More energy drink haters
So I’ve run across a few more news sources that say one of two things: (a) Energy drinks don’t give you more energy, or (b) energy drinks may have harmful side effects and shouldn’t be consumed.
As someone who avidly drinks energy drinks, I think I can safely claim shenanigans. It takes me 3-4 mountain dews just to get through a day. That’s not even to get energy, that’s the kind of stuff that keeps me from having withdrawl headaches. So when I drink a Mountain Dew Amp Tallboy, Monster, or Full Throttle, and feel a giddy buzz of caffeine and other energy drink ingredients, I know they work.
Here’s an article I’m talking about:
Opinions divided over energy drinks
Yeah, great, you need to be a star in order to drink them.
I think the whole thing between those who think they are crap, and those who think they are essential for functioning can nicely be summarized by this article:
“Today’s 24/7 lifestyle is driving the sales of energy drinks,” the group said, using a shorthand expression for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you don’t understand it, let me spell it out for you: You don’t have to explain what 24/7 is to people who drink energy drinks. We already know. The only people that don’t are Mormons and people who hate energy drinks because they can’t handle them, and I’m not sure about the Mormons.
Why the tirades? I’m sick of old people who have never tried the drinks telling us they don’t work. I know, I know people that know, and I know people that know people that know energy drinks work. I get a better buzz than coffee, it tastes better, and, frankly, we kick more ass than you.
I actually have a theory that goes along with all of this: The Prosumer Theory of Energy Drinks. It’ll be the subject of an article in the next day or two, so make sure you check back.
38 Comments
Your energy shrinks with energy drinks!
Energy drinks are much more toxic than coffee because of the synergistic effect of combining glucose or high fructose corn syrup with high doses of caffeine. The glucose is probably even more toxic than the caffeine. However, the caffeine is more addictive than the glucose.
Glucose alone, taken regularly can create obesity, pre-diabetic hypoglycemic conditions, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, elevated cortisol, inflammatory reactions in the body, elevated LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and osteoporosis with the eventual result of diabetes and/or heart disease.
Sugar and caffeine together are both powerful stimulants but work synergistically to increase each others’ effects. The caffeine addicts you to the drink which leads to increased consumption of glucose and increases all of the above risks.
This week there are two studies in a Science Journal that will report that the glucose or high fructose corn syrup in these drinks causes obesity which can proceed to diabetes. These articles state that sugar causes obesity and eventual diabetes to the same extent that nicotine and smoking is linked to lung cancer.
The body treats caffeine as poison, and the liver attempts to metabolize it as quickly as possible to protect itself from its harmful effects. Many people classify caffeine as a neurotoxin. There are some that believe that the plants develop the caffeine as a natural pesticide to prevent insect and human consumption of the plant. The belief is that the caffeine actually disrupts the nervous system of those that consume it in order to deter consumption.
Sugar and/or caffeine both create an acid pH in the blood. This necessitates calcium being removed from the blood to buffer the excessive acid. This causes reductions in calcium in the blood leading to osteoporosis in the replacement of said calcium. An acid pH in the blood has been linked to numerous serious conditions including a mental irritability, panic attacks, and inflammatory diseases of the blood vessels leading to arterial sclerosis.
Caffeine actually reduces cerebral blood flow 20-25% because of the constriction of the arterial system. And also, the hypoglycemic effect will decrease mental functioning.
Further, this acid blood and hypoglycemic condition can lead to erratic, compulsive behavior by teen-agers.
Sugar also raises cortisol which is labeled the “death hormone†because of its multitudinal deleterious effects on your health.
Walter: I’ll agree that what you said is true.. as far as I’ve done my research. But, aren’t teenagers erratic and compulsive by default? 
Guess what? When someone says they HAVE to consume something to keep from get ‘headaches’ ’shakes’ ‘cramps’ ‘enough energy to get thru the day’ ‘to handle life’
YOU ARE ADDICTED to a substance or substances be it legal or otherwise. I am an old person I DON’T consume energy drinks becase A. They don’t work, they give you feelings that make you think they work. B. I been there done that all the way to illegals. So I do know what I’m talking about. C. Try reading the food labels and check out on the web what the ingredients are and made from. Scare the crap out of you. The look up the D.O.T Hazmat Carriers book on what is hazards and the precautions to take in case of a spill, then tie that in with what the food companies are trying to addict you to.
Bon appetite
I think that if you like energy drinks then drink them, if not then dont. People have different tastes and i love them. not for the energy but the taste. the energy is just a plus. Everyone has their opinion and can say it. I am actually drinking a monster now and i will prolly need it to go thruout the day.
all the people that says they have been drinking energy drinks for years regularly, you should go to your doctors get tested for diabetes.
I’m 28, have been drinking energy drinks for over 5 years, and pretty much at least one a day for the past 3 years. Recently I suffer from a series of extreme symptoms. After some test I was diagnosed with Diabetes.
and also read up on this page about effects of sugars on the body.
Not all energy drinks a bad for you. xs energy drinks- 0 sugar, 0 carbs, approx. 8 calories, 7 flavors. a couple of them are caffiene free. Vitamin b-12 is used for energy rather than so much caffiene
That’s right. Energy drinks are not really Energy Drinks if they are full of sugar and caffeine. Any benefits from B vitamins are offset, by the huge insulin spike that occurs in your body. “Crashing” means that the insulin actually brought down the sugar levels in your body below normal levels, which ends up reducing your energy, not increasing it.
Studies have actually been done, comparing high sugar, high caffeine energy drinks with low sugar, low caffeine energy drinks. The found that the low sugar, low caffeine, actually gave you more energy after 30-minutes. The real producer of energy were the B-vitamins.
