Energy drinks
Jay R Hoffman in Dietary Supplementation in Sport and Exercise, 2019
The use of energy drinks is extremely popular across various population groups. The reasons range from a desire to increase energy/delay fatigue in competitive and tactical athletic populations to aesthetic reasons in young, healthy men and women. Energy drinks generally include caffeine in varying concentrations combined with various other ingredients. As such, research on the efficacy of various multi-ingredient drinks is limited and makes it very difficult to extrapolate from single ingredient studies to the potential effect of the ingredient when it is combined with other compounds in varying concentrations. In regard to safety profile, the cardiovascular risks (tachycardia and elevated blood pressure) associated with energy drink consumption needs to be acknowledged; however, studies reporting these changes also indicate that these changes still remain within normal limits. Regardless, individuals who may be “at risk” should be aware of the potential dangers, especially when these drinks are consumed in hot, humid environments with or without expected physical exertion.
Paper I
Justin C Konje in Complete Revision Guide for MRCOG Part 3, 2020
Over the last 1 year, you have had problems with your ‘waterworks’. You wet yourself every time you cough or sneeze. When it started, you thought it was associated with the change, but it’s got worse. You now have to wear a sanitary towel before you go out. You can no longer go to your aerobic classes because you are scared someone will smell the wee. You tend to go more often now than before, mainly for fear of wetting yourself when you cough. You do not suffer from cough or constipation. You do not wake up at night to pass urine, and when you feel like going, you do not have to rush to avoid an accident (wetting yourself). The only time you wet yourself is when you cough, sneeze or jump. You drink about four cups of coffee daily – usually one in the morning and then three others when you have a break at work. You drink diet coke but no energy drinks. When you pass urine, there is no burning sensation. You do not have any dragging sensation below, and there is no vaginal discharge. You do not suffer from constipation or diarrhoea.
Stimulants and psychedelics
Ilana B. Crome, Richard Williams, Roger Bloor, Xenofon Sgouros in Substance Misuse and Young People, 2019
Energy drinks are beverages that contain caffeine, taurine, vitamins, herbal supplements, and sugars or sweeteners and are marketed to improve energy, weight loss, stamina, athletic performance and concentration. The increased consumption of caffeinated energy drinks (e.g., Red Bull, Monster, Amp, Rockstar, Full Throttle) among children, adolescents and young adults has raised particular health concerns. Relative to a cup of brewed coffee, which has approximately 100 mg of caffeine, the range contained in energy drinks is 80–174 mg, or higher (Berger et al., 2011). The energy drink industry is booming, and marketing often targets youth under the age of 18. Thus, sales of energy drinks have catapulted to over $12.5 billion in 2012, an increase of 60 per cent from 2008 to 2012 (Breda et al., 2014). In the UK, 770 million litres of energy drinks were consumed in 2014, a 50 per cent increase from 2006 (Statista, 2016). Research has suggested that young adolescents use energy drinks without knowing what they are drinking and how the drinks contribute to their personal risk of harm; indeed, the advertising, appeal and use of energy drinks by adolescents appear to share similarities with alcohol and tobacco (Costa et al., 2014). As a result, policymakers and physicians’ groups have called on manufacturers of energy drinks to take voluntary action to reduce the potential harm of their products, including placing restrictions on marketing to youth, and food safety officials have issued regulations on using energy drink products to protect people who are potentially at risk from excess caffeine consumption.
Energy drinks consumption among football players in Lagos, Nigeria
Published in South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2018
Foluke Adenike Olatona, Ijeoma Olumide Aderibigbe, Sunday Adedeji Aderibigbe, Temitope ‘Wunmi Ladi-Akinyemi
Caffeine from plant extracts that contain polyphenol has been associated with positive vascular health and improved blood flow as a result of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer qualities. Taurine has also been identified to enhance endurance performance and to aid in the reduction of lactic acid build-up after exercise.6 Several studies confirm that caffeine consumption can increase energy utilisation, enhance mood and alertness and improve exercise performance.7 Caffeine and other substances in energy drinks increase pain tolerance, allowing athletes to work out harder and longer thereby leading to enhanced performance.8 However, if consumed in excess amounts, energy drinks could have adverse effects on health. The adverse reactions and toxicity from high energy-drink consumption stem predominantly from their caffeine content, though the combination of caffeine with the other ingredients has synergistic effects that increase the side effects of energy drinks.9,10
Morningness-eveningness and caffeine consumption: A largescale path-analysis study
Published in Chronobiology International, 2019
Csilla Ágoston, Róbert Urbán, Adrien Rigó, Mark D. Griffiths, Zsolt Demetrovics
Although morningness had a negative correlation with caffeine use disorder (CUD) in the correlation matrix, and severe CUD was more common among evening-type individuals according to chi-square analysis, there was only an indirect association – with the mediation of energy drink use – between these two variables in the path analysis. These results suggest that evening-types may consume caffeinated products (such as energy drinks) to compensate their ‘social jetlag’, but end up worsening their situation because they are more likely to experience the negative consequences of caffeine use (e.g. symptoms of CUD and lower general wellbeing). Consequently, it is worth putting greater emphasis on energy drink consumption in future studies focusing on problematic caffeine use. Energy drink use may can also lead to other negative consequences including insomnia, nervousness, headache, tachycardia, seizures, and manic episodes (Clauson et al. 2008). Despite these possible negative consequences, energy drink consumption increased in recent years (Breda et al. 2014) and 8.9% of Hungarian adolescents consume it daily (Németh and Költő 2014). Aggressive advertisements promote the psychoactive, performance-enhancing effects of energy drinks and appear to glorify drug use (Reissig et al. 2009) which may overshadow other possible motives. The results of the present study indicate that evening-type individuals can be especially affected by the negative consequences of energy drink consumption.
Energy Drinks and Binge Drinking Predict College Students’ Sleep Quantity, Quality, and Tiredness
Published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2018
Megan E. Patrick, Jamie Griffin, Edward D. Huntley, Jennifer L. Maggs
Numerous laboratory studies indicate that caffeine exposure reduces total sleep time, increases latency to sleep, and reduces slow-wave (deep) sleep in a dose-related manner (Roehrs & Roth, 2008). Energy drinks contain 50 to 505 mg of caffeine per serving, more than sodas (35–50 mg) and some coffee (77–150 mg; Reissig, Strain, & Griffiths, 2009). Energy drinks are used by 40–51% of college students (Malinauskas, Aeby, Overton, Carpenter-Aeby, & Barber-Heidal, 2007; Patrick & Maggs, 2014; Woolsey et al., 2015). People are generally motivated to use energy drinks to increase wakefulness and energy, and to enhance the experience of alcohol intoxication (Ishak, Ugochukwu, Bagot, Khalili, & Zaky, 2012; Malinauskas et al., 2007). However, cross-sectional surveys of college students indicate that energy drink usage is associated with decreased sleep duration and poor sleep quality (Lohsoonthorn et al., 2013; Reid et al., 2015; Sanchez et al., 2013). The effects of energy drink use on sleep quantity, quality, and next-day tiredness have not been documented in real-world settings using data from the same individuals over time.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Arrhythmia
- Caffeine
- Cognition
- Dietary Supplement
- Extract
- Food Energy
- Stimulant
- Vitamin B12
- Energy Gel
- Sports Drink