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University Chronicle: Health impacts of energy drinks

Oct 11, 2009 Journalism, University Chronicle

Disclaimer: Originally published on the St. Cloud State University campus paper, the University Chronicle on the Oct. 5 2009 issue. Written by Jun-Kai Teoh, Managing Online Editor.

This article may not be reproduced in any form, including online or print media, without first and foremost contacting the University Chronicle.

Energy drinks may benefit people for the short term but can be unhealthy because they contain large amounts of sugar or carbohydrates, vitamins and central nervous stimulants such as caffeine and guarana.

Central nervous stimulants, one of the key ingredients of energy drinks, is found in abundance in energy drinks as they create increased levels of excitement, alertness or awareness for the user.

David Bacharach, Professor of Exercise and Physiology and the Director of the Human Performance Laboratory, said that there is a distinct difference between sports drinks and energy drinks.

Sports drinks were originally designed after analyzing sweat to determine what was lost and to have it replaced.

Unlike energy drinks, sports drinks do not offer the sudden increased alertness that energy drinks do.

“Sports drinks were really intended to just replace fluids that were lost and the energy that might have been lost,” Bacharach said.

Energy drinks work by giving the user increased energy or a sudden heightened awareness.

It does however put the person at risk of a “roller coaster ride.” A roller coaster ride is when the blood sugar level (glucose level) spikes, giving the person increased energy, and then drops to below normal levels.

When the glucose level is below normal, people might experience hunger and feel irritable.

There are some energy drinks that do not use any glucose (sugar) at all. These energy drinks will still have the roller coaster or crash effect but the intensity of it is lessened.

Some energy drinks, such as Bawls, uses another ingredient called guarana as a stimulant alongside caffeine.

Guarana works the same way caffeine does as it stimulates the user, but it usually has a stronger impact than caffeine does.

Due to the large doses of caffeine or other stimulants, energy drinks generally increase a person’s heart rate and blood pressure.

People that are hypertensive, sensitive to caffeine or have heart issues should avoid energy drinks as it might cause complications.

Gary Hanson, a pharmacist at the Student Health Services, said that students with high blood pressure issues or taking medication for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) will want to stay away from energy drinks.

“If you’re taking antidepressants you probably don’t want to take stimulants with that,” Hanson said.

Bacharach said that while sports drinks are generally the better choice between energy and sports drinks due to the lack of caffeine, both drinks are not necessary to the human body.

Caffeine also has a dehydrating impact on the body, which is not recommended for athletes.

A risk of consuming energy drinks on a steady basis is that people who do so may build up a tolerance towards the caffeine or stimulants.

Bacharach said that people considering consuming energy drinks or sports drinks should properly consider the reason they’re consuming it.

“If we’re talking about sports application and so on, there’s probably little benefit unless the activity lasts beyond an hour in duration,” Bacharach said.

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