I declared myself a biochemistry/chemistry major in 2003 – right at the beginning of the Energy Drink Boom. Fascinated by these drinks and all the fears surrounding their use, I’ve applied my education (and basically all my free time) toward understanding the science behind energy drinks and their ingredients. In 2003, energy drinks contained synthetic caffeine as well as caffeine extracts from guarana and yerba mate. While synthetic caffeine was often criticized for being synthetic, guarana and yerba mate were often criticized for being “dangerous stimulants”. Then along came green coffee bean extract and coffeeberry/coffee fruit. As a caffeine consumer, you may be wondering, what is it about green coffee beans and coffeeberry that make it special? I encourage you to geek out with me over these game-changing energy drink ingredients.
Tag: green coffee bean
When is Caffeinated Water an Energy Drink? Science Behind Hint Kick
Start with water. Add flavor. Add vitamins. Add color. Add sweetener. At what point does “water” become something else? Consider a drink with only caffeine, water, and flavor – what do we call this? For this month’s energy drink pick, let’s discuss a beverage contrary to energy drink expectations and the science behind the green coffee beans used to fuel it. Read more
When Food Products Try to Be Energy Drinks – GreenEyedGuide on ScienceMeetsFood
In this article I wrote for ScienceMeetsFood.org, I discuss the growing world of caffeinated food in general and caffeinated peanut butter in particular. How does caffeinated peanut butter compare to regular peanut butter? To energy drinks?

Science Meets Food is the official blog of the IFT Student Association (IFTSA), which has over 2,500 members from around the world. IFT Student Association members love science and have an everyday passion for food. They are Official Food Geeks, and IFT is their home.
Visit ScienceMeetsFood.org to read the full article
“Moderating caffeine intake can be a challenge. There are some days it seems there’s not enough caffeine in the world to keep your mind focused or your eyes from drooping, and there are other days when it seems like the smallest cup of coffee makes your heart race and hands shake. I’ve studied energy drinks and the science behind their ingredients for 10 years, and I find these products fascinating. I may know a lot about caffeinated drinks, but caffeinated food – well, that’s a whole new ballgame.
According to Caffeine Informer’s caffeine database [1], there are almost two hundred different food products enhanced with caffeine, including ice cream, granola, brownies, waffles, marshmallows, jelly beans, candy, gum, jerky, and good old fashioned dark chocolate. Okay, so that last one is actually naturally caffeinated… However, the food that interests me most on the list is the caffeinated peanut butter (because hello, it’s peanut butter and it’s delicious).
Visit ScienceMeetsFood.org to read the full article
Read more from the Day in the Life of a Food Scientist series
- Browse the whole series here
- The Unexpected Daily Challenge — What They Didn’t Teach Me in Food Science
- The Xanthan Gum Disaster
- Oyster Crackers, Carbonated Water, and Spitting
- Stability Studies May Lead to Instability
- The Linger — A Food Science Horror Story
- Quality Assurance and Parenting
- Ingredient Testing — Day in the Life of a Food Scientist Quality Professional
- Risk Assessments and 5 Most Shocking Discoveries
- What Consumer Testing is REALLY like
Let’s connect!
- Energy drinks/ coffee/ caffeine: Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
- Fitness + Caffeine: Facebook.com/greeneyedguide
- Energy Drinks + Fitness/Bodybuilding: Instagram
- 10 Second Label Reviews (and other rants): Twitter
Energy Drink Spottings in New Zealand
On a honeymoon to New Zealand, I couldn’t help myself. I dawdled at every store looking for energy drinks and caffeinated beverages I’d never seen before. I only found a few, but I’ve shared my gallery below. I was only there for a week or so, but I was surprised how seldom I saw any energy drinks at all. In Southern California, I spot people drinking energy drinks on a daily basis, or spot the crushed empty cans in a trash can. My fascination for energy drink habits in other countries is not a new interest, but it certainly is growing. If you’ve got a story to tell about energy drink habits in your neighborhood, I’d love to hear it. (See below for all the ways you can connect with all-things-GreenEyedGuide and share your stories with me)
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Let’s connect!
- Love energy drinks/ coffee/ caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
- Love Fitness + Caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/greeneyedguide
- Energy Drinks + Fitness/Bodybuilding on Instagram
- Share your can on Twitter
Review the entire ENERGY DRINK OF THE MONTH SERIES
- Get your copy of MY BOOK: “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks — How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely”
- HELP ME TURN MY BOOK INTO AN AUDIO BOOK – SUPPORT ME ON PATREON
- Explore the CAFFEINE INFORMER database
- Need help with quitting caffeine? I HIGHLY recommend this guide: Awake: How to Quit from Caffeine for Good
GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge Day 9/10 – Fatigue Level 2 and Benefits of Tea vs Caffeine
For the 2nd-to-last day of the GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge, we talk about FATIGUE LEVEL 2 and the benefits of GREEN TEA vs benefits of CAFFEINE.
Fatigue Level 2 is one of my favorite levels because there are so many great, healthy options – there are so many caffeinated beverages that don’t even seem like energy drinks because they are fueled by green tea, green coffee beans, or coffeeberry/coffee fruit.
See https://greeneyedguide.com/tag/fatigue-level-2 for examples
- If you’re looking for more reliable and scientific information on caffeine’s affects on metabolism and weight loss, I HIGHLY recommend this article, “The ultimate science based guide to using caffeine for weight loss”.
Through this challenge, you’ll learn how to use the 5 Levels of Fatigue to reap the benefits of caffeine while avoiding addiction, dependence, tolerance, and toxicity.
***PLAY ALONG-share your favorite “energy drink in disguise” or Fatigue Level 2 product on Instagram/ Facebook/Twitter and tag @GreenEyedGuide, or add your pictures to the Caffeine Challenge Event page at Facebook.com/GreenEyedGuide/events
- Support GreenEyedGuide (and the bulldog, Gjallahorn) on Patreon at Patreon.com/greeneyedguide
- Love energy drinks/coffee/caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
- Love Fitness + Caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/greeneyedguide
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Review the entire ENERGY DRINK OF THE MONTH SERIES
- Explore the CAFFEINE INFORMER database
- Need help with quitting caffeine? I HIGHLY recommend this guide: Awake: How to Quit from Caffeine for Good
- Want MORE GreenEyedGuide?
- Visit the Energy Drink Guide Facebook page (Woo-hoo!!! 100 Likes!)
- Follow the GreenEyedGuide on Twitter
- Follow GreenEyedGuide-the-NPC-Figure-Athlete on Instagram and Tumblr
- Get your copy of “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks — How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely”