Sugary Drinks: Energy Drink vs Water Cooler Bottles

See how your sugary drinks habit scales when comparing energy drink to water cooler bottles. See how your daily sodas, juices or energy drinks stack up against sugar-intake limits, and visualize the total volume as hot tubs or water coolers.

Example: Sugary Drinks

For example, consuming 1 soda can of sugary drinks per day could be equivalent to approximately 4818.00 rda sugar who over 1 year. Enable JavaScript to calculate with your own values and explore more comparisons!

Size My Sugary Drinks

Size my:

250mL can: 110 kcal, 27g sugar (108% WHO RDA), e.g. Red Bull / Monster

My Energy Drink per day

Compare to / Assess

Your Habit Scale

See how your consumption adds up over time.

Time Period	Equivalent in Water Cooler Bottles
1 Year	4.8 bottles
5 Years	24.1 bottles
25 Years	120.7 bottles

How It's Calculated

1. Your input: 1 Energy Drink per day.
2. Your input is equivalent to an average of 0.25 litres per day.
3. One water cooler bottles has a volume of 18.9 litres.
4. The final result is found by dividing your total consumption volume over time by the volume of one water cooler bottles.

Why It's Important

Time for a sugar rush reality check! Your annual intake of sugary drinks could fill 4.8 Water Cooler Bottles. Whether that's an office's worth of water coolers or a bubbling hot tub of fizz, it's a truly colossal amount of sweet liquid.

This visualization is crucial because it connects a daily habit to a massive volume, which directly relates to sugar intake levels and their impact on health. This quantity represents a significant load on your metabolic system, contributing to risks like type 2 diabetes and weight gain. Understanding the sheer scale can be a powerful motivator for exploring healthier beverage alternatives.

Do you need help with your habit? See our list of international helplines and resources.

The Science Behind It

Sugary beverages—from sodas and energy drinks to juices and iced teas—are a primary source of added sugars in many diets. This calculator helps you understand your consumption by translating it into total sugar, calories, and tangible comparisons, based on nutritional data and health guidelines.

1. Free Sugars and Health Risks

The sugars in these drinks are "free sugars," which are rapidly absorbed by the body. Unlike sugars in whole fruit, they lack fiber, leading to quick spikes in blood sugar and insulin. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting daily free sugar intake to just 25 grams to reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dental cavities.

2. Fructose Metabolism and the Liver

Many sugary drinks are high in fructose (often from high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose). The liver is the primary site for fructose metabolism. When consumed in excess, especially in liquid form, fructose can overwhelm the liver, promoting the creation of fat (de novo lipogenesis). This contributes to elevated triglycerides and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

3. "Empty" Calories and Weight Gain

Liquid calories from sugary drinks are less satiating than calories from solid food. This means they often don't trigger the same fullness signals, making it easy to consume excess energy without realizing it. This contributes directly to a positive energy balance and weight gain over time.

4. Nutritional Data Accuracy

The calorie and sugar data for each beverage in this calculator are based on standard values from the USDA FoodData Central database. This ensures that the calculations for total calories, sugar grams, and RDA percentages are grounded in reliable, standardized nutritional information.