A Penny For Your Thoughts

 



 

February 24, 2009

Are Energy Drinks Bad for You?

Filed under: Thoughts — nguyen_at @ 7:27 pm

Are energy drinks bad for you?
Source: www.nycapollo.org/are-energy-drinks-bad-for-you/

Well, lets just say they are not necessarily good for you. Energy drinks have become all the rage amongst the younger generation over the last few years. Energy drinks have been highly touted as natural alternatives that can improve performance and concentration and this has made them the younger generations pick me up of choice.

Most of these famous drinks like Red Bull, Venom, and Adrenaline Rush, among others, have large amount of caffeine and sugar in them. According to some reports the amount of caffeine in energy drinks was more than 65 mg per 12 ounces which is more than the FDA limit for the soft drinks. Presently the caffeine levels in energy drinks is not regulated by the FDA. Most of such energy drinks have more than 80 mg of caffeine. Putting these caffeine levels to perspective, a regular cup of coffee has around 80 mg of caffeine, whereas a Mountain Dew contains around 37 mg of caffeine.

There is no direct association of caffeine with serious health risks, but people react differently to it, and energy drinks should be treated with care as they contain more caffeine. Caffeine contained in energy drinks is most likely to boost the heart rate and raise the blood pressure and can also cause dehydration. Excess of caffeine can cause various problems like insomnia, anxiety, stomach related problems, and can also cause cardiac palpitations. You should remember that as energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine, it would be smart of you if you do not use them as a fitness drink while doing exercises. The combination of fluid loss from sweating and the diuretic (a substance that promotes fluid loss) quality of caffeine can leave you severely dehydrated.

In conclusion, although energy drinks are not absolutely bad for you, they are not beneficial to you either. If you are drinking them, make sure you drink enough water to stay hydrated all the time. Be careful of advertisements like “improved performance and concentration”, because they can be misleading. They are generally just short-term energy boosters containing high amounts of caffeine. Know what is in the drinks and how they affect you.

monsterenergydrinksfaq.com

Popularity: 41% [?]

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Netvouz
  • description
  • ThisNext
  • MisterWong
  • Wists

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.