What energy drinks are made of
Technically, any drink that contains stimulating components can be called an energy drink. But usually energy drinks are sodas with a lot of sugar and caffeine. In addition to these substances, they sometimes add B vitamins, antioxidant taurine and other ingredients, but in much smaller quantities.
What happens if you drink energy drinks every day
A half-litre can of a popular energy drink contains 160mg of caffeine. Considering that a healthy adult can have up to 400mg a day, this is, in principle, acceptable. But it also contains 50 g of sugar, which exceeds the maximum daily allowance almost twice (adults can have no more than 30 g, children from 7 to 10 years old – no more than 24 g, and from 4 to 6 years old – no more than 19 g). Hence there are many problems.
The condition of the teeth will deteriorate
Sugar abuse is one of the main causes of tooth decay. Thanks to the sweet in the mouth grows the number of bacteria that destroy the enamel. And acids in energy drinks help them. They make the enamel even more vulnerable, so germs get inside the tooth faster.
Blood sugar levels will spike
Constantly exceeding your daily sugar allowance (even though the energy can is the only sweet item in your diet) causes your pancreas to produce a lot of insulin. This hormone helps distribute glucose quickly to the cells. The more often these spikes occur, the less responsive the cells become – they become insulin resistant. This can lead to prediabetes and diabetes.
Weight gain may start to occur
Excess sugar (and therefore calories) can lead to weight gain as it is. But there is also insulin resistance: blood glucose levels are not reduced, but there is a lot of insulin, so the body thinks that the excess can be stored as fat. This is where the excess weight comes from.
There may be an increased risk of diabetes
Let’s summarise the previous two points: obesity due to excess sugar and calories and insulin resistance. These factors alone increase the risk of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, and together they increase it even more.
Cardiovascular disease is likely to develop more quickly
Energy drinks raise blood pressure and make your heart beat more frequently. In addition, excessive consumption disturbs the heart rhythm, and inflammation develops in the cells of blood vessels and platelets clump together – impairing blood flow. All this leads to heart attacks even in young people, the formation of sac-like bulges in the wall (aneurysms), dissection and rupture of large arteries.
Anxiety levels will rise
It has been proven that the use of energy drinks increases the level of anxiety, especially if there were already preconditions for this. For example, severe anxiety attacks.
In addition, the intake of energy drinks increases stress levels and depression symptoms.
The intestines will fail more often
Because of energy drinks there are more often liquid stools, and there are several explanations for this. Firstly, caffeine is a stimulant, so intestinal peristalsis increases. Secondly, it is not liked by the useful microbiota and the diversity of microorganisms decreases. Finally, to eliminate excess sugar, the intestines draw water from the surrounding tissues, so diarrhoea can develop, especially in people with a predisposition to it.
The kidneys will be overloaded
Because of the caffeine in its composition, energy drinks make people urinate more frequently. This can lead to dehydration and kidney overload.
Several cases of developing kidney failure due to energy drink abuse have already been described. This diagnosis means that the kidneys will not be able to work properly for a long time or even always. For example, a 40-year-old man developed failure after 3 weeks of daily intake of energy drinks and it took 10 months to recover.
