What’s in energy drinks that provides the “kick” that one otherwise doesn’t get from coffee, tea, etc?

Question

Should mention that I drink only no sugar drinks, so it can’t be that, and a single can of what I have is usually no more than 200MG of caffeine

Edit: Appreciate your responses. Thank you for the explanations and insights

In: 6032

Answer 1

Fun Fact: Caffeine doesn’t “give you energy” like many think. It’s actually an adenosine receptor antagonist.

Caffeine promotes wakefulness by blocking adenosine A2A receptors (A2ARs) in the brain, but the specific neurons on which caffeine acts to produce arousal (wakefulness) have not yet been identified.

Essentially, adenosine builds up as you’re awake and attaches to its receptors on brain cells later in the day (and throughout the night) to slow them down, making you feel sleepy.

Caffeine competes with the natural process of adenosine by taking adenosine’s place and binding to its receptors instead.

You’re not _adding_ energy, you’re actually _suppressing_ tired.

—-

Edit: As others have rightly mentioned, it has been shown to also affect the CNS, which can provide a dopamine/stimulant response, and also raises HR/BP.