What If You Only Drank Energy Drinks

Whether its to fuel your late night study
session, or trying to stay alert on the job energy drinks are very popular with 76% of
young adults consuming them, but what would happen if you ONLY drank energy drinks? One sip and the feel-good effect is almost
immediate. When the sugar molecules hit your taste buds,
it triggers your brain to release dopamine, the hormone responsible for feelings of happiness
and well-being. This makes sense, considering the sugar content
of ONE can ranges from two teaspoons to a whopping 14 teaspoons per serving depending
on the brand. Within 10 minutes, both your heart rate and
blood pressure increase in response to adrenaline release, caused by the introduction of caffeine
into your body.

How much caffeine depends on the brand and
ranges anywhere from 6 mg to as high as 242 mg per serving. To compare, a serving of brewed coffee contains
95 to 165 mg of caffeine, brewed black tea contains 25 to 38 mg, and a bottle of Coke
contains 34 mg of caffeine. But unlike soda, coffee and tea, energy drinks
add in guarana extract. The guarana plant which is native to South
America, produces seeds which are about the same size as a coffee bean, but yields twice
the caffeine content.

Spread out over the course of a day 400mg
of caffeine appears to be safe, but having more than 200mg in a single sitting can lead
to caffeine intoxication. In 2011, it is estimated that nearly 20,000
visits to the emergency room in the United States are directly related to the effects
of energy drink consumption. Most of these visits involved those between
the ages of 18 to 25, and the second largest age group being 26 to 39 years old. An observational study reviewed 7 years of
data from calls to Australian poison information centre related to energy drink toxicity.

Of the 297 calls analyzed the most common
symptoms of caffeine toxicity included palpitations, agitation, tremor and gastrointestinal upset. Twenty one cases had signs of serious cardiac
or neurological toxicity, including hallucinations, seizures, arrhythmias or cardiac ischaemia,
and at least 128 subjects required hospitalisation. So if you started subbing your 8 glasses of
water for equivalent amounts of energy drinks, the constant increases in heart rate and blood
pressure might lead to an increased risk of developing a bunch of cardiovascular conditions,
including hypertension or high blood pressure. You could also become dehydrated.

Though there is there is debate about whether
caffeinated drinks are dehydrating, researchers have found that urine volume was increased
by caffeinated beverages, but only when they exceeded 360 mg. A separate study also found that though energy
drinks cause you to urinate significantly more than non caffeinated beverages, they
were no more a diuretic than coffee. However, a cup of black coffee has less than
5 calories, but the high sugar content of energy drinks means a calorie count of about
850 calories in 8 cups of Red Bull. This increase your risk for obesity and developing
Type 2 diabetes.

But some of the risks are unpredictable, such
as a 26 year old man who drank at least two cans of energy drinks daily for a decade. With no prior significant health issues, he
had a seizure and fell into a three day coma. Doctors ultimately attributed this to chronic
sleep deprivation and over-consumption of caffeine. Energy drink consumption has even been linked
to insomnia and disrupted sleep patterns.

It is reported that 45% of American military
personnel consume one can daily while on active duty, and 14% drink three or more cans daily. Interestingly enough, those who drank three
or more cans were more likely to fall asleep on duty, compared to those who only drank
one can. These three plus drinkers also reported
fewer overall hours of sleep, and sleep disruption even after their duty had ended. Overall, energy drinks are relatively safe
for infrequent consumption, butttttt you may not want to drink them on a regular basis.

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