What you Need to Know Wednesday: Energy Drinks

On my way to work this morning, I heard a new statistic on the radio that energy drink sales have reached 9 billion dollars a year and are becoming the most often purchased drink in America, surpassing even coffee and soda. I definitely have a couple energy drinks a week and from a look at the statistics, it sounds like probably a lot of you do as well.

Here's what you NEED to know:

Calorically speaking, there are three different types of energy drinks. 

1. Full sugar, full calorie: range anywhere form 80-250 calories a pop. One other note, they typically contain so much sugar that you are likely to waste any sort of "alert" feelings from the caffeine due to an awful sugar crash.
2. Low sugar, low calorie: 5-79 calories per serving
3. Artificially sweetened, no calories: 0 calories

The truth about caffeine: 

• The Good: For those who are not sensitive to caffeine, it has been proven to be a great pre-workout supplement for it's ability to decrease lipolysis (the destruction of fat cells). It has also been shown to increase mental and physical focus and alertness, increase mood and act as a diuretic, increasing  digestion function. 
• The Bad: Some people are very sensitive to caffeine and will experience an upset stomach, jittery feelings, a raise in blood pressure, abnormal heart rate and the inability to sleep. It also is technically a drug so it can be addictive and your body can build a tolerance for it, causing you to become dependent upon it in order to get those positive side effects.

*Taken from Consumerreports.org

December 2012

Most labels warn against consumption while pregnant, breast feeding or for young children. This alone should raise a red flag. If we wouldn't drink them while lactating in order to keep the contents from our baby, why are we okay with putting it into our own bodies?

Energy drinks are packed with stimulants: Along with caffeine, these products also contain other stimulants such as guarana, green tea leaf extract, taurine, vitamins, ginseng and so on and so on and so on! The biggest problem with all of these stimulant combinations is that we do not yet know the long term effects stimulants have on the body. Energy drinks have not been around long enough for studies to show what kind of combinations of stimulants may be dangerous for health in the long term. 

We don't know enough about artificial sweeteners: Same concept here, although artificial sweeteners are generally recognized as safe for human consumption by dietitians, we just don't know enough about their long term effects on the body. It's fantastic that they are little-no calories, however they are man-made and chemically altered. That's a little scary don't you think? And here's some more food for thought, if you are on the fence about artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular, check out this article. You may never drink a diet coke again. 

These products aren't regulated well enough: The fact of the matter is, even though the labels may claim to contain a specific amount of any one item, they could contain less or often times even more than the label claims. Look again at the warning label shown above, the asterisk at the bottom proves that manufacturers of these products admit that anything they claim is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefor can be completely false! Research has shown that we have no idea how much of anything is in any of these products. For example, one research study in particular has shown that while most energy drinks tested were within 20% of their claimed caffeine content, several had up to 70% less than claimed and some even had 30% more. 

Ever heard of the 5 ingredient label rule? Or the one that says, if you can't recognize or pronounce an ingredient, you probably shouldn't be putting it in your body? I think that's enough said.

*American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) broke down one nutrition label of a consumer favorite.

If you take anything from this post, take this: Everything in moderation! I'm no doctor, but as long as your heart is properly functioning, one energy drink is probably not going to kill you. Opt out for small ingredient labels, a moderate level of caffeine, low sugar and an all natural sweetener. Don't make this an every day habit. Energy drinks are what we would refer to as "empty" calories, with nutritionally nothing to offer us. It is certainly unwise to consume the high calorie versions, and well, probably not the best idea to drink the low or no-calorie versions either. Energy drinks are expensive for a pockets and potentially for our waist. Consumer beware!

Question of the day:

What is your stance on energy drinks?

I drink zero-calorie energy drinks every now and then but I will admit, I would NEVER while trying to get pregnant, while pregnant or while breastfeeding so that alone, makes me think twice about even my moderate consumption.