A typical energy drink can contain up to 80 milligrams of caffeine about the same amount as a cup of coffee. By comparison, a study found that the average ounce soda contains 18 to 48 mg of caffeine. Other than caffeine levels, how do energy drinks differ from sodas and sports drinks? Soft drinks are mainly water, sugar and flavoring. They don't do anything for your body; they're just supposed to taste good.
Sports drinks are designed to replenish fluids lost during activity. They typically contain water, electrolytes and sugar. Energy drinks have added caffeine and other ingredients that their manufacturers say increase stamina and "boost" performance. They're designed for students, athletes and anyone else who wants an extra energy kick. Energy drinks became popular in Asia long before they reached the United States. In , Japanese pharmaceutical company, Taisho, released its Lipovitan D drink.
It was designed to help employees work hard well into the night. Lipovitan D contains taurine, the same ingredient found in many of today's energy drinks. The very first "energy" drink to reach the United States wasn't really an energy drink at all -- it was more of a hyped-up soft drink called Jolt Cola. The "jolt" in the cola was a lot of added sugar and caffeine.
Introduced in the s, Jolt Cola quickly became a staple of college campuses. An Austrian businessman named Dietrich Mateschitz picked up on the cash potential of energy drinks while on a business trip to Asia. Along with two Thai business partners, Mateschitz started the company Red Bull GmbH, with the idea of marketing the drink to young Europeans.
Many clubs on the American West Coast caught wind of the Red Bull phenomenon and began importing it to sell as a cocktail mixer. Red Bull began distributing its drink in the United States in Although Red Bull has consistently been the leader in the energy drink market, several other companies have launched their own energy drink lines. Many of them are endorsed by celebrities.
Here are some of the ingredients you may find in popular energy drinks and what they do in the body:. According to reviewers, the taste falls within the same range. People who have tried energy drinks have described the taste as ranging from "medicinal" to "molten Sweet Tart. Although the manufacturers claim that energy drinks can improve your endurance and performance, many health experts disagree.
Any boost you get from drinking them, they say, is solely from the sugar and caffeine. Caffeine works by blocking the effects of adenosine , a brain chemical involved in sleep. When caffeine blocks adenosine, it causes neurons in the brain to fire. Thinking the body is in an emergency, the pituitary gland initiates the body's "fight or flight" response by releasing adrenaline.
This hormone makes the heart beat faster and the eyes dilate. It also causes the liver to release extra sugar into the bloodstream for energy. It can cause problems in children and teenagers, including: Higher blood pressure.
Sleep problems. For example, energy drinks: Can make high blood pressure and abnormal heartbeats more likely in those with heart problems. Can increase blood sugar in those with diabetes. Concerns about energy drinks Too much caffeine. Energy drinks contain caffeine and other ingredients. The label must say how much caffeine comes from all ingredients. A single serving can have as much as mg of caffeine. Energy drinks may contain other ingredients, such as kola nut or guarana.
There has been little research on how these ingredients may affect the body. Energy drinks usually contain sugars, which add to the calories.
This could lead to weight gain. The sugars can also lead to dental problems. When your body gets used to a lot of caffeine and then you stop using it, you can get symptoms including headaches, feeling tired, having trouble concentrating, and feeling grumpy.
The caffeine in energy drinks may make it harder to sleep. Some people may feel they need less sleep, due to the stimulation they get from the caffeine. This can lead to sleep deprivation. Are energy drinks safe for adults? Performance Caffeine has been shown to improve endurance and performance in high-intensity sports. Pregnancy In small amounts, caffeine is considered safe for the developing baby fetus.
But if you're pregnant, it's a good idea to keep your caffeine intake below mg a day because: footnote 2 Caffeine may be connected to a higher rate of miscarriage.
There isn't enough evidence to know for sure. Are sports drinks useful? Children and teenagers Children and teenagers use carbohydrate for energy. What do you need to remember about using these drinks? Don't use sports drinks to replace water or low-fat milk during meals or snacks. Don't use energy drinks in place of sports drinks. Don't allow children or teenagers to use energy drinks. References Citations Health Canada Category-specific guidance for temporary marketing authorization: Caffeinated energy drinks.
Government of Canada Health Canada reminds Canadians to manage their caffeine consumption. Goldstein I Urological management of women with sexual health concerns. In AJ Wein et al. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Moderate caffeine consumption during pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology , 2 : — Pound CM, Blair B Energy and sports drinks in children and adolescents.
Over the next minutes, caffeine levels in the bloodstream peak. As a result, an individual will feel more alert and experience improved concentration. Stuart Farrimond told The Daily Mail. All of the caffeine is absorbed within minutes of consuming an energy drink, according to the infographic, and the liver responds to this by soaking up more sugar into the bloodstream. Within an hour, the effects of the caffeine will begin to subside and a sugar crash may occur.
Energy levels will begin to feel low and tiredness will set in. It takes an average of 12 hours for the body to completely remove the caffeine from the bloodstream, though this does depend on individual factors. Farrimond told The Daily Mail. This is why caffeinated drinks can cause behavioral problems and anxiety issues in children.
The infographic claims that individuals who consume energy drinks regularly may experience caffeine withdrawal in the hours after consumption, which includes symptoms such as headache , irritability and constipation.
Farrimond explained that withdrawal symptoms can last up to 9 days and the severity depends on the amount of caffeine consumed. For regular energy drink consumers, it takes around days for the body to adapt to a regular intake of caffeine, according to the infographic. An individual is unlikely to experience a boost from the beverages once their body gets used to them. While the information provided in this infographic is not new, it does help shed light on why so many studies have cited the health implications of energy drinks.
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