Energy Drinks: A Source of Energy or Not?

You can buy energy drinks in bottled or canned form. These drinks are available in all kinds of grocery and departmental stores, bars and night clubs. Being carbonated drinks, these drinks contain high amount of sugar, caffeine, amino acids, B-vitamins and herbal stimulants. The people who use these drinks are mostly aged between 16 and 30 and use it as a stimulant.

You can find several varieties of these energy drinks in the U.S market namely Monster, The Red Bull, Amp, Full Throttle, XS, Rock Star, Redline and Spark energy drinks. The labels of many of these drinks do not mention the caffeine content of these drinks and hence one cannot be safe about its consumption.

Who should not drink energy drinks?

Those who are sensitive to caffeine must not consume these drinks. Otherwise, such people may experience side effects such as irritability, palpitations, indigestion and sleep apnea. People who suffer from heart problems should also restrict the intake of such drinks.

Ingredients of energy drinks

Ample studies have not taken place to know the ingredients contained in such drinks. Though most of these drinks contain high quantity of sugar, there are sugar free energy drinks that are available nowadays. Energy drinks also contain B-vitamins in small amounts. The drinks also contain Taurine which can play a vital part in muscular contraction. It can also lead to arterial blood pressure. A few of these drinks are known to contain Guarana, an additional source of caffeine.

Do not mix energy alcohol with energy drinks

By mixing alcohol with energy drinks, motor co-ordination and reaction time can be affected greatly. However such a combination has been seen to curb symptoms such as head ache, weakness, dry mouth etc. Also the combination of drinks such as Red Bull with alcohol can also induce a person to have more alcohol.

Sports drinks are different from energy drinks

You must not consume energy drinks after strenuous exercise. Sports drinks are different from energy drinks in that they help to replenish the sugar content and lost nutrients in the body. Energy drinks can act as a diuretic and lead to dehydration. This is because of the increased  caffeine content in the energy drinks.