Nutrition Articles

Energy drinks have exploded on the scene over the last several years in their brightly colored cans and bottles. They line the shelves in convenience stores and supermarkets, and claim to help performance, concentration, and more stamina. According to a New York Times article, they have overtaken bottled water as the fastest-growing item in the beverage business.

So now the burning question is, do energy drinks really give you energy?

Let's begin by looking at the ingredient labels of these popular drinks. The first three ingredients listed are the primary substances found in the recipe, which is usually carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, and glucose. The second big energy burst in most of these little 8 ounce cans come from caffeine, as much as two cups of coffee.

So yes, energy drinks can give you a long term boost or short burst of energy depending on how caffeine affects you. Some of you may not get a long lasting effectiveness. When you feel yourself coming down, you may crave yet another to keep the vicious cycle going.

Carbonated water (phosphoric acid) will leach minerals out of your bones to keep your blood PH balanced and cause them to pass on out of the body, robbing other tissues and organs of the minerals they need to function properly.

The high sugar (carbohydrate) content are yet another source of unnecessary calories you don't need if you are not active enough to burn them off with exercise.

Caffeine dehydrates, so it will cause you to lose important body water reserves. Water is needed to carry healthy nutrients to their destinations throughout the different bodily systems.

So what about all the other extra fancy ingredients listed on the labels of these popular drinks? That's what attracts us to these hyped up and pricey beverages, we think these are good for us so we buy them. Some of the typical ingredients include the amino acids L-taurine and 1-caritine, herbs such as ginseng and ginkgo, vitamins like B6 and B12 are added in small amounts. Some of these drinks have another herbal ingredient called guarana, it has a stimulant effect similar to caffeine.

Most of the manufacturers of these beverages do not make any special claims about the traces of these various herbs and other nutrients, however, they are just added substances that consumers of such drinks have come to expect in energy drinks, and in no way make up for the excess of sugar and caffeine in them.

Don't be fooled by advertising marketing gimmicks. We really shouldn't need these drinks during a normal work day. Why do we have so little energy that we need to seek out beverages such as these? We wouldn't be sluggish or constantly tired if we were making better diet choices, got more sleep, and exercised regularly. Keeping yourself hydrated daily with water is a much better energy boosting tactic. Water is ?The Beverage? your body wants, be generous and give your body what it needs.