Essay about Hidden Side of Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are becoming frequently used today especially by younger generations. They are widely known as energy boosters, so many people turn to them when they have a long day at the office ahead, long nights to study, or even on car drives back home. A lot of people have turned to energy drinks to solve their problems due to lack of energy, however many people do not even realize what is being put in these drinks and how it could affect them in their future. Lots of studies have shown that energy drinks, such as Red Bull, contain drugs that can seriously damage our body. Even though sometimes we need the extra kick of energy or we just enjoy the taste of energy drinks, most of the time, people do not realize that there are hidden ingredients that can cause severe illnesses later on.

The first energy drink created was made back in the 1960s called Lipvitan-D. Taisho Pharmaceuticals made the first drink targeted at increasing energy. After the introduction of the first energy drink, many followed afterwards such as the invention of Red Bull in 1987, which made its introduction to America in 1997. Monster Drinks, 5-hour Energy, and Four Loko all made it into the American market subsequently as well. Even before the creation of energy drinks though, people were already in favor of the energy rush in drinks. The famous soft drink, Coca-Cola, contained a significant dose of cocaine for a while which many people seemed to enjoy up to 1903. Cocaine-infused beverages were common in the late 19th century, so it is evident that people enjoy having that extra kick of energy in their drinks. However, a common pattern that also shows throughout history and up to modern day is the legal, ethical, and health concerns about these products being consumed.

Even though these drinks have been proven to cause health issues at some point in people’s lives, they are still taking over the market and gaining a lot of profit for these companies. Since 2013, there has been a five percent boost in the energy drink industry and it is even surpassing soda as the drink of choice for many consumers. Red Bull profits over $3.4 million each year and Monster Energy Drink sells over $3 million, but these are just two of the most famous energy drinks. College students, especially, have been one of the main audiences that these industries have been targeting. Because they have been advertising their drinks as safe energy boosters, many of these college students that lack sleep and energy, find it easy to drink them. Despite the fact that it does provide that extra kick of energy for their consumers, it also provides other ingredients and drugs that will affect these people sooner or later.

ER visits for energy drink-related incidents have doubled in the last several years. In 2016, there were more than 20,000 emergency room visits due to the consumption of energy drinks. There have been different events where students have collapsed due to the fact of a high ingesting of caffeine coming from coffee, soft drinks, and energy drinks. There was an incident where a South Carolina high school student collapsed and died after consuming a very high dose of caffeine in a short time: coffee, soda, and an energy drink. The student died from a caffeine-induced lethal cardia arrhythmia. Even though the energy drink business continues to be a multibillion-dollar industry, it has also been one of the leading causes of medical conditions and it has also caused many people to die from having too much caffeine.

People continue to drink these energy boosters without even knowing what exactly is in these energy drinks. It is true that energy drinks are loaded with caffeine which explains the extra kick of energy, but many people are not aware of the other additives such as vitamins, minerals, taurine, herbal supplements and guarana. Most people do not even know what some of these ingredients are. Caffeine is the primary ingredient in energy drinks; it usually ranges from 50 to 500 milligrams in these drinks. Guarana is a plant from Brazil that contain a high concentration of something similar to caffeine. Furthermore, 1 gram of guarana is equivalent to 40 milligrams of caffeine. Sugar in energy drinks is anywhere from 21 to 34 grams per 8 ounces. Two energy drinks per day already makes a person consume nearly six times the maximum daily recommended amount of sugar putting these people at a high risk for obesity and dental problems. Taurine and ginseng are also found in energy drinks which have both been found to not benefit our body in any way. Lastly, there is also B vitamins in energy drinks, however, there has been no evidence that if a person takes larger amounts of these vitamins, it will impact a person’s overall health. From a medical standpoint, there is absolutely no nutritional value to these drinks, only numerous deleterious health issues and calories.

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Even though evidence indicating adverse health effects of energy drink intake is growing, energy drinks continue to become popular and frequent especially among adolescents. In the United States, the average adolescent caffeine intake averages 60 to 70 mg/day and ranges up to 800 mg/day. Although some healthy people can tolerate caffeine, heavy caffeine consumption has been associated with serious consequences such as seizures, mania, strokes, and sudden death. Even though the US Food and Drug Administration does limit caffeine content in soft drinks, there is no regulation like that for energy drinks. In a survey of 496 college students, results showed that 51% of those surveyed regularly consumed more than one energy drink per month, and majority of them consistently drank energy drinks several times per week. Some of the effects seen because of caffeine include increase in blood pressure and sleep disturbances. This study showed that energy drinks do not have therapeutic benefit and that it puts people for more serious health issues in their life. In another study done by Dylan B. Jackson and Wanda E. Leal, it was found that people who were associated with energy drink/shot consumption were also associated with significant increases of drug use and failing to disapprove of drug use as well. This means that energy drinks have also changed people’s attitude about illegal activities, but the reasons this happens is not clear yet. Both of these studies showed that energy drinks are not only causing medical issues, but it also begins to mess with people’s behavior.

