Best Caffeine Alternatives To Stay Awake At A Glance
Best Ginseng Supplement
Korean Panax Ginseng By Double Wood Supplements
True Ginseng will produce a longer-lasting stimulation with fewer side effects and is an excellent choice for those who are looking to boost stamina, sharpen focus, and improve memory.
Best Taurine Supplement
Taurine By Life Extension
Taurine is an excellent, less potent alternative to caffeine for those seeking a lighter but longer-lasting stimulation. In addition, this natural compound supports nerve growth, cardiovascular health and regulates blood pressure.
Best Theacrine Supplement
Theacrine By Double Wood Supplements
Theacrine is a purine alkaloid that has energetic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. Thus, it is an excellent option for caffeine users prone to developing high tolerance levels and will help prevent headaches as well as relieve tension and anxiety.
Best Theobromine Supplement
Theobromine By Bulk Supplements
Theobromine is a bitter-tasting alkaloid from the cocoa tree. The main advantage of theobromine over caffeine is that it provides a slow-onset, mild, and long-lasting energy.
Best Vitamin B12
Doctor’s Best Fully Active B12
B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that’s essential for cognitive function and is considered to be one of the best nutrients available for boosting energy levels naturally.
For many years now, most Americans have consumed caffeine daily. In fact, more than 50% of American adults report drinking coffee or some type of caffeinated beverage every morning.
Caffeine works by activating various neurotransmitters and exhibits effects on behavior and mental capacity. It also increases blood flow and, like other nootropics, actively works against brain cell damage and cognitive decline.
However, as useful as caffeine can be, some people decide to forego it completely due to certain health conditions and may decide to use alternatives to stay awake instead.
Here, I’ll reveal some of the best alternatives to caffeine to stay awake and describe how you can use each of these supplements successfully.
How To Get Energy Without Caffeine
It is crucial to understand that caffeine does not have a direct stimulant effect. Rather, it prevents us from feeling exhausted by binding to adenosine receptors.
By taking caffeine daily, we develop a stronger tolerance, which leads us to consume it in even larger quantities. If you’ve been a daily coffee drinker for years, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t affect you like it used to do.
It is vital to point out that we have many options to improve our energy levels without consuming caffeine. There are plenty of natural nootropics that can replace caffeine and possess similar benefits.
Nootropics are substances that are capable of amplifying cognitive capacities. They are found naturally in some foods and plants or can be synthetically made.
Nootropics including taurine, theacrine, theobromine, and ginseng are the most endorsed nootropics by the scientific community as a replacement for caffeine. Although they seem to have a similar effect in the short term, their long-term benefits are what sets them apart.
What Are The Best Caffeine Alternatives To Stay Awake?
There are many caffeine-free compounds available to keep you awake and energetic. Here’s a look at some of the best caffeine alternatives available today.
Ginseng
Ginseng is a plant that comes from traditional Chinese medicine. Its benefits are attributed to its energizing ginsenosides and it can be used to increase physical and mental performance, boost the immune system, and prevent ulcers caused by stress.
Ginseng possesses multiple health benefits, specifically those related to immunity, improving CNS functions, and potentially mitigating diabetes and even cancer.
Taurine
Taurine is found naturally in meat, fish, and dairy products and its use can improve cardiovascular function in people with congestive heart failure.
Studies indicate that taurine’s role in various types of therapy looks pretty bright. This is because of its cytoprotective effects, which diminish the uncomfortable symptoms of various pathologies.
Theacrine
Theacrine is a naturally occurring compound that stimulates the central nervous system in a similar way as caffeine. It can significantly increase brain activity levels in higher doses, providing more tranquil stimulation than caffeine.
Also, studies show that theacrine can increase sports performance, endurance, and training motivation.
Theobromine
Theobromine is found naturally in cocoa and tea plants. It helps to improve circulation and dilates vessels generating a better blood flow. Although it is a stimulant, it can also help you sleep and breathe better due to its bronchodilator properties. Lastly, theobromine also lowers blood pressure and improves cardiovascular health.
It’s been proven that theobromine can enhance the positive effects of cocoa when consumed in moderate doses. That said, beware that overdoing it can produce the opposite.
Vitamin B12
B12 is one of the eight B vitamins found naturally in meats, fish, and dairy products. Its function is to convert food into glucose and as a result, it increases energy, concentration, memory, and mood.
