We’ve all been there: it’s the middle of the day, and we’re struggling to stay awake and productive. It’s been stressful at work, and going to bed late last night didn’t help. So, we turn to energy drinks because they are the only thing that can help us focus.

But are they really? 

No. Obviously. We’re literally about to discuss healthier ways to get an energy boost without relying on energy drinks, and what natural alternatives are unquestionably better.

Most popular energy drinks contain excessive amounts of caffeine and refined sugar, which provide a quick energy boost, but at a huge cost. Too much caffeine can lead to jitters, anxiety and sleep disturbances, while too much refined sugar results in a crash and is terrible for your overall health. Not to mention the long-term effects, which can affect cardiovascular health, cause weight gain, diabetes, disrupt sleep, and more.

Luckily, it’s 2024, and there are plenty of healthy energy drink alternatives that can give us the energy we need without sacrificing foundational wellness. These healthier energy drink substitutes use ingredients that help your energy and your stress – plus some other pretty cool stuff, too. And they do it all without a bunch of caffeine, sugars and chemicals.

10 Healthy Energy Drink Alternatives 

Stress resilience is the key to unlocking your full potential: sustained energy, good mood, quality sleep, immunity – these are all things stress messes up. It follows, then, that the best way to achieve a sustained energy boost without stimulant bombs is to help the body adapt to stress and let the rest come naturally. And there are some innovative products on the market that do just that.

Here are 10 of our favorite healthy energy drink alternatives:

1. MTE® (More Than Energy)

First, let us start by saying that MTE® is not really an energy drink. It is a unique formulation of 11 key adaptogens, nootropics and superfoods combined into a green supplement powder that supports your overall health, plus it boosts energy naturally. But not the way energy drinks and coffee do – it’s a calm, even energy that’s sustained throughout the day.

MTE® is not a quick fix – it’s a way to optimize your health to feel better, have more energy, curb stress, sleep better, and live the life you want. So, instead of using energy drinks to treat the symptoms (lack of energy), you can mix up your daily drink of MTE® and optimize your health to avoid energy dips in the first place. 

Paraxanthine for Clean Energy

The main star of MTE’s natural energy booster is paraxanthine, which sounds like an artificial ingredient, but it’s not. Paraxanthine is the primary metabolite of caffeine, and as a metabolite, paraxanthine is missing some aspects of caffeine – most of the bad ones, actually.

Paraxanthine stimulates a sustained energy boost but without increasing stress for jitter-free, caffeine-free energy. In fact, recent animal studies indicate paraxanthine side effects are less than caffeine and that paraxanthine drinks may be safer than caffeinated drinks.

Adaptogens, Nootropics & No Caffeine

Amaranth, ashwagandha and eleuthero support energy, too. And not through cortisol and adrenal activity. This caffeine-free mood enhancer drink supports healthy neurotransmitter function that supports against stress while providing an energy boost that’s the opposite of a caffeine roller coaster.

The other great thing about MTE® is that it combines the incredible potential of paraxanthine with other healthy ingredients for well-rounded support. And this transformative energy drink powder contains virtually no caffeine or sugar. And, of course, no artificial stuff.

With MTE®, you’re getting more than a calm, sustained energy boost, as this overall wellness companion can also help improve mood, focus, immunity, sleep, productivity, and more.

2. Vive Organic Energy + Immunity ® Wellness Shot

Vive Organic® is known for creating top-quality alternatives to energy drinks that support a healthy immune system. You can use their Energy + Immunity Wellness Shot to overcome an occasional midday slump or as a part of your energize-for-the-day morning routine.

Keep in mind that this wellness drink contains 75 mg of caffeine from a green tea extract. So, it’s better than regular caffeine because it contains antioxidants from green tea that slow down the absorption of caffeine and provide a more sustained energy boost. But if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you may want to go for another option.

Vive Organic Energy + Immunity® combines a blend of organic roots and fruits, powerful nootropics, and adaptogens to help you get that natural wave of energy with no crash. In addition, these powerful ingredients help strengthen the immune system.

