Is 5 hour energy better for you than energy drinks?

I can’t speak to the issue scientifically, but I have built up a quite a tolerance to energy drinks over the years. They definitely work, in a jumpy, sugary sort of way, but I’m not a fan of the withdrawals.

5-Hour energy, on the other hand, provides a very clean feeling rush that allows me to be productive without getting…weird.

Having just looked at the ingrediants in both 5 hour energy and monster I have to say I think your friend is talking rubbish. Both contain caffiene and taurine (the usual suspects when it comes to energy drinks). 5 hour energy doesn’t contain any sugar or calories but otherwise is probably as good for you as any other energy drink.

Tell your friend to try some other “all natural” substances like hemlock, lead, mercury, venom, arsenic, plutonium, or sulfuric acid. All natural doesn’t mean safe and healthy. It really doesn’t mean much of anything as there are plenty of “artificial” substances that are very good for you in the right situation (medications that can save your life for example).

They say it is, but to me no. They contain about the same ingredients and hold the same amount of caffiene and as @Lightlyseared said taurine. But I would take 5 hour energy over a monster any day.

Wow, what your friend said is absurd. All energy drinks use the same principles: B vitamin loading, caffeine, sugars. The major differences amongst most energy drinks is the flavor added and the concentrations of the three principle ingredients I mentioned. B vitamins are crucial to all energy drinks in that you need the various types of Bs in order to convert sugars into ATP. Caffeine increases metabolism (the rate at which ATP is consumed) by causing adrenalin release. 5hr energy doesnt provide the sugars that your body needs to undergo these processses but you probably already have sugars available in your body unless you are starving/hypoglycemic/on a fad no carb diet. Nothing in this process involves eating away at or destroying neural tissue.