Driver Lifestyles

Energy Drinks: Helpful or Harmful?

There's been a fairly well-publicized debate over the last few years about energy drinks and whether they're bad for you or whether they simply live up to the claims that their companies make about them.  Unfortunately, there's not an awful lot in the way of objective, observable reason on either side of this debate; the simple conclusion, of course, is that the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle, as it does with most debates like this.

But what of those sides?  Surely they both have clear reasons for their positions, right?  Let's take a look, shall we?

The central reason that people partake in energy drinks lies within their common name: because they're purported to increase energy levels.  While you'll get an "energy boost" from drinking or eating just about anything, energy drinks are advertised as going above and beyond whatever standard caloric boost you'd get from, say, an everyday soft drink.  Most energy drinks contain fairly high levels of caffeine, sometimes in the form of naturally occurring herbs like guarana--what this means is that when you see "Caffeine" and "Guarana" in the ingredients list on the drink's label, they've added guarana for an additional caffeine boost.

You'll also see fair amounts of sugar in energy drinks, as well as ingredients like taurine, acai, ginseng, and ginkgo biloba.  Centrally, though, you're looking at caffeine and sugar as the main ingredients.  Knowing this, it makes perfect sense why one might get an energy boost above and beyond a regular soda.

There have been a lot of studies done on the effects of energy drinks, and many of those have suggested an increase in cognitive and mental performance and improved alertness.  They've also reported mild to moderate euphoria in relation to caffeine levels--and along with that, of course, comes irritability, anxiety, and insomnia.  Note, though, that these studies have suggested effects like this--and this is significantly different than, say, a direct causal link.  What I mean to say here is that the effects of energy drinks are generally known, but to say that there's a solid, direct and provable link between them and their claimed effects might be a bit hasty.

The flipside to this argument is true as well--although the reported negative affects have tended to be a bit more serious.  Upset stomach, which is fairly common with a high caffeine intake, is just the beginning.  Other adverse affects associated with high caffeine intake--and these affects are provable and have been widely studied--are nervousness and heart arrhythmia.  Most energy drinks do not contain electrolyes of any kind (like you'd expect with many "Sports drinks," like Gatorade or Powerade, for example), so there's a risk for a "crash and burn"-type effect when coming down from your drink-related energy boost.  One study made an association with the possibility of seizure when coming down from an energy drink high (again, there's a difference between an association and a direct causal link, so keep that in mind).

The popular energy drink Red Bull was banned in France following the death of an 18-year-old athlete who'd died after downing four of them and then proceeding to play a game of basketball.  The French Scientific Committee concluded, after a challenge of the ban, that Red Bull had excessive amounts of caffeine.  The UK has warned pregnant women and children against the use of energy drinks, and Denmark recently lifted a ban on Red Bull.

It's entirely possible that each of these instances are reactions to specific incidents and that media sometimes makes more out of these types of things than what's really there.  It's important to note, however, that science, generally speaking, is working to answer these sorts of questions in the way of well-conducted studies that are taking a close look at energy drinks and what their affects, both positive and negative are.  The real question, if you ask me, is how proponents and detractors of energy drinks will spin the reports.  And you can bet, by the way, that they'll be spun.  Hard.

In the end, if you want to drink energy drinks, you're going to drink them.  Duh, right?  All of the science relating to caffeine suggests that it's entirely possible to overdo it, though, so the only suggestion I could make would be this (and yeah, you probably saw it coming): be moderate in your choices.  If you're three Red Bulls in because you have more to drive that night, think about that fourth one.  Energy drinks aren't going to kill you, generally speaking, but there should be a balance struck between your comfort, your health, and your livelihood.  Practicing moderation never hurt anyone--and that's kind of the point of moderation.  Don't hurt yourself if you can possibly help it.