Wake up, America!
Here at Online Clock, we’re obsessed with waking people up.
That’s one of the reasons why we devoted a previous blog post to the subject of how caffeine works.
A cup of coffee or an energy drink often comes to the mind of anyone who needs an extra boost of energy and will not have a chance to sleep for several hours. While coffee or energy drinks full of caffeine will increase energy, they are not the only caffeine filled options available. For those interested in something a little more creative, turning to an energy snack might be the option of choice. However, we should warn you that such energy snacks are no substitute for sleep and a well-balanced diet!
Energy snacks are junk food options like cookies, ice cream, gum or popcorn that have added caffeine and energy boosting vitamins to help get through the day. These snack foods usually have around the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee in the suggested serving size. If you’re considering alternatives or interesting caffeinated options, try out some of these snacks. (But, please, read our important word of warning at the end of this blog post!)
You can chew it, it gives you energy, AND it supports the troops...
Caffeinated Mints and Gum:
For those who want a less obvious way of getting that caffeine rush, caffeinated mints or gum is a subtle option. Caffeine mints and gum typically contain the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee for two pieces or two mints.
Put the gum in your mouth and start chewing to get a boost of energy faster than a cup of coffee. Some caffeine gum, such as Jolt or Black Black gum from Japan, is flavored with the basic mint tastes of other gum. Other caffeinated gum options, like Blitz, taste more like an energy drink than mint.
Alternatives to gum include mints like Penguin mints, Foosh or Bawls Mints, which have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee for every two to three mints. The flavor is typically some type of mint or cinnamon, depending on the specific option selected. For those that prefer breath sprays over mints for a refreshed mouth, Primer caffeinated breath spray has about 1/3 the caffeine as a cup of coffee per spray.
Both the caffeine mints and gum often have odd aftertastes due to the use of aspartame sweetening agents.
Caffeinated Candy:
Want something a little sweeter? Why not try out some caffeine boosted candy? The addition of more caffeine to candy makes a sweet treat more than just a little sugar high, it’s also a caffeine high that helps keep the energy up beyond the limitations of sugar.
Caffeinated lollypops are among the most interesting candy caffeine options available. They have the same amount of caffeine as an energy drink without the odd taste. For a fruity tasting lollypop, try out the Sucka brand caffeinated lollypops. These come in basic flavors like watermelon, cherry or strawberry, so the caffeine is not obvious. Alternatively, try out a Java Pop, which provide various coffee flavored lollypops. For a more controversial and fun flavor, caffeinated “Maple-Bacon” lollypops are available.
If lollypops don’t appeal to your taste, Snickers offers their new candy bar called Snickers Charged. This chocolate tastes like the basic Snickers, but is full of added caffeine for an extra boost of energy.
The website ThinkGeek.com offers a caffeinated Nixie Tube, or flavored sugar, candy for consumers. This sweet and sour tasting treat contains the same amount of caffeine as two cups of coffee per tube, so it packs a definite energy punch.
Another candy available through ThinkGeek.com is their Caffeinated Geek Candy. The website describes the candy as an evolved form of Nerds that contains 100 mg of caffeine per one ounce container. It is available in only two basic flavors: strawberry and lemonade. These tiny candies are perfect for those late nights at the office because the container is tiny and it has a sweet or sour taste to help wake you up faster.
Anyone interested in the company Ed Hardy might have heard of the company’s caffeinated goodies, Super Caffeinated Chocolate Rocks. The company makes two basic flavors for consumer enjoyment: coffee and chocolate. These little chocolates are not only amazingly tasty, but they have more caffeine than most caffeinated candies. One box has the equivalent of 6 cups of coffee. Pop a few of these chocolates in your mouth and you’ll have a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine.
If candy, mints or gum aren’t your snacking preference, don’t give up hope. You can still find an energy boosting snack that suits your tastes.
Caffeinated Cookies and Brownies:
Anyone who loves the taste of cookies or brownies will enjoy the energy boosting influence of a caffeinated cookie or a brownie that has a shot of espresso added. Treat these caffeine treats with care as too many caffeinated cookies might result in some bloating.
The caffeinated cookies are available through a few different companies and offer a few different flavor options.
The chocolate chip cookies from Snack in the Face are not only tasty to anyone who enjoys chocolate chip cookies, but is also packed with caffeine. One Snack in the Face cookie contains the equivalent of two cups of coffee, or 200 mg, of caffeine. Cookies aren’t the only caffeine packed goodie from this company. Snack in the Face also makes brownies that are packed with the same 200 mg of caffeine, but provide a little variety from the basic cookie flavor.
