By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege
For sure you have seen them--those shiny silver or brightly colored cans
promising to bring you instant energy--and maybe you have tried them
or even drink them regularly. Energy drinks have been popping up all
over supermarket and convenient store shelves in recent years, and
according to a New York Times article, they have overtaken bottled
water as the fastest-growing category in the beverage business.
So the burning question appears: Do energy drinks really give
you energy?
Well, when you break down the contents of one of those eight-ounce
cans, the primary ingredients are caffeine and sugar in the form of
glucuronolactone, sucrose and glucose. So the answer is yes, energy
drinks will provide a burst of energy. However, this is not a lasting effect.
Further, the effects of the drink will be similar to that of drinking a cup
of coffee or a can of soda in that when the effect wears off, you'll feel
yourself slowing down and will likely crave another can (or cup) to boost
your energy once again. As many likely know, it can be a vicious cycle.
Nutritionally speaking, energy drinks are comparable to carbonated
beverages like soda in that they offer little to the body. Yes, there are
traces of various herbs and minerals in energy drinks and many contain
the amino acid taurine, but this cannot make up for the caffeine and
sugar. Many energy drinks also contain guarana, or extract from its seeds,
which is a berry that has a stimulant effect similar to caffeine.
Performance wise, on one popular energy drink Web site the drink is
claimed to increase:
-Performance
-Concentration
-Reaction speed
-Vigilance
-Emotional status
-Metabolism
It does not give any support to these claims, although caffeine can certainly increase reaction speed and so on in the short term. However, what the site does not mention is that no one really knows how the combination of ingredients in
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