Just How Dangerous Energy Drinks Are? by Perly Rodolfo

By | April 27, 2016

Energy drinks are one of the most patronized and bestselling beverages of not only sports enthusiasts, but of all sorts of people.

These kinds of beverages are abundant in your local market as well as online. Most people thought that it is safe and helpful to the body, and most people take energy drinks to meet their health needs especially in today’s fast-pace life.

Enticingly affordable, great tasting and highly accessible to anyone, energy drinks are completely hard to resist.

So are you one of those people who are considered addicted to these type of commercial drinks? If you heavily patronize energy drinks due to its energy boosting properties, then this short article might encourage you to reconsider your options.

Why? Because these products are downright harmful for you as it is packed with lots of sugar, caffeine and chemically-made stimulants.

harmful energy drinks

Energy Drinks

The Main Culprit – Caffeine!

Caffeine is an active compound found mostly in energy drinks, coffees, teas, colas and many others products. It is used mostly in nootropics, bodybuilding  and weight loss supplements.

As a powerful stimulant, caffeine on average dose is not harmful to most healthy adults. So you might ask why is this compound is harmful for you?

All energy drinks are packed with caffeine, along with tons of sugar. When you drink energy drinks, sugar will immediately enter your system that will instantly give you a sudden boost of energy, but not yet crash.

The crash is then negated by energy drink’s caffeine content. Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system with a bit of time delay, which helps prevent crash.

Decaffeination is triggered after an hour or less, and your energy increases continuously all day until it slowly goes away.

Energy drinks that are harmful

Energy Drinks

Various studies about caffeine suggest that about 400mg of this active stimulant can be tolerable by most adult individuals. But not all studies have the same results as caffeine can affect anyone differently (caffeine allergic reaction).

In most cases, people have high tolerance to caffeine-rich products such as coffee drinks and cola beverages. In fact, caffeine is also beneficial in many ways. It is believed to promote healthy brain function, enhanced mental focus, has antioxidants effects and of course, energy boosting benefits.

But caffeine’s effects isn’t all good as it can dramatically trigger unwanted adverse health effects, especially those amounts contained in energy drinks.

Why Caffeine in Energy Drinks is Bad for You?

People allergic to stimulants know that these allergens can cause dizziness, nausea, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and many others.

Caffeine is also considered a diuretic, which triggers your kidneys to get rid of excess water in your body which may lead to mild or severe dehydration.

The most notable effect of this stimulant (or should I say belief) is addiction. The addictive effect of caffeine makes people to crave for more cans of energy drinks such as Red Bull.

People need instant boost on their mental and physical needs, which is the main reason why they rely more on energy drinks. That feeling will make you more dependent on these products due to its stimulating effects.

This cycle continuous as the effects of caffeine worsens due to maximum potency intake of stimulants.

Known harmful effects of too much energy drink consumption include

  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Diabetes
  • Headache/migraine
  • Vomiting
  • Blindness (severe energy drink dependency)
  • Jitters/nervousness
  • Allergic reactions
  • High blood pressure
  • Drug interactions
  • Weight gain
  • Behavioural changes

It is Not Just Caffeine, there’s Something More!

Red Bull Boat

Red Bull Boat

Most people are just considered about caffeine in energy drinks. However, there are other ingredients that you also need to worry about.

Energy drinks are also packed with additional stimulants such as ephedrine, guarana and amino acid taurine. Some manufacturers even add chemically-produced stimulant compound called glucuronolactone.

Like caffeine, ephedrine is a very potent stimulant that directly affects the central nervous system. Ephedrine is associated with various side effects.

Guarana herb extract on the other hand, is commonly used as a memory enhancer and fat burner by most supplement manufacturers. Guarana in energy drinks contains double the amounts of caffeine than your regular cup of coffee.

Taurine is a neurotransmitter that elevates your overall brain function, including your energy levels.

If you thought that these ingredients are safe, then think again. These compounds are downright harmful even in smallest amounts.

According to a study article by MayoClinic, a single can of any commercially-produced energy drink can trigger momentary health changes that include heart beat increase, and other undesirable unwanted effects.

All these side effects are attributed not only to caffeine, but to all aforementioned ingredients above.

Healthy Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels

Health conscious men and women knows how to stay in shape and healthy without taking artificially flavoured-energy drinks.

There are alternative products that can provide safe and effective energy boosting results. Dietary supplements provide natural compounds that give similar energy boost as those in energy drinks.

Dietary supplements that contain green coffee bean, L-Glutamine, L-Carnitine, green tea and many others, can all trigger metabolic and energy level increase.

Following a healthy diet plan, regular exercise and getting enough sleep, all guarantees a healthy and natural boost of energy.

 

Author Bio

Perly Rodolfo is a health enthusiast and a full-time online marketing and business developer. She has over 10 years of experience in the IT industry. You can check her work at http://www.populardietpills.net/nitricbooster/

Image Source :  Freeimages.com

The following two tabs change content below.

RD Neha Kava

National Registered Dietitian at NutriChoice4u.com
Neha Kava is a National Registered Dietitian, Certified Sports Nutritionist in India. She specializes ins Clinical Nutrition, weight management. She likes to spread awareness and educate her readers about health, nutrition, fitness, mental health, sexual health and diet tips for holistic health. You can connect with her on info@nutrichoice4u.com Or hethhealthhome@gmail.com

Latest posts by RD Neha Kava (see all)

Category: General well being Tags: ,

About RD Neha Kava

Neha Kava is a National Registered Dietitian, Certified Sports Nutritionist in India. She specializes ins Clinical Nutrition, weight management. She likes to spread awareness and educate her readers about health, nutrition, fitness, mental health, sexual health and diet tips for holistic health. You can connect with her on info@nutrichoice4u.com Or hethhealthhome@gmail.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.