3. Keep a Consistent Exercise Routine

This might seem like a tired suggestion, and at first it appears to be a contradiction, but the science is there to support that regular exercise can actually reduce fatigue, help sleep, boost mood, and more. Some of the ways consistent exercise benefits your energy levels include:

• Exercise strengthens your heart, boosts blood flow, and lowers blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. 
• Regular physical activity promotes deeper, more restful sleep, leaving you feeling refreshed and energized throughout the day.
• Exercise releases endorphins, the body's natural mood boosters, helping to combat stress, reactivity and low mood.
• Physical activity enhances memory, focus, concentration, and overall cognitive function. As well, regular exercise promotes the growth of new brain cells and strengthens existing neural connections.
• Exercise improves your body's ability to use oxygen, leading to more energy throughout the day. 

As a healthier alternative to energy drinks, exercise also causes positive mental and physical health benefits, what’s there to lose? Besides weight…

4. Prioritize Sleep

We can’t say it enough – sleep is so important to wellness. Everything from heart health to mood to muscle strength is affected by your sleep practices. And we get it – not everyone has the privilege of working a regular 9-to-5, always knowing for sure they can be in bed by 10 each night. But even those with 4 12-hour night shifts a week or who often travel time zones can maximize sleep with healthy habits to take up and unhealthy habits to drop.

Sleep Actually Creates Energy

Sleep is an integral process to every system in your body to continue to function correctly, which results in you feeling great, being well, and having energy – the good-mood kind – jitter-free energy. The amount of time you get is important, but the quality of the cycles are just as important. When you’re asleep, your body is:

• Improving ATP production (which literally produce energy)
• Releasing growth hormone (repairs muscle and other soft tissue)
• Improving insulin function (regulates metabolism and blood sugar)
• Regulates the glycogen-adenosine cycle (wake and sleep hormones)
  • Glycogen is a main neurochemical for storing energy in the brain

Caffeine: The Enemy of Quality Sleep

Caffeine doesn’t want you to sleep – that’s kind of its whole thing. When you drink it, it’s accomplishing those wakefulness effects by blocking all your body’s fatigue signaling, at the same time tricking you into a false stress response. And because caffeine is metabolized as multiple byproducts, one of those stays under the radar, sometimes for 8 hours, still messing with your stress response.

There’s ample evidence that chronic caffeine consumption and overconsumption disrupt natural sleep patterns. Caffeine-free wellness drinks use a different caffeine metabolite to accomplish those wakefulness effects without disrupting your circadian rhythm.

Quick Tips to Maximize Your Sleep

By far, the best thing to do is keep a consistent (as possible) bedtime routine. If this can’t be a schedule, make it a ritual. Doing the same things each time you go to bed will teach your body it’s time to calm down and rest. Thanks, Pavlov!

Other healthy sleep habits include:

• Drinking enough water throughout the day, tapering off in the evening.
• Keep a healthy diet and try to eat dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime.
• Make your bedroom a distraction-free place, covering any light intrusions.
• Give yourself some screen-free time before lights out.

5. Magic Mind®

Magic Mind® is a productivity drink that combines the power of nootropics, adaptogens, and functional mushrooms. Like MTE, this energy drink alternative seeks to provide a more sustainable energy boost without jitters, anxiety, and other side effects of too much caffeine. This nootropic energy drink uses natural energy boosters to achieve its focus and productivity effects.

To do that, Magic Mind® uses green tea matcha extract and lion’s mane mushrooms to extend your morning energy. It also contains other ingredients like turmeric, echinacea, ashwagandha, Bacopa monnieri, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D to provide additional benefits for your health. That includes more resilience to stress, reduced anxiety, improved focus, decreased inflammation, and immunity support.

