Caffeine in energy drinks isn't a big deal

Lately, I've been seeing articles about "how amazing the effects of energy drinks are" or "how dangerous energy drinks are." The thing that is often considered dangerous is caffeine.

I saw an article that said energy drinks contain "three times the caffeine of coffee or cola," and I thought to myself, "Three times the amount of coffee? That must be a mistake," so I compared the caffeine content in commercially available coffee, drip coffee, energy-boosting drinks, and energy drinks.

Before doing the comparison, my thinking was, "Coffee probably has more caffeine." But when I compared the ingredient lists, it turns out that energy drinks actually have more caffeine... which is why I decided to do this comparison.
Now, let’s compare the caffeine content in coffee and energy drinks.

Caffeine Content in Coffee, Energy-Boosting Drinks, and Energy Drinks

When simply comparing the caffeine content, it turns out that coffee has more. So where did the "three times the amount of coffee" come from? It seems that this information is circulating on Twitter.

Some energy drinks overseas come in larger cans (around 500ml) and contain more caffeine, but in Japan, there are no energy drinks with three times the caffeine of coffee.

By the way, even if I have to stay up all night, I never use energy drinks to stay awake. Energy drinks contain so much sugar and calories that it’s not ideal for just staying awake. I prefer to drink them when I’m being active or exercising!

Can One Energy Drink Keep You Awake?

On SNS, you often see people saying things like, "I drank Monster Energy during the day and couldn’t sleep at night! It worked too well! It’s scary!" Logically, it’s hard to believe that the caffeine in one cup of coffee could cause that much of an issue, but since caffeine tolerance differs from person to person, some might still feel the stimulating effects.

So, would drinking an energy drink with the same or more caffeine than coffee have the same effect and make you unable to sleep...?

Actually, I think it might be more of a placebo effect with energy drinks. When you spend 200 yen on an "energy" drink, mentally, you might feel like it’s keeping sleepiness away, or if you feel unwell afterward, you might blame the energy drink. That’s something that happens quite often.

Since most people are already worried about it being dangerous even before they drink it.

For the most part, energy drinks in Japan have caffeine levels similar to or lower than coffee bought from a vending machine, so I don’t think they have strong enough effects to keep you awake for long.