Supplement Clarity

5 Hour Energy Drink Review

Joe Cannon

Updated 8/7/23. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had more energy to get through your hectic day? That’s the premise of 5-Hour Energy,  distributed by Living Essentials LLC. Is 5- Hour Energy safe? How much Caffeine does it have? Those are some of the questions I want to address in this 5 Hour Energy review.  Also, see these reviews:

6-Hour Power energy shot review 

5-Hour Energy With Protein 

What Is 5-Hour Energy?

The 5-Hour Energy website claims that the product has no sugar and no herbal stimulants. Each bottle is 2 oz. As such, this energy drink is one the smallest in quantity on the market. There are actually three different types of five-hour energy:

  1. Original 5 Hour Energy5
  2. Extra strength 5 Hour Energy
  3. Decaf 5-Hour Energy

Here are the ingredients of each version

5-Hour Energy Ingredients

There are different versions of 5-Hour Energy, so here is a summary of each type.

Regular 5-Hour Energy

Ingredients:

“Energy Blend” 1870 mg. The energy blend contains:

  1. Taurine
  2. Glucuronolactone
  3. Malic acid
  4. N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine
  5. L Phenylanalyine
  6. Caffeine
  7. Citicoline

Extra Strength 5 Hour Energy

Ingredients:

“Energy Blend” 2000 mg. The energy blend contains:

  1. Taurine
  2. Glucuronolactone
  3. Malic acid
  4. N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine
  5. L Phenylanalyine
  6. Caffeine
  7. Citicoline

Decaf 5-Hour Energy

Ingredients:

“Energy Blend” 2106 mg.  The energy blend contains

  1. Taurine
  2. Glucuronolactone
  3. Malic acid
  4. N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine
  5. L Phenylanalyine
  6. Caffeine
  7. Citicoline

Notice the “decaf 5 hr energy” has caffeine. But how much does it have? The product's website does not say. We are only told that it has the same caffeine as a cup of “premium coffee.”The caffeine content of coffee can vary according to how the coffee was brewed.

Also, see the review of 5 Hour Energy With Protein for more on that version of the supplement.

How Much Caffeine Does It Have?

In an article written by Barry Meier, appearing in the New York Times on Nov 14, 2012, it's said that when Consumer Reports looked at 5-Hour Energy that they noted that it contained about 215 mg per serving. If this is true, then 5-Hour Energy has a lot more caffeine than I originally thought.

 

Remember to read my review of 6-Hour Power so you can compare that energy shot to 5-Hour Energy.

Let’s now briefly review some of the ingredients in 5-Hour Energy.

Niacin

It's said that niacin may cause a flushing effect however the niacin in  5 hr energy is in the form of niacinamide which is unlikely to cause flushing.

Because niacin is found in many foods it is very unlikely that healthy people are deficient. Niacin is gaining popularity in the anti-aging arena due to its ability to raise levels of a cellular energy substance called NAD.

Vitamin B 6

This vitamin,  found naturally in nuts, beans, vegetables, grains and meat is needed for many things including burning fat and sugars as well as helping with the proper use of amino acids. Older adults and alcoholics may suffer from deficiencies in vitamin B 6. But, it is unlikely that healthy people are deficient in this vitamin.

Those who take too much vitamin B 6 may experience numbness or pain in the arms and legs and even difficulty walking due to this vitamins disruption of nerve impulses. These symptoms go away after vitamin B 6 supplementation has stopped. These effects do not normally occur when vitamin B 6 is consumed in food.

Can Vitamin B6 Alleviate Anxiety?

Watch on my Youtube channel if you like

Folic acid

This B vitamin is found in fruits and vegetables and is also one of the better-known ingredients in prenatal vitamins. Some medical professionals have recommended folic acid to lower heart disease but growing evidence does not support this practice.

Here are 3 facts about folic acid you don't know

 

Vitamin B 12

This vitamin is found in meat, fish and poultry. Most energy drinks often contain vitamin B 12 because most people believe it gives them energy. Vitamin B12 helps us make red blood cells and in those who have anemia, it might boost energy; however, healthy people store 3-5 years' worth of vitamin B 12, making deficiencies rare. There is no evidence that B12 supplements – or the B12 in energy drinks – boost energy levels. As such, the “B-12 gives you energy” notion is a complete myth.

 

Does Vitamin B 12 help weight loss? read my vitamin B12 weight loss review

Taurine

This is an amino acid found in eggs, meat, and dairy products. Humans can also make taurine from vitamin B 6. Some research finds taurine and caffeine can improve verbal skills and mental reasoning. Not much is known about the long-term use of high amounts of supplemental taurine.  Not all energy drinks contain taurine.

 

Glucuronolactone

This ingredient is found in energy drinks, often alongside other ingredients like caffeine, taurine etc. There doesn't seem to be any research that this compound alone has any effect on energy levels. Likewise, no study appears to exist showing that this compound by itself improves exercise performance.

