Between their bright colors, crazy TV commercials and social media influencers, energy drinks are everywhere. Not only are they just around but they are pushed and marketed a lot! This constant exposure can begin to leave feelings of false comfort and safety though. I fell for this myself firsthand in college cramming for exams. Those 5-hour energy shots were something that I kept in my bad all finals week. In hindsight now I know why I was feeling jittery and my heart felt “off” during that time. Add these types of things to physical activity and energy drinks can be even a potentially dangerous thing. Always stay mindful and cautious about what you put in your body.
Caffeine content
I’m going to estimate that 90% of the benefits that energy drinks may provide comes from caffeine. That is why every single one of the top 75 selling drinks out there contain it. The remaining 10% benefit is from the hydration of the fluid itself. Now please don’t quote me on those numbers, I’m just making a point. Caffeine is one of the most studied supplements in the world and that is not an exaggeration. What’s important though is being mindful of how much you are consuming. As mentioned below this can become a bit of a safety issue in the energy drink world. The main takeaway here though is to don’t let a marketing trick try to convince you there’s something uniquely special about their drink that will help you. Odds are very high it’s just the caffeine doing the heavy lifting.
Energy drinks mystery ingredients
Within energy drinks tends to be a hefty mix of additional ingredients. Some of the popular ones include taurine, guarana, carnitine and other vitamins. Individually studied these ingredients may have some justification for potential benefits. Everything combined into one thing is where some confusion sets in. We know very little about how this ingredient smoothy within energy drinks all works together. While energy drinks have become fairly common and fortunately the majority of people consuming it are fine, it is still a bit of a question mark. I’m a bigger fan of recommending a simple coffee where you know what you’re getting. The only added ingredients are perhaps some milk or sugar. Unless it’s a Starbucks order that 13 words long but that’s a different discussion!
Energy drinks safety
Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels are not always required to list caffeine as it is technically not a nutrient. Some energy drinks sell themselves as sodas and sports drinks falling into that category. As a result, they don’t have to disclose how much caffeine in actually in their product. To add to that, some may list caffeine but put it under a “proprietary blend” so that they still can avoid listing specifically how much caffeine and every other ingredient in that blend is within it. That is terrifying! In additional to that it’s always a good idea for kids and pregnant individuals to avoid these. Unfortunately, marketing does a great job of targeting adolescents. Stay mindful and help steer them away and towards safer beverages like water or even Gatorade.
Better alternatives
Most people are reaching for energy drinks for just that, energy. There are so many better ways to boost your energy in a safer and cheaper manner! Right away the biggest thing is sleep. If you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night that is a big factor. Coming in right beside that is hydration. If you’re dehydrated your heart is going to be working harder and beating quicker. This is going to cause you to feel tired and fatigue quicker. It’s a similar thing to when exercising and your heart beats quicker when sprinting you can’t go as long. Another simple energy booster is having a snack! Every feels better with a snack on hand for a pick me up. These three things will have you feeling better and not grabbing those energy drinks.
Study referenced: click here