Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to energy drinks.
Monster Energy is arguably the most popular energy drink in the US. It’s sold at a wide range of retailers both in-person and online, and the brand’s website describes their drink as “one of the meanest energy drinks on the planet.”
But what’s actually in Monster Energy to provide the energy boost? Does the drink contain any unhealthy additives? How does it compare to other popular energy drinks? And which Monster flavor is the healthiest?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients in Monster Energy to give our take on whether or not the drink is bad for you or not.
We’ll compare Monster to other popular energy drinks to see how it stacks up in terms of healthiness, and pick our healthiest Monster flavor.
Key takeaways:
- Original contains very high added sugar dose
- Contains many ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We consider Monster Energy to be bad for you overall
Ingredient Analysis
The main active ingredients in Monster Energy Original (caffeine and sugar) are shown below:
Caffeine is included at a dose of 180 milligrams (mg), which is slightly less than two standard cups of coffee.
This is an effective caffeine dose for improving energy levels according to clinical research, and should not cause health issues in otherwise healthy adults.
Sugar is included at a dose of 54 grams (g) per can which is concerning in our opinion.
This exceeds the entire day’s value of added sugar established by the FDA, and diets high in added sugar promote obesity according to a 2019 medical review.
The entire ingredient list of Monster Energy Original is shown below:
Beyond added sugar, there are several ingredients that we consider unhealthy.
Citric acid is a preservative and flavor enhancer that can cause whole-body inflammation in some individuals, as we documented in our article on are Ghost Energy drinks bad for you.
Natural flavors is a broad categorical descriptor that fails to identify the specific flavoring chemicals used.
A medical review published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal suggests that some flavoring compounds and their metabolites can be toxic.
Color added is a very strange ingredient descriptor, and fails to document whether the colorants used are artificial or naturally-derived.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that’s clinically shown to negatively affect insulin function.
Monster Energy is one of the few energy drink brands we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health that contains both an artificial sweetener and substantial amounts of added sugar.
Sorbic acid and benzoic acid are preservatives.
Glucuronolactone caused negative changes to blood pressure and insulin levels when combined with taurine and caffeine (both included in Monster Energy) in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Nutrition.
We do believe that Monster Energy is likely to be effective for its intended purpose because it contains a number of stimulatory ingredients (primarily caffeine).
We consider Monster Energy to be bad for you due to the ingredients highlighted above.
Monster vs. the Competition
Most commercial energy drinks have similar formulations to Monster, but there are relevant differences.
Here’s our take on the healthiness of Monster versus other popular energy drinks in the US.
Red Bull
Red Bull contains artificial flavors, and this class of ingredients was shown in a 2018 animal study to be toxic.
However, Red Bull also contains 17 g less sugar per can, and no artificial sweeteners.
Winner: Red Bull
5-hour Energy
As we documented in our article on is 5 hour energy bad for you, the brand is added-sugar-free which gives it a big edge over Monster in the health category.
However, 5-hour Energy contains artificial flavors and a preservative called potassium sorbate that’s clinically shown to be toxic to human cells which makes it hard to pick one over the other.
Winner: Tie
Celsius
Celsius uses the same artificial sweetener as exists in Monster Energy.
The core difference, as we documented in our article on is Celsius bad for you, is that Celsius is sugar-free and uses fruit and vegetable juice for natural colors.
Celsius is also free of preservatives other than citric acid.
Winner: Celsius
Can you OD on Energy Drinks?
A clinical pharmacist and toxicologist with a YouTube channel called "ChubbyEmu" has a video documenting what happened when a gamer took too many energy drinks at once:
What’s the Healthiest Monster Flavor?
We consider Rehab Monster to be the healthiest product line sold by the brand.
The ingredient list below is from Rehab Monster Watermelon:
It’s important to note that this drink contains less caffeine (by 30 mg), significantly less sugar (by 51 g), and the sugar is derived from a natural source (apple juice concentrate) rather than a refined additive.
Vegetable juice is used as a natural colorant.
There are no preservatives other than citric acid.
This drink still contains several ingredients we consider questionable from a health perspective as outlined in the previous Ingredient Analysis section (citric acid, natural flavors, sucralose) so we don’t recommend it overall.
Acesulfame potassium is an artificial sweetener that shown to cause negative changes to brain function in a 2018 animal study.
Our Clean Energy Picks
Illuminate Labs Panax Ginseng Extract is our top energy supplement.
Panax ginseng extract has been clinically shown to reduce mental fatigue and reduce physical fatigue, and our supplement is third-party tested to ensure its purity and potency.
Pique Breakfast Black Tea Sticks is our top whole food energy pick.
Black tea consumption is "associated with rapid increases in alertness and information processing capacity" according to a clinical trial, and Pique's tea is organic and comes in convenient stick packs that can be mixed into water, so a teapot or kettle are not needed.
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
