How Do Caffeine Free Energy Drinks Work?

Dear TeenHealthFX,

Hey TFX, How are caffeine free energy drinks energy drinks? It makes no sense.

Energy Drinks such as Monster, Red Bull, 5 Hour Energy, and many others are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means that the ingredients do not need to be listed on the package and also do not need to be accurate. Therefore, since the product does not have caffeine itself, it can be sold as caffeine free even though many ingredients in these energy drinks have the same impact on the body as caffeine.

For example, [WebMD explains, products that are listed as caffeine free have ingredients such as taurine (an amino acid), huge doses of vitamin B, guarana (plant high in caffeine) , tyrosine and/or phenylalanine (manmade amino acids) in them. These ingredients mimic caffeine cause the body to react in the same way it would if you drank caffeine. As a result, this can be very risky especially not knowing how much caffeine is in the product you are drinking.  No two products are exactly the same and one drink may contain a safe amount of caffeine, however another one may have an unsafe amount of caffeine and can lead to negative side effects.  It is up to you to be an educated consumer read the nutritional labels and all ingredients before purchasing or consuming products. We hope this helps!