 

Malic Acid

Malic acid is sometimes found in anti-aging skin creams because it is an alpha–hydroxy acid.  Malic acid helps remove dead skin cells and may temporarily plump up the skin, making wrinkles less noticeable (temporarily). I was unable to find any research that malic acid improved exercise performance or overall energy levels.

Tyrosine

This amino acid has been shown in a few studies to improve alertness in people and this is why it’s often found in energy drinks. 5-Hour Energy does not indicate how much tyrosine it contains. Tyrosine is a non-essential amino acid because we can make it from the amino acid phenlanalyine, which 5-Hour Energy also contains.

Caffeine

In the world of energy drinks, caffeine is king.  This is the main energy-boosting compound in 5-Hour Energy and all other energy drinks. Again, the New York Times reports that each serving of 5 Hour  Energy has about 215 mg of caffeine.

Deaths Caused By Energy Drinks?

Watch on my youtube channel

Citicoline

Citicoline is related to choline and is made during the production of other brain chemicals. Citicoline has been studied with some success in persons with senility where it might improve speaking ability and memory in older adults with dementia. This may be the reason it's found in this energy drink, the reasoning is that if it works in older, senile people, it may also do the same thing in healthy people. The issue is that nobody is sure if this happens. Side effects from long-term use are also not well known.

What About The Crash?

The 5-Hour Energy website defines a “crash” as the drop in energy levels that occurs after drinking a sugar-containing energy drink. To prove that 5-Hour Energy does not reduce energy levels, the website shows a graph indicating the results of a “clinical study” that compares 5-Hour Energy to two other “competing products”.

It is hard to determine how good this study is because:

No reference to where the study is published is listed. This means the study may not be peer-reviewed.

      1. We are not told if the study was double-blind/placebo controlled.

      2. We are not told how “energy levels” were measured.

      3. We are not told how many people were in the study.

      4. We are not told the names of the “competing products.”

Is 5-Hour Energy Safe?

As reported in the New York Times on November 14 2012, the FDA has, since 2008, been notified of 13 deaths that have been associated with 5-Hour Energy drink. Does that mean that 5-Hour Energy killed those 13 people? Not necessarily. I highly doubt that drinking one 5 Hour Energy would hurt hardly anybody – let alone result in death.

That said, I wonder how many 5 hour Energy drinks those people were taking? I don't know the answer to this question.  The New York Times article on 5 Hour Energy quotes Living Essentials LLC  – the company that makes 5 hour energy – as being marketed to  “hardworking adults who need an extra boost of energy.” But, the TV commercials I see don't specifically say not to use the product if you are not “hard-working”  – and nowhere do I remember seeing any ad that said “don't use if you're a kid.”

I see 5 Hour Energy sitting prominently in the checkout lines of supermarkets and convenience stores like 7-11 and Wawa, where anybody – including school kids – can buy it.

I think its important to know that caffeine can be fatal in very high doses. This amount is usually said to be 10-14 grams per day.  That is A LOT compared to what is in 5 Hour Energy (about 215 mg), but as is reported in a caffeine and mental task performance review, side effects from caffeine – including significantly increased heart rate – can occur at intakes of 150-300 mg of caffeine.

 

Caffeine might also interact with blood thinner medications. Could this be one of the reasons leading to the 13 deaths associated with 5 Hour Energy? I don't know. Again, I think in “healthy” people, one 5 Hour Energy shot probably won't cause anything bad to happen.

 

But, in people who are not healthy  – and take medications –  I think the possibility exists, especially if that person thinks that 5 Hour Energy is safe  – no matter how many they drink in a day. This, I think might lead to problems.

 

Both birth control pills and some ulcer medications might slow down the rate that caffeine is broken down, thus, leading to higher blood levels of caffeine. This might increase caffeine side effects. As a rule, ask your doctor or pharmacist about caffeine and 5 Hour Energy (and other energy drinks) if you take any medications, just to be on the safe side.

Does 5-Hour Energy Work?

I tried 5-Hour Energy for the first time just before I posted this blog. I drank one bottle of the lemon-lime flavor at and noted the time (2 PM) to see how quickly I might notice any effects.

The product didn’t taste as bad as I thought and was much less tangy than Red Bull.

After about 5 minutes, I felt an odd feeling in my stomach. I could also feel my heart beating a little which normally does not happen at rest. Overall, these feelings were not significant.

Over the course of 5 hours, I took note of my energy level to see if I felt any better than normal. I didn't.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice any increase in energy levels over the 5 hours I took the product.

I did not notice any flushing feeling from the niacin. Other than feeling a little “out of kilter” – just feeling “different / not right” – I did not notice any added benefit to 5-Hour Energy.

Ironically, the product made me feel like I was not 100% if that makes sense. I didn’t feel bad. But I didn’t feel the same either. That’s a subjective feeling and others may feel differently.

I did not measure my heart rate or blood pressure during my “experiment”. Overall, I didn't notice any difference. Here is 5 hour energy on Amazon  if you want to see what others are saying.

What do you think?

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