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What are energy drinks?
Red Bull, ISO Sprint, Whoopass
and a host of other strange
sounding names are all considered "Energy Drinks" because they contain large amounts of caffeine,
sugar and other legal stimulants like guarana, and ginseng.
The drinks contain vitamins,
amino acids, a large dose of
sugar and about as much caffeine
as a cup of coffee (80 mg). Compared to the 37 mg. of caffeine in a Mountain Dew, or the 23 mg. in a Coca-Cola Classic, that's a big jolt.
"It's a formula that concerns
people like
Liz Applegate, a sports
nutritionist at the University
of California at Davis. 'These
cans of energy drinks have some
enticing, very sexy-sounding
claims -- that they lift you up,
that they give you more energy,'
Applegate said. Frankly, they're
nothing much more than caffeine
in a can with a lot of sugar."
1
These drinks are marketed
mainly to men and women under 30, especially to college age students, and are widely available in health food, drug and department stores as well as vending machines everywhere.
Are there
short-term dangers to drinking
energy drinks?
Individual reactions to caffeine vary, and these drinks should be treated with respect because of how potent they really are. Energy drinks' stimulating attributes can increase the heart rate and blood pressure (at times to the point of palpitations), dehydrate the body, and, not unlike other stimulants, make it difficult to sleep.
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Try all natural
AWAKE™
,
the caffeine free alternative to coffee and other so-called “energy drinks”
that load your system with caffeine and/or sugar.
AWAKE
improves physical and mental endurance and gives you healthy
antioxidants as
well as helping your heart.
AWAKE contains B vitamins and select amino acids in a special formulation to give you the “boost” you need
without caffeine and its associated side effects such as the rapid rise and more
rapid fall in energy levels and the "jitters".
Awake™ Energy Drinks = HIGH ENERGY and GREAT TASTE!!
AWAKEis available in both
citrus
(think orange dreamsicle) and
berry
(think very berry) flavors.
Order
AWAKE
– The
More Energy
drink without the caffeine
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Energy drinks should not be consumed while exercising as the combination of fluid loss from perspiring and the diuretic effect (having to urinate often) of the caffeine can leave the user severely dehydrated.
Know what you're drinking. Energy drinks are not necessarily bad for you, but they shouldn't be seen as "natural alternatives" either. Various claims they make like "improved performance and concentration" can be deceptive. If you think of them as highly-caffeinated drinks, you'll have a better idea of what they are and how they affect you. You wouldn't use Mountain Dew as a sports drink. Beverages like Red Bull and vodka are more like strong coffee and whisky than anything else.
What happens when energy drinks are combined with
alcohol?
Energy drinks are also used as mixers with alcohol. This blend carries a number
of dangers:
● Since energy drinks are stimulants and alcohol is a depressant, the
combination of effects may be dangerous. The stimulant effects can hide how
inebriated you are and prevent you from really knowing how much alcohol you have
actually consumed. Tiredness is one of the ways the body typically tells a
person that they've had enough to drink.
● The stimulant effect can give the person the idea that they aren't impaired in
any way. No matter how alert you feel, your blood
alcohol concentration (BAC) is the same as it would be without the energy drink.
Once the stimulant effect wears off, the depressant
effects of the alcohol will stay and could cause vomiting in your sleep or
respiratory depression, either of which can lead to death.
● Both energy drinks and alcohol are very dehydrating (the caffeine in energy
drinks is a diuretic) . Dehydration can slow down your body's ability to process
and metabolize alcohol and will increase the level of toxicity (and therefore
the hangover) the next day.
● Last summer, Sweden's National Food Administration began advising people not
to consume Red Bull with alcohol, or as a thirst-
quencher. The recommendation came after a young woman who had consumed alcohol
with the popular product died, apparently of
dehydration. Two other deaths are also under investigation."1
1. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/diet.fitness/05/29/energy.drinks.02/
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