6. enfinity®

Enfinity® is the company that synthesized paraxanthine so it could be used as a wellness supplement. Before that, while we could see that paraxanthine is natural metabolite of caffeine, we couldn’t separate it from the parent caffeine. Enfinity® figured out how to make a clean paraxanthine that bypasses caffeine metabolism, and how you can find paraxanthine energy drinks, nootropic drink powders and more. But not in too many places, yet – this is a state-of-the-art ingredient.

Leading wellness products like MTE® rely on paraxanthine as a natural energy booster that doesn’t elicit a stress response or cause the spike and crash caffeine does. Paraxanthine drinks take a different approach that actually supports against stress, promotes mood and focus, doesn’t disrupt your sleep cycle, and even offers thermogenic effects – without the cold sweats. Definitely something to try.

7. B-SYNC ON®

If you’re not into drinking something, especially in the morning, when some of us have less than zero appetite, B-SYNC ON® is a great replacement for a healthy energy drink. Created in capsule form, B-SYNC® refers to their ON product as “Wake Up Capsules”. They’re meant to be taken daily in the morning to give you an initial boost, and then support those energy levels throughout the day.

B-SYNC ON® uses a low dose of caffeine (60mg), vitamins B5 and B12, and zinc. Their capsule technology is designed so that there is a slow release over the day, which is how it offers even, level energy support throughout the day.

B-SYNC® has done its own clinical studies on their product, the results of which support long-term use:

• After 1 month, people notice better mood, alertness and sleep quality.
• After 3 months, people notice less stress and better sleep.
• After 6 months, people notice more innate energy, and overall feeling better mentally and physically.

For those who want to boost energy and enhance mood naturally without having to consume a drink, this product is a convenient option with receipts to back up their claims.

8. SYNAPSE Natural Nootropic Energy Drink®

Another conveniently-canned replacement for caffeinated energy drinks, SYNAPSE Natural Nootropic Energy Drink® is a caffeine-free, sugar-free and vegan energy drink that is designed to improve cognitive function, focus, and energy levels. It contains a number of natural ingredients that have been shown to have nootropic effects, such as: 

• Huperzia serrata: protects nerve cells, improves brain function
• Bacopa monnieri: enhances cognition, reduces stress
• Alpha-GPC: improves memory, boosts energy
• Creatine monohydrate: promotes brain function, improves cognitive performance
• Theanine: reduce stress, increase energy

Several of these are also some of the best nootropics for mood and sleep. SYNAPSE is only 25 calories a can. It doesn’t contain any artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors. Instead, it utilizes agave, pear and ginger for a crisp, light flavor. As a caffeine-free alternative to traditional energy drinks, you really can’t go wrong with nootropic stacks like this one.

9. LifeLab Vitamin D3 Supplement

Or just get outside more – and especially in the darker seasons. Many people don’t get enough vitamin D due to our society being largely sedentary, and diets that are packed with calories but scant on nutrition. But a healthy supplement powder would be an easy addition to your daily wellness drink.

You’ve got to have enough vitamin D for your body to function correctly. It’s crucial for bone health, immune function, and cell growth and proliferation. Deficiencies are common and come with familiar symptoms: mood problems, fatigue, sleep problems, slow wound healing. These are signs your body doesn’t have the things it needs to get you through the day, inside or out.

It’s important to note that while there is a significant body of clinical evidence that vitamin D supplements significantly reduce fatigue and mood problems in people with chronic fatigue, deficiencies and nervous system disorders, there isn’t a tonne of evidence to say it matters one way or the other in healthy adults.

10. Have You Tried Just… Drinking More Water?

Unquestionably, best healthy drink for energy and focus is water. It’s not just something people say – water is literally life. Available for the low price of FREE.99 if you don’t count your utility bill, drinking water really might be the solution to many, many of our problems. That unquestionably includes energy and focus. Believe it or not, there’s clinical research everywhere dedicated to how water affects energy and metabolism:

• Workouts: Even a 2% body weight reduction in water levels hampers physical performance, but people regularly lose 6-10% during a workout. Drink water before and after. And, no, your preworkout sports drink doesn’t count.
• Cognition: Brain function can be impaired by mild dehydration – it takes only 1-3%.
• Anxiety and Fatigue: Less than 2% body weight dehydration can increase feelings of stress and tiredness.

