Energy drinks are marketed to help strengthen mental and physical activity. Caffeine is the most common stimulant in these drinks, besides substances like taurine, vitamins . Some brands have other plant stimulants such as guarana seeds and ginseng.
According to the US Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), the amount of caffeine in a can or an energy drink can range from 80-500 mg. Like carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks also contain lots of sugar. A 250 ml can contains about 27.5 g of sugar.
Body condition for 24 hours after drinking energy drinks
According to Medical News Today , after 10 minutes of drinking energy drinks, caffeine enters the bloodstream, increasing heart rate and blood pressure.
About 15-45 minutes later, the caffeine content has completely penetrated into the blood, you will feel more alert, more focused. During this time, the liver reacts with energy drinks by absorbing more sugar into the blood.
After an hour, the effects of caffeine begin to decrease, the side effects of sugar increase. At this point, you will feel tired, energy is reduced.
The body will take about 5-6 hours to reduce the amount of caffeine in the blood by 50%, called the half-life, even if this amount can be doubled for women taking oral contraceptives. Therefore, the body will take an average of 12 hours to completely remove caffeine from the blood.
Dr. Stuart Farrimond, a food researcher in the US, said pregnant women, liver damage and taking certain medications may also slow the rate of caffeine removal from the body. "It is important that children and adolescents have a significantly longer half-life, meaning caffeine will stay in the blood longer and be higher than adults. This is why caffeine drinks are can cause behavioral and stress problems in children, "Stuart said.
Within 12-24 hours after drinking energy drinks, you may experience caffeine-induced symptoms such as headache, irritability and constipation. Dr. Stuart explains these symptoms can last up to 9 days and the severity depends on how much caffeine is consumed.
Harm of energy drinks
Energy drinks - drinks that pose a lot of health risks
This article examines a series of existing studies around energy-related health problems. Scientists conclude that energy drinks are linked to a wide range of health problems.
Energy drinks can affect your sleep, causing your body to gain weight and high blood pressure. In addition, many other evidence suggests that this drink may cause you to abuse substances, affect your mental health, your risk of diabetes, tooth decay and kidney damage.
Study author Assoc. Dr. Josiemer Mattei, a dietitian at Harvard University's THChan School of Public Health, shared with Men's Health: 'A series of health-related problems caused by energy drinks may be surprising to many. '
A large amount of sugar in energy drinks
She said that the sweeteners themselves are the cause of health problems. Energy drinks contain large amounts of sugar, corn fructose water and artificial sweeteners.
On average, a can of 500 ml energy drink contains about 54 g of sugar. This sugar exceeds the permitted level of 36 g / day for men, according to the American Heart Association.
When you consume a lot of sugar at the same time, your body needs to produce more insulin to help cells absorb glucose. This leads to insulin resistance and eventually type 2 diabetes, according to the National Research Institute for Diabetes and Kidney Disease.
In addition, long-term high blood sugar can cause damage to the nervous system and blood vessels, leading to a higher risk of heart and kidney disease.
And not surprisingly, the obesity potential of energy drinks. For people who eat a lot of food, people often gain weight faster if their diet contains more sugar than those with a low-sugar diet.
Other stimulants in energy drinks
These energy drinks contain many stimulants. Many types of water contain 207 mg of caffeine in a energy drink. Previous studies have shown that safe consumption of caffeine for an adult is 400 mg / day. Excessive consumption of caffeine will cause anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts.
A study in Korea showed that caffeine addiction can make you irritable, affect your sleep, and in the long term cause you to be stressed and cause depression.
According to Mattei, excessive use of caffeine can cause circulatory problems such as high blood pressure. According to the American Heart Association, other stimulants like gaurana, taurine, and ginseng can also cause similar symptoms.
'These are just initial results on the effects of energy drinks on health. We need more evidence and more research on the effects of stimulants on human health. However, this study's focus is on young people, "said Mattei.
She stressed that current results suggest that these types of water do not cause much harm in the early stages, but we also need to be aware of their effects in the long term.
This new research has just been published in Frontiers in Public Health.
Other dangers of energy drinks:
* Too many lines:
Energy drinks cause many health consequences, especially in the summer.
In fact, a can of energy drinks can hold up to 50 grams of sugar. This sugar exceeds the maximum of every person should consume in a day so it leads to the risk of weight gain, tooth decay and high blood pressure, even diabetes.
In addition, people who like to drink energy drinks often have a habit of using them instead of water or other healthy drinks to refresh themselves. Energy drinks with high caffeine content make people at risk of dehydration faster, especially in hot weather.
More dangerous is that energy drinks make the heart beat faster, leading to hypertension, more susceptible to heat stress.
* Too much caffeine
High levels of caffeine in energy drinks also cause serious health problems. A can of energy drink contains 50-400 milligrams of caffeine, this caffeine level is about four or five cups of coffee!
According to the American Association of Pediatrics, absolutely do not give children energy drinks. Although the energy drink industry primarily serves children and young people, however, experts recommend caffeine may have greater consequences for this age group.
Energy drinks make the heart 'stop beating'?
Scientists at the US Air Force Medical Center (based in Travis, California) conducted a small study to understand the dangers of energy drinks.
In this study, they divided 18 participants into two random groups. The first group received 946 ml of energy drinks, the second group received a mixture of carbonated water containing 320mg of caffeine, 40 ml of fresh lemon juice and 140 ml of cherry syrup.
The researchers then measured participants' blood pressure by electrocardiogram after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours after drinking. The results showed that the heart rate of the energy drink group showed signs of suspending 10ms between beats.
The researchers concluded that people with high blood pressure should avoid drinking energy drinks.
Dr. Emily Fletcher, co-author of the study, added that the blood pressure of the drinkers still increased slightly after 6 hours.
Although this is only a small experiment and scientists still need to do more research to confirm the conclusion. However, the undeniable fact is that the consumption of too much energy drinks has no small impact on health.