The Side Effects of Energy Drinks

We all feel the need for more energy these days. Some people drink coffee, soda or energy drinks. In fact, energy drinks have become a staple in many peoples diet in these busy times, but the health risks from consuming these drinks are alarming and not much talked about. They can be worse than coffee and even soda in the long run. If you are one of the millions who consume energy drinks on a regular basis you may be surprised at the damage they may be doing.

Caffeine and Sugar

Energy drink companies like to advertise the healthy herbs and vitamins in their product. What they don’t talk so much about is that the two biggest ingredients in most energy drinks are caffeine and sugar. Sure, both of these are good for increasing your energy level, but the crash can be enormous and you may need another energy drink to keep going. The side effect of too much of this type of boost is that it wears out your adrenal glands and could cause long term loss of energy.

Depending on the different energy drink, there can be up to 7 times the amount in the drink than in a regular cup of coffee. Coffee is not normally dangerous, but like anything else too much can be bad. If you are ingesting too much caffeine from energy drinks or even coffee it over stimulates the central nervous system. That is not good as you can imagine and it will also raise your heart rate and blood pressure to unhealthy levels. You have probably seen energy drinks advertise Guarana as a healthy additive in their drinks. The problem with this is that it contains 3 to 4 times the caffeine than coffee beans. Many of the ingredients are high in caffeine and the combination is what makes them risky.

Of course too much processed sugar can have a bad effect on our bodies as well. Processed sugar is considered one of the leading causes of diabetes in the U.S.A. It does this by essentially overloading the pancreas and the pancreas is the organ that helps produce insulin to offset the sugar in our diet. If that is overworked it cannot keep up, so diabetes can begin.

Sugar Substitutes

More and more evidence about the possible dangers of the sugar substitutes is coming out every year. One of the most dangerous is aspartame or Sucralose and these are not treated as food by the human body but as toxins. So this means that your body is working overtime to flush the toxins and that is hard on several organs.

Alternatives

There are many things you can do for increased energy that are not such a strain on your body. Supper foods powders are a healthier way to get more energy but really the old ways are still the best. An active lifestyle and scheduling an adequate amount of sleep is still the best way for long term energy as well as your long term health.