In another study done by Jana Holubcikova, Peter Kolarcik and other researchers, they sampled a group of 8977 adolescents to see the results of energy drink consumption. The results showed that regular energy drink consumption was more frequent among boys and increased with age. The results of the logistic models showed that regular energy drinks consumption was related to negative health and behavioral outcomes and negative school experiences and problem behaviors. Some examples of these behaviors include daily health complaints, poor self-rated health, school dislike, low academic achievement, truancy, fighting bullying, smoking, and drunkenness. Overall, this study also proved that energy drinks cause many health implications from more severe illnesses to thinks such as headaches. Not only did this study prove for energy drinks to cause health problems, but it also proved that it affects adolescent’s behavior because they were exposed to behaviors such as bullying and smoking. The effects in general show they all affect the person in a negative way and there are no benefits to regular intake of energy drinks.

Even though most of the results showed that energy drinks cause negative effects on people, there has been some positive things about these drinks. The obvious pro of energy drinks is that it gives people an energy boost, so they can keep going with their daily routine. They are common drinks found in vending machines or gas stations which makes it easily accessible to people when they need something on the go. Even though having a lot of vitamin B does not make it improve health more, having some of it improves people mood and can even fight cancer and heart disease. Other ingredients in some energy drinks, such as niacin, also help relieve arthritis pains and lower blood lipids. Despite the fact that not everything about energy drinks is bad, the negative outcome outweighs the good. Having one energy drinks here or there is not a bad thing, but when people consume more than the maximum amount of caffeine they are supposed to, it starts to mess with people’s body and health. Once people get addicted to drinking energy drinks, it is hard to go on with daily activities without it. Sometime what is bad for people seems like the easy way out of a problem, but people should begin to realize the effects that energy drinks can have on their bodies before they start having issues.

The main point that energy drinks have been proven to be consumed is because people lack energy and look for a quick boost to help them get through the day. People do not realize the effect of energy drinks because most of the time there is no awareness to spread the effect it can have on our health. Energy drinks are accessible anywhere you go; people can get them in gas stations, vending machines at school, drug stores, etc. There is no age regulation for energy drinks either which also allows anybody to buy and drink them. I believe that more awareness should be brought to this issue because there is really no evidence when it comes to the negative outcome of energy drinks. Because college students are more prone to ‘need’ these drinks, this is where universities should start spreading awareness. Maybe more posters around the school that talk about the negative effects of these drinks could help people realize what these drinks can do. Like there are groups for depression and drug use, there should also be groups that talk about how regular energy drink consumption is associated with risk of health and even behavioral problems. Because evidence of energy drinks being bad is growing, then people who understand the cons of energy drinks should put that research into use and talk to others who consume these drinks daily.

Because energy drinks are mostly bought for an energy boost, there are different solutions that can take place instead of consuming these drinks. For one, people can start managing their time more wisely during the day, so when it come to their time to sleep, they can actually rest and be ready for what the next day brings. College students are known to have all-nighters to study or to do work that’s due that morning, however, most professors give a lot of time for these assignments to get done. I do not believe that a professor would give a test the next day without giving students time to study. Procrastination has a big role in college student’s life, so if people would start to have more motivation to get their work done earlier, it could avoid losing so much sleep later on. Sometimes people do need to pull an all-nighter because of work, family crisis, or other life problems, but making it a routine is where it starts to become a problem.

In conclusion, even though people may think that energy drinks are helping them by getting them through the day, it is not worth the consequences they can suffer later on. Even though it may not directly lead to death, there are other horrible side effects that people can have because of energy drinks. Since the main reason found of which why people take energy boosters is because of a lack of energy, people should start fixing their schedules or looking for exercises or meditations that can help improve their energy as well. People should not depend on a substance to regulate their energy especially one that come with many harmful results later on. Caffeine is not bad when people take notes of how much is being ingested, but when it becomes the go to drink, this is where people need to pay attention what goes in their body.