The energy drink market seems to have exploded in the past few years and many of the major players in it are now producing "energy shots," a more concentrated version of their larger counterparts. Instead of bottling them in a standard sixteen ounce bottle or "monster" can, they come in a 50 ml (roughly 2 fluid ounces) bottle which can be consumed in one quick gulp. Looking at the two options side by side makes you wonder if the smaller version is really as effective as the larger.

If you want to know the truth, read the label. That's particularly true today with new regulations that require all ingredients and side effects to be listed on nutritional or pharmaceutical products on the market, including energy drink ingredients. Most energy drinks contain caffeine, about eighty milligrams worth. They also contain other ingredients like guarana, ginseng or ginkgo biloba, taurine, maltodextrin, inositol, carnitine, creatine, and glucuronolactone. A large percentage of these ingredients are vitamins and mineral supplements that are in concentrated form. If you look at the RDA on the bottle you'll find that many of them are present at 100% or greater.

If you read the bottle or can on the full size version energy drink and the label on the much smaller energy shot you will find that both contain roughly the same amount of each ingredient. Think about it. You can get eighty milligrams of caffeine in a small fifty milliliter bottle. That's the same as what you get in a standard cup of coffee and it will take you a lot less time to drink. If you're looking for that extra boost in a small container, the energy shot could be the solution.

On the flip side, there is some discussion as to the lasting effects of an energy shot. Is it "real" energy if you crash a few hours after you take it? Sugar certainly causes that crash, but what about the caffeine or other ingredients? In case you're keeping track, the average person in America drinks at least one cup of coffee or glass of soda in the morning to "wake up." That blast of caffeine and sugar is far more likely to make you crash at some point during the day than an energy shot which most likely has a large quantity of Vitamin C or other supplements to boost the effect.

Energy shots and drinks have taken America by storm since the turn of the century, but they are not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Energy "cocktails" made from all natural ingredients have been popular in Japan for centuries. The companies that were first to develop energy drinks in the United States and other Western nations modeled their drinks after the ancient Japanese formulas. In fact, most of the natural ingredients in energy shots, like taurine, ginseng, and ginkgo biloba have been present in energy and healing tonics since medieval times. So maybe those little energy shots are not just effective, but have history on their side as well.