Energy drinks are being consumed at a rapid rate around the country, but is that a good thing?
Are they safe? Are they effective? Are we using them for the right purpose?
Should we be using them at all?
I thought I’d take a stab at answering those questions this week, while providing resources for you to take a look at to learn more about energy drinks and the effects they have on our bodies. And per usual, I’ll be taking a look at these drinks in regards to the combination of our health and fitness.
So… Are energy drinks safe, and do they improve our performance?
Energy Drinks Defined
Let’s start by defining what I’m talking about when I write, “energy drinks.”
For the purposes of this article, I’m talking about the mainstream drinks you’ll find at many grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, etc. This encompasses many popular brands like Monster, Red Bull, Rockstar, AMP, etc.
These drinks are comprised of many “stimulant” ingredients, like caffeine, vitamins, minerals, sugar, taurine, amino acids and more. The main driver of the stimulation we get seems to almost always be primarily from caffeine.
These beverages have become wildly popular over the last five years or so. The rise in consumption has triggered a rise in research. Amazingly, in the year 2000 there were 76 studies conducted on this topic, per the PubMed database. Last year, that number grew to 476.
While caffeine is the driver for energy drinks, I’m leaving out caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, pre-workout powders and more because they are a bit outside of the scope of this article. I’m also excluding caffeinated soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. All of these can have similar effects, but I’m focused on the mainstream products that are readily available, frequently marketed, and ready to drink at a moment’s notice.
For most people, when you think “energy drink,” you think of some of the canned beverages pictured above.
The Benefits
The clear benefits of energy drinks, from my perspective, come down to the caffeine content. I discussed as much in a past article on what supplements you should be taking, where I explained that caffeine can assist with stamina and performance.
As we know from thousands upon thousands of studies to date, caffeine is an effective supplement from a performance standpoint. It can help us with increased focus and longevity when it comes to exercise. Results are a little more mixed when it comes to bouts of explosive power, but it appears there is probably a positive correlation there, too.
Caffeine has also proven to help with one’s focus.
Outside of that, though, I’m not sure the benefits extend much further.
The Dangers
Many of these drinks are packed with sugar, which can be detrimental depending on one’s health status.
Furthermore, the “energy” these drinks provide is often overstated. Many of the most popular options are low- or zero-calorie. Quite simply, something with zero calories will not actually provide your body with tangible energy. A calorie is a unit of energy, and if there are no calories… You get the idea.
Caffeine will provide a stimulating effect to your body, which I described above, but that’s not actually “energy.” It has no nutritional value.
More of the dangerous effects seem to be in the reliance that comes with regular consumption of energy drinks. Many studies have noted that marketing targeted toward a young demographic (18 years old and younger) is getting kids hooked on these drinks at a young age, and it’s a habit many of them struggle to kick. There becomes a reliance on that stimulating effect, and this can spiral in a bad direction.
In a 2015 study, more than 600 college students were polled and nearly 50-percent of them had consumed an energy drink in the past 30 days. Further examination revealed that the longer a person consumed energy drinks on a consistent basis, the greater the chances increased for that person to seek prescription stimulant use.
A link to increased substance abuse was found in a 2014 systematic review of more than 2,000 studies, with the “most common adverse events affect the cardiovascular and neurological systems.”
Playing Devils’ Advocate
Now while most of what I’ve discussed here seems to lean towards energy drinks being bad for your health or having little-to-no value (we’ll get to my recommendation in a minute), there are a lot of variables at play here.
Who you are, what your health history looks like, and your body composition in relation to the amount of energy drinks you’re consuming will determine a lot.
Again, we’re looking at this from a health and fitness standpoint. As I always explain, there is virtually no blanket statement that can be applied to every person for health and fitness. The common example I like to provide is — do you think this would have the same application to a 5-foot-5 female as a 6-foot-5 male?
Of course not.
When consumed in moderation (like just about everything) energy drinks can be safe and effective when it comes to health and fitness. You can find a comfortable stimulating effect while not going overboard and becoming reliant on these beverages.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is so much data revealing the addictive effect of energy drinks that my overall recommendation would be to avoid them if at all possible. If you consume them consistently, I’d recommend slowly cutting down on that over time. If you don’t consume them at all, I’d suggest not starting.
There are legitimate health concerns when it comes to consuming these drinks. In my opinion, it’s just not worth the risk.
The American College of Sports Medicine recently put out a position stand on the topic of energy drinks, and it’s a pretty worthwhile read if you’re interested in more reasoning and information. In it, there is a specific call to not use energy drinks before, during, or after strenuous exercise. For our purposes (health and fitness), this seems highly relevant.
I do enjoy my caffeine, and I sometimes will have a pre-workout powder or coffee before training. I do believe it can help with performance in the gym, and there’s a ton of research to back that up.
With that said, I have it programmed in my training and nutrition plan to de-load caffeine every four weeks. An extremely low amount of people actually give de-loading caffeine, or caffeine cycling, any thought at all, so the risk of reliance on caffeine grows with the general public.
Generally speaking, reliance on caffeine is where you can get into trouble. Doing everything you can to consume energy drinks in moderation, or not at all, is my personal recommendation.
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If you have more questions about energy drinks, caffeine, or proper supplementation or nutrition, feel free to contact me and we can talk.
CG