Another caffeinated cookie option is Buzz Strong’s caffeinated cookies. These coffee cookies have one cup of coffee in every four cookies and are amazingly tasty. The cookies add Brazilian coffee, mix in some Tahitian vanilla and add some Swiss dark and white chocolate chips for a truly gourmet taste. For a reasonable price, these cookies give exactly what they promise, the buzz of a cup of coffee.
While cookies, brownies and candy might appeal to some, it does nothing for those hot summer days. You could always get a cold coffee, but why not try some energy ice cream instead?
Feel like a double scoop of creamy Caffeine on a sugar cone, anyone?
Caffeinated Ice Cream:
Perhaps you felt that candy and cookies are obvious ways to get some extra caffeine or that gum and mints are available anywhere, so it’s not odd that someone might add caffeine. Something a little more interesting and odd is the invention of caffeinated ice cream.
Bang caffeinated ice cream is perhaps the most obvious ice cream option that adds extra caffeine to the ice cream. This ice cream comes in four different flavors: Peanut Butta, Heaps of Gold, Cooky Mint and Iced Latte-Da. All four flavors have added caffeine with the equivalent of about 5 cups of coffee per 1 pint of ice cream. That’s a total of 125 mg of caffeine for every serving size. The flavor’s provide enough variety that most individuals will find at least one flavor to match their personal tastes.
While Bang is the option with the most obvious caffeine and the company advertises the caffeine in the ice cream, almost any coffee flavored ice cream will also have some caffeine. Most have about 50 mg, or half a cup of coffee for every serving. For a little more caffeine than the average coffee ice cream, try Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. It packs 84 mg of caffeine in every 8 ounce ice cream.
Energy snacks are not only about sweet flavors. Energy snacks also include options like potato chips or popcorn to go with that late night movie you don’t want to miss.
This stuff might just make YOU pop!
Caffeinated Chips and Popcorn:
Caffeine is not only added to sweet snacks, it is also added to those salty favorites of chips and popcorn. Stay awake for your late night movie or to finish that video game with some caffeine filled chips or popcorn.
The first caffeine chip to hit the market was the Golden Flake Snack Food’s NRG chips in 2007. The company makes two flavors for consumers to enjoy: Phoenix Fury and Overload. The tasty potato chips are not only loaded with about the equivalent of 3.5 cups of coffee per small snack bag, they also contain the muscle-fatigue reducer found in energy drinks, taurine, and vitamin B. The chips are an all-around snack that brings up energy levels without bringing out a sweet tooth.
As an alternative to the NRG chips, which are not available in every state, Engobi’s caffeinated chips are a great option. These chips are available in any state around the country, so it is possible to get the chips in most grocery stores. Engobi’s chips don’t have as much caffeine, since it keeps the amount to 140 mg, or approximately 1.5 cups of coffee, of caffeine in a small snack-sized bag, but it is enough to provide a definite energy surge. The flavors available through Engobi are cinnamon surge and lemon lift for a more unique and fun flavor.
For those who are uninterested in chips, but enjoy popcorn, the caffeine infused popcorn called BioFuel might be the energy boosting snack for your taste. BioFuel popcorn is made with a sweet and salty flavor that masks the bitterness of caffeine. The original popcorn has about the caffeine as a cup of coffee while the XL popcorn provides enough for two cups of coffee.
It's downright perky, this jerky!
Caffeinated Beef Jerky?:
Shortly before this blog post was scheduled to be published we found this product: beef jerky containing the stimulant guarana and caffeine. Something this crazy can be invented only in America, folks (and we mean that in a GOOD way)!
Energy Snacks – OnlineClock.net’s Summary
These energy snacks are all full of caffeine for a boost of energy. Some contain vitamins and sugar to compound the effects of the energy drug. Anyone thinking of trying out these snacks should remember that caffeine does not replace sleep. It provides a little energy, but your mind will not function as well on caffeine as it does after a full eight hours of sleep.
Anyone with heart conditions MUST talk to a doctor before adding these snacks to their “things to try” list because caffeine can speed up the heart!
As with anything else, use Energy Snacks in moderation.
Everyone wide awake now? Good, then – UP AND AT ‘EM !!!!
Energy Non-Drinks is a post from: Alarm Clock Blog, the official blog of the original Online Alarm Clock.
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