Sleeping at night is one of the best ways to stay healthy. However, sometimes it doesn’t work out that way, so you drink energy drinks when in a rush or catching up to a deadline.
Bang, Monster, and Red Bull are some of the strongest companions you can have when you need to do an all-nighter. If you’re on the hunt for a caffeinated beverage that will keep you buzzed for long, choose which one is suitable for you.
I did some digging about energy drinks that pack a strong punch for long nights, so keep on reading!
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Do Energy Drinks Help You Stay Up All Night?
You can stay awake all night long by drinking energy drinks. This is because they are specially formulated to keep you awake for several hours on end.
One of the key ingredients that make your can of energy drink effective is caffeine. This antioxidant is potent in itself, but caffeinated beverages usually have something more in the mix.
Manufacturers of many energy drinks claim that their “special blend” of ingredients is the key to their products’ effectiveness as energy boosters.
Marketing gimmicks like this should not be taken seriously. Their energy drinks may contain less caffeine, but it is still caffeine that is responsible for most of their effects.
How To Stay Awake For Longer Time?
There are a few simple tricks you can do to boost your energy and stay awake even late at night. You can resort to taking a quick power nap, as napping can stave off tiredness and leave you feeling refreshed.
Another alternative is to grab a strong energy drink, preferably something that is high in ingredients known to keep you awake and focused. This does not necessarily mean those with sky-high caffeine, taurine is also another component that can easily promote alertness.
In fact, the combination of taurine and caffeine is effective! Trust me, I know because I’ve been in this situation many times before.
If you’re looking for the best energy drinks to wake you up, I’ve also compiled a few. Check it out!
Energy Drink Ingredients To Keep You Up At Nights
Energy drinks are classified according to their caffeine content, which is one of the most important features to take note of.
The assumption is that more caffeine will lead to a stronger and more substantial energy boost. However, if you’re not careful, it can lead to an energy crash or caffeine overdose.
Smaller amounts of caffeine may not provide the same energy boost as bigger quantities for caffeine drinkers. Still, I believe that you should not drink too much than what you normally take.
Caffeine tolerance and the way the body reacts to caffeine are really what matters. You may be naturally resistant to caffeine or the opposite, so you should be aware of your own personal limits.
Personally, I prefer a drink with 100mg – 150mg of caffeine to keep me awake for those extra work nights. I find that I get headaches and hot flushes from drinking a drink with more than 100mg of caffeine.
Here are some of the effects of too much caffeine in the body:
- Stroke
- Digestive issues
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Highblood pressure
- Bleeding Disorders
- Diarrhea
- Osteoporosis
In addition, energy drinks are often infused with other ingredients that boost energy levels like guarana and taurine. You can stay awake through the night with even energy drinks with lower caffeine content if it contains these ingredients!
As a result, I avoid energy drinks that are high in caffeine especially if there already is guarana and taurine in the mix.
The sugar content of energy drinks is another important factor to be aware of when pulling an all-nighter.
You will more likely benefit from energy drinks with little or no added sugar than from drinks with a high amount of sugar.
Sugary drinks give you a quick energy boost, but the effects won’t last very long and you’ll lose all of that energy soon. After consuming tons of sugar, a sugar crash is one of the most common side effects and may include:
- Brain fog and decreased energy
- Weight gain
- Type II diabetes
- Disturbed sleep cycle
- Cardiac disorders
- Mood swings
- Skin issues
- Tooth decay and cavity
During the long productive night, you definitely want to avoid some nasty side effects. So make sure to drink only caffeinated beverages that you’re sure will give you the kick you’re looking for.
Check out this list of low-caffeine energy drinks that function just the same as highly caffeinated ones.
Best Energy Drinks To Stay Up All Night
Staying up all night is never healthy, but sometimes it is inevitable. Here is the list of energy drinks that will certainly keep you up for hours on end:
Bang Energy Drink
One of the strongest energy drinks on the market, Bang Energy contains 300mg of caffeine. It definitely belongs on the highly-caffeinated energy drink list, so staying awake will be no problem.
Bang does not contain sugar, so the only worry you’ll have is limiting your caffeine intake. Note that a healthy adult has a recommended daily limit of 400mg of caffeine a day, so Bang is literally cutting it close.
