Are energy drinks worth it?

Energy drinks are found almost anywhere you go and are drank by almost any kind of person. A lot of people are looking for an extra boost, something that will get them up and running here and there which widens the market for this product. All energy drinks promise to be an engine starter that will energize you throughout the day. Some claim to have been scientifically formulated and a few even say that their formula has health benefits.

The question is, are energy drinks really good for us? Let us take a meticulous look at the two faces of energy drinks.

Fast Facts

In basic science, energy means the ability to do work but generally it is defined as fuel for the body. This fuel, measured in calories, is mostly stocked as fat in tissues when it is not used. Almost all energy drinks have 100 calories and their sugar level in a single serving is at least 30 grams. Most of these measure from 12 to 16 ounces in packaging which gives you 60 or more grams of sugar.

However, the American Heart association states that sugar intake for women should be no more than 25 grams per day and for men should be 37.5 grams. That is around two times the recommended normal serving.

The common ingredients

Most energy drinks contain some common ingredients: Taurine, Guarana, Ginseng, and D-Ribose.

We already ingest a lot of taurine in our regular diet and the additional that we get from energy drinks could already be toxic to our systems. It acts as an antioxidant and as a treatment for high blood pressure but too much of this could cause breathing troubles and skin diseases.

Energy drinks also contain guarana. This is good for your central nervous system yet it could be fatal if drank together with diet pills or drinks with ephedrine.

Other adverse effects

All those ingredients are nothing compared to the major content which gives adverse effects to your health. Caffeinated drinks should be treated cautiously because of how powerful they are. Energy drinks contain a considerably huge amount of caffeine and it is highly discouraged to use these while exercising because fluid loss from sweating combined with caffeineís diuretic quality will make you extremely dehydrated.

A single energy drink in a can has at least 150 mg of caffeine which is the same as drinking 3 cans of Mountain Dew in one time. Too much caffeine could also cause your heart rate to increase, trigger irregular heart rhythms, and lead to miscarriage.

Benefits

Despite knowing all these health predicaments behind drinking energy drinks, why are people still using them? The answer is simple. They ignore all these and go for the benefits.

Obviously, one of the advantages is the energy boost. The energy in these drinks is transferred and available for your body in just a small number of minutes from ingestion because it is in the form of a liquid. A lot but not all energy drinks provide for better concentration through large doses of B vitamins. Some of these are powdered making them suitable for a long sporting occasion or an on-the-go activity. Besides that, they also supply important vitamins and minerals to improve your diet.