Apples and Coffee

Content warnings: discussion of nutrition claims and mention of obesity

• Apples don’t contain caffeine, but they do contain sugar.

• Sugar doesn’t cause hyperactivity.

• Research is lacking regarding the effects of sugar in realistic environments.

When searching for any information on the statement “An apple gives you as much energy as a cup of coffee,” most of the search results are from not-fully-reliable health websites. Even the more reliable of the websites neglect to provide citations when making the claim.

Many articles clarify that apples don’t contain caffeine like coffee does, but they do claim that the sugar in apples is enough to encourage more wakefulness than caffeine.

However, the amount of recent research into effects of sugar is lacking, particularly in terms of effects that have nothing to do with obesity.

A 2019 meta-analysis on the effect of carbohydrates on mood suggested that carbohydrate consumption tended to be associated more with higher levels of fatigue, rather than a burst of energy.1

Although published in 1994, a comprensive study on the effects of sucrose and aspartame on children found that neither sweetener increased hyperactivity.2

A review in The Journal of Physiology suggests that physical activity needs to accompany consumption of fructose in order to generate higher energy output.3

(You can find more relevant papers at this footnote.)4

We just don’t have enough research on sugar’s effects. Many sugar studies use lab rats rather than humans, and many studies use significantly more sugar than average humans consume. This means that the studies, while potentially useful, don’t give an accurate picture of effects that occur in a practical environment.

Apples might make you feel more awake than a cup of coffee, but they also might not.

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