And we know there are many others – metabolism, kidney function, headaches, temperature regulation. Make sure you’re getting 3-4L water a day, period, and add a liter or two to that if you’re a gym rat. Not only a clean alternative to energy drinks; it saves you money, too! 

Get MTE

What’s the Problem with Energy Drinks?

You’re already here looking for a way to boost energy naturally, so you already know there’s something not quite right about caffeinated sports drinks. But what is it, exactly, that makes energy drinks something to stay away from? Turns out it’s not just one or two minor things. According to CDC, chronic consumption of caffeinated energy drinks can lead to:

• Anxiety
• Feeling nervous and jittery
• Insomnia
• Dehydration
• Irregular heartbeat
• Increased blood pressure
• Heart complications

Why is there a need for healthier alternatives to energy drinks? Quite a few reasons:

Energy Drinks Contain Sugar Bombs & Artificial Sweeteners

One of the reasons energy drinks are so bad is the excess amount of refined sugar. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sugar consumption to nine teaspoons or 36 grams for men and six teaspoons or 25 grams for women.

Unfortunately, even a single can of energy drink can contain more than this recommended amount. For example, a 16 fl oz Red Bull has 49 g of sugar, which is nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sugar, all in just one energy drink. 

Too much sugar in your diet can increase the risk of weight gain, tooth decay, skin problems, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer, high blood pressure, and many other conditions. Plus, you wanna get real real about it – chronic high blood sugar, especially in people with metabolic conditions like diabetes, can wear out your kidneys, eventually contributing to kidney failure.

And if you're thinking a viable alternative to sugary energy drinks is a sugar-free or a low-sugar energy drink, there are still other problematic ingredients. Artificial sweeteners have been linked to a host of health issues, which you can learn more about in our article: Unreal Sugars Come with Unreal Health Risks.

Caffeinated Energy Drinks Can Cause High Cortisol

Traditional energy drinks are filled with another problematic ingredient: caffeine. Although consuming a moderate amount of caffeine can help you stay awake and focused, energy drinks contain way more than you need. For example, a 16 fl oz can of Bang® has around 300 mg of caffeine. That’s almost at the 400 mg per day limit recommended by the FDA in just a single serving!

Caffeine Literally Stresses You Out

Unfortunately, consuming this much caffeine in one sitting has several negative effects on your body. Firstly, caffeine is a stimulant that increases your heart rate and blood pressure. It also affects your brain, causing it to produce more cortisol (stress hormone). 

The combined stimulant effects of caffeine and increased cortisol levels can leave you feeling anxious and jittery. So, instead of helping you concentrate, energy drinks are more likely to overstimulate your brain and heart, preventing you from focusing on anything else other than your anxiety. Did you get an intense energy boost? Yes. Does it feel good? No. And then all of a sudden what you thought would be a great productivity drink ends up sabotaging your whole afternoon.

The Vicious Cycle of Caffeinated Energy Drinks

And if you take energy drinks later in the day, the excessive amount of caffeine is likely to keep you up at night. That’s because higher cortisol levels affect melatonin production, impairing your ability to fall asleep. The problems can get so bad that some people develop insomnia simply by consuming too many energy drinks. 

Even some healthy alternatives like coffee, green tea and black tea can over caffeinate you if you don’t use them properly. It’s important to have a daily wellness drink that doesn’t overstimulate you, but still achieves an energy boost that helps you focus in and get sh*t done. And these natural energy drink alternatives are great options, but their caffeine content means they can come with some of the same side effects as energy drinks.

Energy Drinks Present Stimulant-Related Health Risks

Consuming too much caffeine can also cause long-term side effects like heart problems, high blood pressure, chronic insomnia, anxiety disorders, digestive issues, and more.

