Energy Drinks: Keep Yourself Going and Going… at He's Fit

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Energy Drinks: Keep Yourself Going and Going…

Posted May 28, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Supplements

red bull The nutritional fad of the decade, perhaps the century, is the energy drink. In 2007, energy drink sales totaled 4.7 billion dollars, up from 3.5 billion in 2006. Prices vary, but they are steep in comparison to other soft drinks. With the growing popularity of energy drinks, EVERYONE is jumping on the bandwagon – Nelly, Lil Jon, Jeff Gordon and Steven Seagal all have their own energy drinks. With literally hundreds of brands to choose from, how are you to know which ones are worth the money and which are a waste?

What Do Energy Drinks Do For You?
They give you energy. Duh. The explanation is simple enough. But how do they give you energy? In general, through large does of caffeine and sugar. Most energy beverages contain caffeine levels equivalent to a cup of coffee. If you consume a 16 fl. oz can, you are looking at 2 cups of coffee and up to about 50 - 70g of sugar, depending on the brand. That’s a lot. In addition, energy drinks are usually fortified with other supposed energy enhancing ingredients, such as taurine, B complex vitamins, vitamin c, ginseng, guarana seed extract and carnitine.

Cautions of Energy Drinks
As previously stated, energy drinks usually contain high amounts of caffeine. Caffeine doesn’t really give you energy; it only makes you think that you do. Caffeine works by blocking the production of adenosine – a chemical responsible for inducing sleep. As a result, the brain reacts, thinking there is an emergency and adrenaline is released, causing the heart to beat faster and the body to release extra sugar. As you may know, after adrenaline surges and sugar highs, a “crash” often follows, which is why some people feel like they have been hit by a truck a few hours after consuming energy drinks.

Another function of caffeine is that of a diuretic. As such, it can cause you to dehydrate. Quite obviously, this can be harmful of consumed in large amounts. Imagine what could happen if you are already losing water through sweat from high intensity exercise and simultaneously losing water due to energy drink consumption. A teenage athlete in Ireland was killed from over consumption of energy drinks while performing strenuous exercise. He consumed four cans of Red Bull.

Trial by Tasting
Following is a list of energy drinks that I have tried. In general, I am one of the people that energy drinks do absolutely nothing for, so I only drink them for the taste and for the quest of finding one that does something for me. I am already hyper, so these drinks are like kool-aid to me.

1. Full Throttle
2. Sobe Adrenaline Rush
3. Boo-Koo
4. Jeff Gordon’s 24 hour energy
5. Red Bull
6. Upshot
7. 5 hour energy
8. Kinetic Energy
9. Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt
10. Rumba
11. Enviga
12. Killer Buzz
13. Unbound
14. Nelly’s Pimp Juice
15. Lil Jon’s Crunk!!!
16. Loop
17. Jolt (anyone older than 28 knows this was THE original in the US!)
18. 180 energy
19. Red Line
20. Amp
21. Monster
22. Coke Blak
23. Diet Pepsi Max
24. Mountain Dew MDX
25. NOS
26. Piranha
27. Rip It
28. Rock Star
29. Von Dutch
30. Rush!
31. Lost Energy
32. Freek
33. Cocaine

I am positive that I have tried at least 7 more brands than this, but they are obscure and I can’t recall the names, nor have I found them online yet. As I stated before, they don’t really have an effect on me, but if you have any questions about the taste, feel free to ask me.

In today’s fast paced society, some of us need a boost to keep up with the rigors of daily life. For those people, energy drinks may provide exactly the solution they are in need of.

Research sources and for more information: [Howstuffworks]