The study determined that moderate levels of caffeine, low sugar and high B vitamins are more beneficial. I’ll post the source of the study when I find it again. I’m going of what I read a couple of weeks ago.
XS Energy Drinks and similar products are great alternatives to the diabetes inducing Red Bull drinks. Not to mention that it only comes in two flavors, “cough syrup” and “diet cough syrup”
note on previous poster RE: XS energy drink.
You have to buy them from Quixstar (AMWAY)!!!! argh
and they are $24 for 12
dj, get over it. Amway doesn’t operate in the United States anymore, but it does really well in foreign markets. Quixtar is the only company that distributes XS and has made it #2 in the US, so the value speaks for itself. If you don’t want it, then don’t buy it. If you’re curious or would like to try it, then find a distributor, buy it and support someone who is working hard at a home based business. Or you can continue emptying your wallet at Wal-Mart. just stop hating on an industry you don’t understand. Warren Buffet has no problem with it.
well they still taste good but i no a kid that drink 3 everymorining at school its prett ycrazy
you guys are idiots first of all energy drinks do NOT have high amounts of sugar, most pops have more sugar then energy drinks, READ THE LABELS. It does give you a rush of energy depending on how your body reacts to caffine. Its got nothing to do with diabetes. and most energy drinks contain less caffine then a cup of coffoe. older people naturly hate energy drinks cause they didn’t grow up with them and most of them haven’t have them. It can hurt your body over a VERY long time, but then again so does coffoe. SO unless you have 5 or more at a time they souldn’t hurt.
You’ll get diabetes if you drink energy drinks and sit on your ass all day. But if you’re active, and exercise daily, energy drinks aren’t so bad. As long as they dont prevent sleep. But if you do drink energy drinks and exercise, drink a lot of water because they dehydrate you, and sweating+dehydration=not good.
I read energy drinks make LUMPS inside the testicles.
So if you want LUMPY balls go ahead drink all you want!
Hi everyone, I have got to say I am one of the biggest advocates for energy drinks on the planet…Red Bulls, Amp, Rockstar, Monster….Even Go-Girl but I have to give a warning of caution out there to all those who drink. Following a typical long day for me…school than to work than to school, I decided to load up on some much needed energy. This time however I chose a new beverage “Spike”, aprrox. 15 min after consuming only 1/4 the small can I began to feel very fuzzy, a warm tingly feeling all over, and than it reached my head. I began to get tunnel vision, the same feeling you might get when lifting an extremly large amount of weight, the blacking out kind of feeling…The feeling subsided about 1/2 hour later but I was close to calling 9-1-1 after my breathing got shallow.. A word for the wise, stick to the most common brands like a listed earlier…
I don’t like coffee. When I was 7 years old I asked my dad for a sip of his coffee and when I tried it, I spit it out! It is awful! I’m 50 years old now and I cannot handle the taste of coffee, so for me, my Full Throttle Fury or Party Like A Rockstar is my morning coffee. I have an hour commute to and from work. I start sipping my “coffee” when I get on the road at 5:30am. That energy drink carries me thru the morning, up until lunch time. I’m so much more productive at work. Keep your coffee, I’ll keep my Full Throttle Fury!!
Energy drinks are caffeine and sugar. Sounds like coffee. The point that is trying to be made is that caffeine itself can be harmful to people who cannot physically handle it, such as people with heart conditions. I’ve read many articles that energy drinks dehydrate people as well. So don’t use an energy drink as your only liquid source during your workout. And if you have a heart condition, it would be stupid to drink an energy drink which will speed your heart rate and then go exercise on top of it. Just be educated and make your own decision, that’s all. Don’t consume drinks that you are not aware of what’s in them and then criticize the people who are aware and choose to be safer.
you all people that think energy drinks are bad are big tools theres no point in complaining that they are bad becuse they are not going any where and if you want an alternitive just find one!!!
I think that energy drinks arent good for your health. Well some people say that they keep them awake during the day, but i say how about you get more sleep at night then u wont have a problem. Energy drinks may not work for everyone because peoples bodies react to things differently than others. So that is why people say that energy drinks dont work, and others say they do work. And sometimes its just all in your head thinking its working. Oh and have u notice that people buy energy drinks that have an awesome looking can? Well i notice that people do buy drinks just because how that can looks. And people also just drink a drink to collect the can or bottle that it came in. So I think if a company wants to sell more drinks, maybe they should make the can really awesome looking, like maybe making it glow in the dark or change colors. But alot of energy drinks arent good for your health.
for all you GENIUS’ WHY CAN’T YOU JUST EAT FRUIT AND MAKE YOUR OWN ENERGY DRINKS, THEY ARE CALLED FRESH SQUEEZED JUICES. OH I KNOW YOUR ALL ON THAT 24/7 SPINNING YOUR WHEELS LIFE STYLE SO YOU NEED A FAKE BOOST AT YOUR AGE INSTEAD OF THE RIGHT WAY – EAT RIGHT -SLEEP RIGHT – WORK- PLAY – REST
HOPEFULLY YOU REALIZE THAT THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS IN LIFE AND YOU NEED TO BE ADULT ENOUGH TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS EVEN IF THEY TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF YOUR TIME. DUH
I won’t drink coffee, so I drink energy drinks. It’s as simple as checking the caffeine content. The truth is our friend, folks, so don’t bash what you know nothing about. I’m pretty sensitive to caffeine, so give me a Rockstar, and I cruise for about 8 hours or so. Just enough to get through the workday. Great article.