In addition, some energy drinks contain guarana, a plant native to the Amazon whose seeds contain four times more caffeine than coffee beans. This adds to the stimulant effects of caffeine, which increases the chances of unwanted effects.

Tolerance, Dependence & Withdrawal

Another downside of caffeine is that your body gets used to its effects. So, you end up needing more and more until the side effects significantly outweigh the benefits. Caffeine (and sugar, too!) is a known addictive substance. You need more and more for the same effects over time, and if you drop it cold turkey, you will have withdrawal symptoms.

Temporary Fix with Long-Term Risks

Lastly, the effect of energy drinks is only temporary. They are a quick fix – only treating the symptom and not addressing the underlying problem of why you might feel tired in the first place. Hence the crash that happens once the sugar and caffeine have run their course.

When you really look at it, energy drinks are not a good long-term solution. To really feel better - energetic, calm, content - we need these healthier, more sustainable alternatives.

Wellness supplements like MTE®, Magic Mind® and others we discussed support against reasons why you’re tired, not just the fact that you’re tired. Caffeine-free energy can be a reality with the right approach.

Why Your Energy Levels Might Be Low

It’s not okay to feel tired every single day. We rely on coffee and energy drinks to give us a quick boost, but since they are only a quick fix, they’re not going to help you suss out what’s really going on with your chronic low energy. And even though a naturally-better-for-you energy booster can definitely help, there are also lifestyle factors that may be sabotaging your efforts to feel better.

Here are some reasons you may feel tired and unfocused all the time:

• You’re not drinking enough water
• You’re not getting enough sleep or it’s not good quality sleep
• Your diet is bad (you’re mostly eating heavily processed food)
• You’re skipping breakfast
• You don’t eat enough carbs, vitamins, or protein
• You don’t take enough time to unwind
• You are too stressed

Keep in mind that sometimes feeling fatigued can also be a result of a vitamin deficiency, hormonal imbalance, metabolic disorder, or thyroid problem. So, if you’re always tired even though your lifestyle habits, sleep health and stress levels are just fine, you should visit a doctor and get your blood checked to get to the bottom of your problem.

How to Boost Energy Levels Naturally

If you want to boost energy naturally, instead of focusing on the symptoms (feeling tired), you can focus on the root cause (your lifestyle habits). It will unquestionably help you experience sustained, jitter-free energy without seeking the help of coffee or energy drinks.

Here’s what you can do:

• Eat smaller meals every three to four hours
• Avoid processed foods, added sugars, alcohol, and tobacco
• Make sure to eat your macros (protein, carbs, and fats)
• Drink enough water (minimum 3-4L/day)
• Try to get eight hours of sleep each night
• Develop a relaxing bedtime routine without electronics
• Learn habits on how to better deal with stress
• Be active daily for at least 30-45 minutes 

How a Wellness Drink Powder Provides a Caffeine-Free Energy Boost 

Some people may follow all these steps to a T and still feel tired. It’s easy to say stress management will help you feel less tired, but what’s going to help you manage the stress in the first place? Not everyone is a yogi who likes to meditate. 

Adding a daily energy greens powder to your routine can give you that little extra support you need to be the best version of yourself. Energy drinks are temporary; MTE® is long-term – a mood-boosting wellness drink powder that supports sustainable energy, along with several other health benefits.

As a healthy coffee and energy drink alternative, the ease and flexibility of MTE® makes it an ideal daily wellness companion.  For example, a scoop of MTE® in water, a smoothie, or your Athletic Greens® can help with energy levels, but also supports quality sleep at night, stress response, mood, focus, performance, and much more. This paraxanthine nootropic powder is a game-changer vs caffeinated drinks and sugar-laden energy supplements.

To get the most benefits out of MTE®, you should take it daily. However, you can also use it as a replacement for energy drinks when you feel tired and need a healthy way to boost energy and focus.

Discover the powerful MTE formulation and all the ways it can benefit your health. Then, head to our shop to order your first pack of MTE and let this feel-good wellness powder help you achieve your full potential.