Are the effects of energy drinks worth it?
I don’t know about all of you, but as a college student, I find myself lacking energy every day. I can barely roll out of bed, let alone go to classes each morning. Enter energy drinks.
For all of you people that have been living under a rock the past decade or so, energy drinks are those sweet but tangy, cool cans of deliciousness that have the potential to jump-start your body into a level of alertness you never knew you had. At least, that’s how it is for me. They are good to drink in the morning to wake you up, in the afternoon for a pick-me-up, or even late at night when you are writing that essay due the next morning.
Their ingredients consist of a bunch of vitamins, minerals, and sugar that are beneficial not only for our health but also for waking ourselves up.
A lot of people say that they are addictive. Next time you hear these accusations, ask that person how many cups of coffee they drink in a week. It is not the energy drinks that are addictive, it is the caffeine, and I would much rather be addicted to something that doesn’t yellow my teeth. I’m sure a lot of you can relate.
Another plus of energy drinks is their wide variety. Almost any fruity flavor that you adore can be found in one of the different cans of energy drinks, whether it is classic, such as grape and orange, or more exotic, such as guava. There’s even coffee-flavored for all of you Dutch Bros. addicts out there.
A lot of people, especially around the New Year, are trying to lose weight. You’re probably wondering how that could be possible if you are drinking energy drinks with all this sugar added. The energy drink corporations have solved that, as well: They offer zero-sugar and zero-carb energy drinks, instead.
In a nutshell, as long as your palate can handle their taste, energy drinks will not let you down, quite literally.
It’s close to midnight. I’m pooped, thirsty and need some energy.
I decide to try an energy drink for the first time to see what all the fuss is about. For three bucks, it better be freaking delicious. I take a sip, and what I believe to be liquid candy mixed with piss starts flowing down my throat. It was so gross I couldn’t finish it. I certainly wasn’t feeling energized; in fact, I felt like crap. How in the hell do people down these things everyday?
Now I don’t think all energy drinks are terrible. Just like everything, you shouldn’t overdo it. Eat too much and you’ll get sick, watch too much television and your eyes are going to start hurting, have too much caffeine and you will have a heart attack, eventually. However, I wouldn’t be talking about these drinks if people were taking it easy. This is America, after all. We like to do things big, and do them a lot.
First, the idea that energy drinks give you energy is totally false. Caffeine and sugar do not equal energy. True, caffeine is known to make you focus and increase the heart rate, but not for long. Long-lasting energy comes from vitamins. Having a couple eggs with lean ham after getting at least eight hours of sleep is like putting a big old AA battery in the body, while an energy drink is like taking jumper cables to the body after the battery has died. Yes, you will certainly be feeling something, and it may get the job done for now, but soon you’ll be at it again, and again, and again until your totally burned out.
A regular-sized energy drink can range from 100-400 calories per can. They are also packed with sugar. The best selling energy drink in the world, Red Bull, has 27 grams of sugar in each can, and that’s a small can, around 250ml. Most people I know who love energy drinks have two at a time. That’s between 200-800 calories and a hell of a lot of sugar, almost a small meal’s worth of calories. And these are empty calories with very little nutritional value.
If you are living on energy drinks to get through the day, you may want to re-evaluate a few things. You cannot replace energy with sugar and caffeine. Quick fixes will always have complications and using energy drinks to make up for an unhealthy schedule will only make things worse. So plan ahead and schedule enough time to get a good night’s rest. Eat a full, healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Saying you don’t have the time to get more sleep or eat healthier is total bull, and just a defense mechanism of your caffeine addiction to prevent you from making any serious change.
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