It won’t be a problem though if you keep yourself from consuming other caffeine-enriched food or beverage.
Here’s a review of Bang energy for a more detailed insight on how it effectively keeps you alert in the midst of the night:
For me, Bang contains too much caffeine. However, this may just be the right amount for you depending on your needs. Just remember, one can of Bang is enough!
Red Bull
Known as the king of energy drinks, Red Bull does not dominate the market for no reason at all. It has 80 mg of caffeine per 8 fl. oz., which is not much compared to other market brands.
However, it is highly effective in keeping you awake! The secret lies in the high amounts of sugar accounting for about 27 grams.
Sugar is a stimulant, and it increases the amount of blood glucose which in turn can keep you awake for a short span of time.
For reference on the daily sugar limit, here’s a quick table:
| Daily Sugar Limit | |
| Male | 9 teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar |
| Female | 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar |
When it comes to Red Bull, I can already say this amount is sky-high. That’s already more sugar than women should consume in a whole day, and dangerously close to the recommended daily consumption limit for men.
For this reason, I strongly advise you to get the sugar-free version instead of the regular one if you can.
Red Bull also offers a high caffeine content variation, so make sure you know which variant you add to the cart in case of a mismatch.
Monster Energy Drink
The reason I recommend Monster is because one can contain 54 grams of sugar. It also has 160 mg of caffeine per 16 fl. oz.
This potent combination is enough to keep you going for longer hours, and may even give you a hard time sleeping after the sleepless night. It is highly effective in keeping you awake, but be mindful of the dangers.
With 54g of sugar per serving, Monster does not meet the American Heart Association’s recommendation for daily sugar consumption, which is 25g to 36g per serving.
In my opinion, Monster might not be the best beverage to enjoy at the beginning of the day if you prefer something less strong and more subtle on sugar. If you’re an adamant Monster fan, try to take the Absolute Zero or the Zero Ultra on less demanding days.
However, it may just be the right one you’re looking for if you desperately need to finish up that one big project at work. Personally, I drink Monster when I badly need to stay ahead of my deadlines, I just don’t find the sweetness particularly endearing.
How To Stay Up All Night Without Energy Drinks
Maintaining our energy levels at night may be aided by eating regularly. Carbohydrate-rich meals are often craved when we allow our bodies to go through extremes of hunger and exhaustion.
Snacking on crackers, cookies, or spaghetti may temporarily curb our appetite and give us a boost in energy, but they often leave us feeling sluggish thereafter. Make an effort to plan ahead and pack healthy snacks that include a variety of nutrients, such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
How Do Energy Drinks Keep You Up All Night?
Caffeine in energy drinks prevents our brains from producing adenosine, which may lead to fatigue and drowsiness. Since adenosine is a sleep-inducing molecule, when our brain creates more of it, we naturally feel more exhausted.
As soon as the caffeine starts working, this cycle is broken, and we experience a sense of alert wakefulness. However, Negative health effects have been linked to drinking excessive amounts of energy drinks in a day or depending on them as a regular source of energy.
How Long Can Energy Drinks Keep You Awake?
As reported by the Food and Drug Administration, caffeine has a half-life of four to six hours. This implies that half of the caffeine you take from a caffeinated beverage will still be in your system and keeping you awake for up to six hours later. Also, preventing you from sleeping if it’s already late.
Therefore, it is not a good idea to have an energy drink before bedtime. Caffeine in these beverages may make it difficult for you to get to sleep, resulting in less overall sleep duration. Caffeine levels in energy drinks are sometimes double or even triple those found in regular sodas and coffee.
Other Energy Drink Alternatives
Here are some energy drink alternatives you can try:
Other Notable Mentions:
Conclusion
When times are tough, we tend to pull an all-nighter, but not everyone has the luxury of going to bed early.
It is possible to become too wired from consuming a lot of energy drinks too close to the end of a night shift to get enough sleep the following day.
To give your body time to metabolize caffeine, stop drinking energy drinks a few hours before sunrise. Our circadian rhythms have evolved in such a way that nighttime sleep is preferred, making staying awake during the night challenging.
You may be able to function at full capacity with the options that I have outlined, but unless you have to work under pressure to meet deadlines, I would not recommend staying up past your bedtime, no matter what the reason.