is vital if you’re studying for an exam, doing a project, working, or even driving late at night.
5-Hour Energy also uses artificial sweeteners which has no calories, meaning that it can give you the energy that you need without the cost of sugar which is detrimental to your health.
Two of the main ingredients of energy drinks are caffeine and sugar, but 5-Hour Energy found a way to get rid of that sugar and that’s to replace it with artificial sweeteners. Although you should bear in mind that there are still disadvantages to consuming artificial sweeteners
Vitamins of 5-Hour Energy
5-Hour Energy’s vitamins are known as the B vitamins, each vitamin will be explained explicitly by using a table.
| Vitamins | Functions | Benefits | Recommended Intake |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | By aiding enzymes, vitamin B3 helps convert food into energy. | Lowers LDL cholesterol, increases HDL cholesterol, lowers triglycerides, and may help prevent heart disease. | Varies according to age |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | Stores energy from protein and carbohydrates in food which can really help your body. | May improve your mood, reduce symptoms of depression, promote brain health, and reduce Alzheimer’s disease. | 1.3–1.7mg for adults over 19 |
| Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) | Necessary for red blood cell formation and DNA synthesis, vitamin B12 also supports the normal function of your nerve cells. | Can boost your energy, improve your memory , and help prevent heart disease. | 2.4mcg. (However, the recommended intake is higher for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.) |
Pros and Cons of 5-Hour Energy
Just like any other energy drinks or any energy shots out there, 5-Hour Energy also has its fair share of pros/advantages and cons/disadvantages. I will not be biased here, and I personally think that it’s still up to you on whether 5-Hour Energy is worth your money or not.
Pros
5-Hour Energy Is Affordable
When it comes to pricing, the most affordable is what sparks consumers the most. That’s why 5-Hour Energy has been rising as an energy shot today, it only costs about $2 which is a pretty good deal for something that gives you a ton of energy throughout the day.
5-Hour Energy Contains No Sugar
Sugar is notorious for being bad for your body, and it definitely is bad for you, but keep in mind that its added sugar that’s bad for your body.
There are good sugars and bad sugars, the good sugars are natural sugars that can be found in vegetables and fruits. Bad sugars, on the other hand, are seen in processed foods and even sugary drinks like soda or energy drinks.
Artificial sweeteners are used to enhance the flavor of 5-Hour Energy. It [Artificial Sweeteners] doesn’t contain any calories, which are enormously beneficial if one of your goals is to lose weight. Artificial Sweeteners are also much sweeter than sugar, making them a great alternative to regular sugar.
5-Hour Energy Is Quick and Easy to Consume
Drinking a can of energy drink like Red Bull might take you a couple of minutes to fully-finish the beverage, but since 5-Hour Energy only takes you a couple of seconds since it’s an energy shot.
However, you should know when to drink the whole bottle and when to drink half of it. At the back of the can of 5-Hour Energy, you can see that they suggest you only drink half of the energy shot if you only need moderate energy and drink the whole bottle if you need maximum energy.
Just don’t drink more than two bottles of 5-Hour Energy daily to prevent serious health problems from occurring/happening.
5-Hour Energy Has Very Few Calories
As stated earlier, 5-Hour Energy only contains four calories. That amount is relatively small when compared to energy drinks like Red Bull that amounts to 110 calories.
If you’re wondering how many minutes can you burn 110 calories, here’s a table showing the different physical activities that you need to do and how long it takes to burn those calories off:
| Physical Activities | Minutes to Burn 110 Calories |
| Swimming | 9 minutes |
| Jogging | 13 minutes |
| Cycling | 17 minutes |
| Walking | 31 minutes |
With 5-Hour Energy’s four calories, I even think you don’t need to do a ton of physical activities. Simply walking to work, or school if you’re a student, can make you burn those four calories.
Cons
Here are the cons of 5-Hour Energy:
High Caffeine
Even though caffeine offers a lot of benefits that you might need to do your tasks, it also comes with a consequence. If you’re unable to track your caffeine intake and consume too much of high-caffeinated products like 5-Hour Energy, then you might lead yourself to potentially serious health problems.
High amounts of caffeine can also make you have shaky hands and prevent you from sleeping — please bear in mind that sleep, specifically deep sleep, contributes a lot when it comes to boosting your energy.
High Amounts of Vitamins
A general rule of thumb when it comes to vitamins is that if a vitamin content of a product is more than 100%, then it’s considered a highger amount than what is necesarrily needed in your day
Too much vitamins can lead to side effects like:
- Nausea
- High blood sugar levels
- Skin flushing
- Liver damage
However, 5-Hour Energy has B vitamins that are considered as water-soluble vitamins. That means that if you ever take too much of B vitamins, it will go out of your body or get excreted through your urine.
5-Hour Energy Flavors
At first, you might think that 5-Hour Energy only has a single flavor. The most common flavor of 5-Hour Energy is the berry flavor since you can usually see it in convenience stores near the cashier. However, it turns out that 5-Hour Energy offers a variety of flavors!
They [5-Hour Energy] offer regular strength flavors and extra strength flavors — here’s a list showing the regular strength flavors and extra strength flavors:
Regular Strength Flavors
- Berry (Regular Strength)
- Pomegranate
- Orange (Regular Strength)
- Pink Lemonade
- Grape (Regular Strength)
Extra Strength Flavors
- Strawberry Watermelon
- Watermelon
- Strawberry Banana
- Peach Mango
- Pink Watermelon
- Pineapple Apricot
- Sour Apple
- Cherry
- Orange (Extra Strength)
- Ultra Orange
- Tropical Burst
- Grape (Extra Strength)
- Cool Mint Lemonade
- Blue Raspberry
- Berry (Extra Strength)
If you want to see other people’s reaction when they drank the different flavors of 5-Hour Energy for the first time, here’s the video:
Conclusion
5-Hour Energy has been in the market for a long time and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere, despite all the horror stories you may have heard about the product.
It does check all the boxes though. Zero fat, zero sugar and a very small number of calories. While 200mg of caffeine doesn’t seem like a lot, its definitely well under some of these other brands who may have close to 300mg per serving.
However, this energy drink has an inordinate concentration of vitamins B3 (niacin), B6 and B12. These mega-doses go up to over 20,000% of your daily percent value and this can cause some unpleasant side effects.
Side effects from too much vitamin B12 include breakouts of acne and rosacea, while an overdose of vitamin B6 may result in peripheral neuropathy or loss of feeling in the arms and legs.
Vitamin B3 can cause severe skin flushing combined with dizziness, rapid heartbeat, itching, nausea and vomiting when taken in excess. So these are just some of the things you need to watch out for when drinking 5-Hour Energy
If you are a first timer, please only drink half a bottle. And if you’ve never even had caffeine before, try a mouthful first because 5-Hour Energy packs a punch.
All in all, not a bad energy drink as far as energy drinks go, but it’s still best to be cautious about such a highly caffeinated beverage in general.