Many people turn to energy drinks such as Monster and Red Bull. However, in this article, I want to share with you a superior alternative—coffee. As I’ll show you, when you choose the right coffee and drink it at the right time, it can become the best energy booster for your mind and body.
Coffee Vs Energy Drinks
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of consuming coffee and energy drinks. Please put aside any preconceived ideas you may have around these drinks, and read on to find out the scientifically-backed pros and cons of each drink.
Disadvantages of Energy Drinks
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers have discovered that there are multiple downsides to consuming energy drinks, and these include the fact that they:[1]
Contain a lot of sugar Are highly processed Can cause dehydration Can cause insomnia Can cause anxiety Can cause headaches Can lead to tooth decay Can cause high blood pressure Can lead to kidney failure Can be addictive
Energy drinks are also typically expensive, making them a poor choice for anyone on a tight budget. They’re also a drink that you can’t make at home but have to purchase from a store instead. This may sometimes prove to be inconvenient for most people who regularly consume energy drinks. In my opinion, the marketing of energy drinks by energy drink companies is a lot better than the actual drinks themselves, especially when you consider that a growing body of scientific evidence shows that consuming energy drinks can have serious health effects—particularly in children, teenagers, and young adults.[2] Having said that, there are still some benefits to be had from occasionally or moderately consuming an energy drink.
Advantages of Energy drinks
According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, energy drinks can:[3]
Provide a quick energy boost Help supply vital nutrients such as B vitamins Improve physical endurance Enhance alertness Boost reaction time
And of course, some people enjoy the sugary or fruity taste that’s typically part of an energy drink. Personally, I think it’s okay if you want to consume the occasional energy drink, but I don’t recommend that you make it a habit.
Disadvantages of Coffee
Let’s turn our attention now to coffee. First, let’s start by looking at some of the downsides of consuming it:[4]
Can cause anxiety Can disrupt sleep Can raise blood pressure Can be addictive Can be expensive
While the above disadvantages may sound a little scary and off-putting, in reality, if you learn to choose the right coffee and drink it at the right time, you won’t have anything to worry about. And as you’ll see below, coffee has many more plus points compared to energy drinks, and its advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
Advantages of Coffee
Fortunately, coffee has dozens of physical and mental health benefits, including:[5]
Being packed with essential nutrients Being a fantastic source of antioxidants Being loaded with caffeine—a stimulant that can enhance brain function and boost metabolism Offering protection from Parkinson’s disease Offering protection from Alzheimer’s diseases Lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes Lowering the risk of liver diseases Lowering the risk of depression and suicide Increasing metabolism Helping people to live longer Providing a sustained physical and mental energy boost
Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of coffee to the advantages and disadvantages of energy drinks, you’ll see why coffee is almost always better. With the appropriate equipment, coffee can also be conveniently and cost-effectively made at home—making it the perfect kind of energy drink. These are just some of the many benefits of drinking coffee, but as I’ll show you later in this article, it’s important that you purchase high-quality coffee and consume it at the correct times of the day to get the utmost health and energy benefits.
Choose Coffee for Energy
On balance, when you compare energy drinks to coffee, there is one clear winner—coffee! That’s because coffee offers the best-sustained energy boost, and if made correctly, it doesn’t include the heaps of sugar or artificial sweeteners that most energy drinks are loaded with. Coffee is also a satisfying drink in both hot and cold climates.[6] Personally, I’ve found tremendous benefits from drinking coffee for energy. It helps wake me up in the morning, and it helps me to stay focused and on track throughout my day. While I like to take a break from caffeine during the weekend, I can definitely attest to the energy-boosting power it provides me during my working week. It enables me to complete my tasks and projects on time, every time. Given my appreciation of the taste and effects of coffee, I’ve spent the last few years researching the best coffee beans for energy-boosting, and this has led to me launch my own coffee product: Infuel Energy. Infuel Energy Coffee contains ethically-sourced coffee beans from Ethiopia. The coffee beans are lightly roasted, ensuring that you can benefit from the maximum amount of energy-boosting caffeine. It’s also a very tasty coffee bean with a fruity flavor with hints of chocolate and caramel that will instantly lift your mood and liven your day. Infuel Energy PLUS Coffee is a specialized high-caffeine blend that will give you the maximum energy boost you need to tackle whatever you need to do or achieve. The beans are ethically sourced from Tanzania and India. Even though this is deliberately a strong coffee, it doesn’t sacrifice flavor. In fact, I feel it’s the perfect blend of a great-tasting coffee with a substantial energy-boosting punch. Both of these premium coffee beans are available for you to try and buy today. Choosing between these two is mostly a matter of preference. Whether you choose Infuel Energy Coffee or Infuel Energy PLUS Coffee, you’ll benefit from our bespoke ‘roast-to-order’ offering. This means we wait until we receive your order before we fire up our roaster. In other words, we roast your coffee and dispatch it the same day to guarantee that it’s at peak freshness when it reaches your home. I highly recommend that you try out the energy-boosting power of these specialist coffees by ordering a 12oz pack today: Infuel Energy Coffee and Infuel Energy PLUS Coffee. Don’t miss this tasty and healthy way to improve your focus and boost your energy. I guarantee that you’ll notice a real difference in your energy levels.
Make Coffee Your Morning Friend
One last word about drinking coffee for energy: It’s best that you only drink coffee in the morning. That’s because caffeine has a half-life—the time taken by the body to eliminate one-half of the caffeine—of about 5 hours.[7] This means that if you drink a cup of coffee at 6 pm, you’ll still have half the caffeine from the coffee in your system at 11 pm. You can see how this might adversely affect your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. If you stick to drinking coffee only in the morning, then you will get the energy boost you need throughout the day, and you’ll still be able to sleep like a baby at night. I hope this article has helped persuade you that coffee is the best choice when it comes to choosing an energy drink that you can consume and enjoy on a daily basis. Featured photo credit: Nathan Dumlao via unsplash.com