Having a deficiency of vitamin B12 may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes and impair vascular and cognitive functions along with bone and eye health.
Our Reviews Of The Best Caffeine Alternatives To Stay Awake
Best Ginseng Supplement
Korean Panax Ginseng By Double Wood Supplements
Double Wood’s Korean Panax Ginseng is recognized as being “True Ginseng” and is a naturally energizing option, free of impurities and excipients.
This product contains 10% Ginsenosides and provides 1,000mg per serving (2 capsules). It is recommended for adults to use 2-4 capsules per day and to not exceed 6 capsules.
True Ginseng will produce a longer-lasting stimulation with fewer side effects. In addition, this product has other properties besides stimulation. Panax Ginseng also improves stamina, concentration, and memory.
It also promotes healthy immune function and slows down the aging process.
This product is an excellent choice for those looking for a more forgiving alternative to caffeine to start their day with energy and mental sharpness.
Best Taurine Supplement
Taurine By Life Extension
Taurine is an excellent, less potent alternative to caffeine for those seeking a lighter but longer-lasting stimulation. In addition, this natural compound supports nerve growth, cardiovascular health and regulates blood pressure.
Life Extension offers a bottle of 90 L-taurine capsules for only $9.75. Each capsule provides 1,000 mg of L-taurine and is vegetarian-friendly. It is recommended to take one capsule one to three times daily on an empty stomach.
Taurine is not for those who are looking for a frenetic stimulation like caffeine, rather, its effects are more subtle.
Best Theacrine Supplement
Theacrine By Double Wood Supplements
Theacrine is a purine alkaloid that has energetic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. Thus, it is an excellent option for caffeine users prone to developing high tolerance levels.
In addition, theacrine will prevent headaches, tension, and nervousness due to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Double Wood Supplement’s Theacrine capsules each contain 100mg. If you’re just starting, stick to a single dose of 100-200 mg daily, but do not exceed 400 mg per day.
Best Theobromine Supplement
Theobromine By Bulk Supplements
Theobromine is a bitter-tasting alkaloid from the cocoa tree. The main advantage of theobromine over caffeine is that it provides a slow-onset, mild, and long-lasting energy.
Bulk Supplements offers theobromine in pure powder form, ranging in quantities from 25 grams to 5 kilograms (11 lbs).
Each 25-gram bag costs $14.96 and contains around 50-100 servings, assuming the average consumer uses around 250-500 mg daily.
Best Vitamin B12
Doctor’s Best Fully Active B12
B12 is a water-soluble vitamin essential for the brain’s normal functioning, nervous system, and various proteins. Vitamin B12 is an excellent option to replace caffeine since the latest studies show that B12 acts in a much healthier way in the nervous system and with similar stimulant potency.
Doctor’s Best Fully Active B12 provides 1500 mcg of methylcobalamin per capsule. This dosage is exceptionally higher than competing products and should help you sustain energy levels for quite some time. As such, you’ll only need to take one capsule per day.
Studies You Can Read About Caffeine Alternatives
- Taurine and its analogs in neurological disorders: Focus on therapeutic potential and molecular mechanisms (Redox Biology, 2019)
- Cognitive Performance and Mood Following Ingestion of a Theacrine-Containing Dietary Supplement, Caffeine, or Placebo by Young Men and Women (Nutrients, 2015)
- Exploring cocoa properties: is theobromine a cognitive modulator? (Psychopharmacology, 2019)
- Chapter 8 Biological Activities of Ginseng and Its Application to Human Health (Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition., 2011)
- Effects and Mechanisms of Taurine as a Therapeutic Agent (Biomolecules & Therapeutics, 2018)
- The effects of a caffeine-like supplement, TeaCrine®, on muscular strength, endurance and power performance in resistance-trained men (Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2019)
- A Two-Part Approach to Examine the Effects of Theacrine (TeaCrine®) Supplementation on Oxygen Consumption, Hemodynamic Responses, and Subjective Measures of Cognitive and Psychometric Parameters (Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2017)
- Psychopharmacology of Theobromine in Healthy Volunteers (Psychopharmacology, 2013)
- Vitamin B12 in Health and Disease (Nutrients, 2010)
Editor’s note: we are regularly updating this review. If you see any problems, weird interpretations of the data, or just want to say hi, please reach out to hello@the-unwinder.com.
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