Energy drinks have become so popular amongst Nigerians and I fear most take it for the wrong reasons which may be very detrimental to one’s health.
Although most of the ingredients can be found in common foods but some health professionals have warned that energy drinks may have harmful consequences and World Health Organization have warned that they may pose danger to one’s health.
Energy drinks are beverages with ingredients that helps to increase energy and mental performance, some of its ingredients are sugar, B vitamins, Amino acid derivatives, caffeine, Herbal extracts but the amount of caffeine differ in products
Let’s weigh in on the positive side of energy drink and why people consume them as many health experts are concerned about the impacts they could have on consumers.
Energy drinks increase mental alertness by improving brain function, studies have confirmed that energy drinks can improve brain function like memory, concentration and reaction time, another study showed that drinking just one 8.4-ounce (500-ml) can of Red Bull increased both concentration and memory by about 24% while also reducing mental fatigue
The speculation from these studies says that the increase in brain function is as a result of caffeine or the combination of caffeine and sugar in energy drinks is necessary to see the most.
To Help People Function, Energy drinks can help people stay alert and function they’re sleep-deprived or tired and it reduces sleepiness. It will keep you awake, alert and help boost productivity.
Energy drinks are good energy boost,
Lightens and improves mood
Energy drink have other ingredients such as B vitamins, taurine, glycyronolactone and ginseng
Replace electrolytes in the body, deficiency of electrolytes results in lower performance and also dehydration.
Increase in metabolism and help prevent weight gain and obesity but you want to be sure that you choose the right energy drink that contains the right amount of caffeine and antioxidants, to lose weight, the best choice is a decaffeinated product.
Energy drinks may have good effect on your body but the good outweighs the bad and will have negative effects on your body.
The negative effects of Energy drinks
- Energy drinks also have a lot of sugar and in combination with caffeine, it will increase your blood sugar levels and give you an initial energy burst, this is usually followed by a sudden fall in blood sugar levels which will make you crash and feel tired making you lethargic.
- Consuming that much sugar in energy drinks will cause anyone’s blood sugar to spike
- Energy drinks might be good for you to stay alert but it will negatively affect the quality of your sleep and cause lack of sleep.
- Excessive intake causes irritability, nervousness, sleeplessness, abnormal heart rhythms, increased urination and dyspepsia.
- Energy drinks are bad for exercising, they will dehydrate you and leave you with zero or less energy to work out with.
- The migraine and headaches from taking energy drinks are due to withdrawal from caffeine
- The Caffeine in energy drinks have the ability to raise a person’s blood pressure and might affect not only your body but also your brain.
- Mixing energy drinks with alcohol is becoming a common practice and it’s a cause for concern, it can leave you feeling less intoxicated while still experiencing alcohol-related impairments. A study showed that people were nearly six times more likely to experience heart palpitations when they drank energy drinks mixed with alcohol compared to when they drank alcohol alone
Dangers of Mixing Alcohol and Caffeine
- One is known to make you feel drowsy and the other helps to keep you energetic and awake, when combined, energy drinks can overpower the effect of alcohol and keep you wide awake, you will end up drinking more alcohol than usual.
- Caffeine is a stimulant, but when its effect on your body wears out, you want to have more just like coffee.
- When alcohol is mixed with caffeine, the caffeine can mask the depressant effects of alcohol, making drinkers feel more alert than they would otherwise. As a result, they may drink more alcohol and become more impaired than they realize, increasing the risk of alcohol-attributable harms
- The combination can mask how drunk you actually are, prompting you to overdrink.
- researchers stressed that things can easily go out of hand and turn harmful to health
- Consuming energy drinks with alcohol can also harm your heart health, because both drinks have their distinct effect on the blood pressure and when combined, may confuse your internal system
If you choose to drink energy drinks, limit your intake to 16 ounces (473 ml) per day and stay away from “energy shots.” Reduce your intake of other caffeinated beverages to avoid the harmful effects of too much caffeine.
It is much better to consume your energy drink along with other healthy beverages, a combination of fluids will help hydrate and energize your body all day long such as water, green tea, Chamomile Tea or black tea.
References
https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/energy-drink/
https://www.theactivetimes.com/fitness/nutrition/pros-and-cons-energy-drinks
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/energy-drinks#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5
