Energy Drinks, Is It Good To Eat?

Medical Video: Should Athletes Consume Energy Drinks?

Maybe for some people, consuming energy drinks can help from fatigue and be considered able to maintain stamina as well performance when working. Most energy drinks contain caffeine, taurine, guaran, and various other stimulant substances, which can provide more energy, but is the energy provided by energy drinks good?

The risk posed by energy drinks

Energy drink sales are increasing year by year. It is known that consumers of energy drinks include adults, young adults, teenagers, and children. A survey showed that the age group that regularly consumed energy drinks came from 12 to 14 years old as much as 28%, 31% were groups of 12 to 17 years, and 34% were groups of consumers aged 18 to 24 years. The American Heart Association states that the effects of energy drinks on children will be the same as for adults, which causes irregular heart rhythms or arrhythmias.

Research conducted by the University of the Pacific, California, found that consuming one to three cans of energy drinks resulted in serious problems for heart health, and can even cause heart failure. From the study it was found that people who consume energy drinks have a risk of having long QT syndrome in their heart. It is known that untreated QT in people who consume energy drinks longer than 10 seconds compared to people who do not consume energy drinks at all. Even for people who do not have a history of any disease, after drinking energy drinks can cause an increase in heart contractions in some time after consumption.

What's in an energy drink?

1. Caffeine

Almost all energy drinks contain high caffeine. Caffeine itself, can increase and stimulate the central nervous system for people who drink it. Therefore, consuming caffeine can make you more focused. At least one cup of coffee contains 95 to 200 mg of caffeine. Whereas in energy drinks, the caffeine contained in it can reach 400 mg more in one glass or one package.

Caffeine is declared safe if consumed in small amounts, such as caffeine in a glass of tea or a glass of coffee. But it will be dangerous if the consumption is more than 400 mg. If it's excessive, it will cause some symptoms such as:

Arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat
Difficulty breathing
Diarrhea
Fever
Convulsions

Consumption of caffeine is not recommended for people who are sensitive to caffeine, so they cannot digest caffeine, people who have a history of high blood pressure and heart disease, and pregnant women. The American Academy of Pediatric even states that caffeine should not be consumed by children and adolescents, especially to exceed 100 mg of caffeine per day. Children and adolescents are allowed to consume energy drinks as much as 2.5mg / kg body weight per day.

2. High sugar content

Did you know that sugar in bottled drinks, especially energy drinks, is very high? Sugar in energy drinks is at least 30 grams of sugar per serving. This has greatly exceeded the recommendations of the WHO which recommends consuming only 25 grams of sugar per day, equivalent to 6 tablespoons. Consuming too much sugar will increase your risk of developing diabetes mellitus and various heart diseases.

3. Other stimulant substances

In addition to caffeine, energy drinks usually also add other stimulant substances such as, guaran which can increase the effects of caffeine. Guaran itself is the same substance as caffeine, the amount of guaran 1 gram is equal to the amount of caffeine 400 mg. Excessive guaran consumption can also cause various adverse health effects, such as increasing urine, arrhythmias, osteoporosis, discomfort in the stomach, disturbing sleep time, and anxiety.

Taurine is also a stimulant that is often found in energy drinks. Research conducted at Weil Cornell Medical College, New York, found that taurine causes depression in the central nervous system, so that the central nervous system is depressed and makes it difficult to drink it to sleep. At least, in one can of energy drinks, there are 1000 mg of taurine and many people at least consume 3 or 4 cans a day. You can imagine how much impact that occurs when consuming taurine in large quantities.

If you want to increase your stamina, performance, and focus, it is better to do regular exercise and eat foods that are healthy and high in vitamins. Because, energy drinks only give you 'energy' in just a few hours and can cause adverse effects on health.