Vote in This Week's Poll: How often do you consume energy drinks?
The problem is the amount of caffeine in these drinks, which can be twice as much as in a Coke or a cup of coffee. A moderate amount of caffeine isn't harmful to healthy people and a small amount can even enhance workouts but too much can elevate stress levels. We've always been a highly caffeinated society (my husband knows not to even look at me until I've had my cup of coffee), but energy drinks take things to a whole new level, making me wonder if, at some point, it will be illegal for kids under a certain age to buy them.
What about you? Do you use energy drinks to keep you going? Vote in this week's poll and leave a comment to tell us what you think about energy drinks.
Poll: How often do you consume energy drinks?
1. Every day
2. A few times a week
3. Every now and then
4. Rarely
5. I never drink energy drinks
6. Other - please explain in comments
Comments
I drank a few sugar free red bulls or the new TAB (comes in a tall pink can, marketed to women, tastes better than red bull) in my day – studying for finals.
I found straight caffeine pills taken with a gravol chaser were more effective and caused less upset stomach (I doubt carbonation is very helpful on this front)
However, since graduating I haven’t had any energy drinks nor have I any intention of taking any – I only ever used them to stay up all night and I don’t do that unless I have to cram a whole semester’s worth of microbiology into my head in 8 hours!
I used to drink them- 1 a day. But I stopped a month ago.
Plain and simple, they are BAD for you!
I drink energy drinks when I’m working cows for 3-4hrs without a break and need something to keep me going! I”m 62 yrs old!!
My husband and I love energy drinks, but will not allow our child to drink them until he is way older. I think that their bodies aren’t ready for that amount of caffeine or some of the other supplements found in them as well.
I have been drinking venti doubleshot iced coffees with added energy at Starbucks…really great drink!
I AM HYPOGLYCEMIC AND THOSE ENERGY DRINKS DROP MY SUGAR FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY ‘THIS STUFF IS NOT GOOD FOR ME OR ANYBODY’
SUGAR IS ELEVATED AND THEN SHARPLY DROPPED FOR ANYONE WHO DRINKS ANY OF THE ENERGY DRINKS. TRUST ME, IM A NURSE. WATCH A PERSONS BEHAVIOR CHANGE WHEN THEY DRINK THEM. MAY BE SLIGHT, MAY BE ERRATIC BUT IT WILL CHANGE.
PLEASE DONT MIX WITH ALCOHOL, THAT SCREWS UP YOUR TOLERANCE. GET A BOOST OF ENERGY THE OLD FASHIONED WAY…WORK OUT THAT BODY.
I used to drink tons of caffiene – coffee in the morning and a Red Bull after lunch. I did it so much – I had to keep it up to get through the day. This continued until I read about the terrible effects of caffiene, long term mostly- now I am only down to one chai tea a day. Just not worth it
I have had a few energy drinks in the last year. The last one I had a few months ago made me feel sick and shaky. I felt horrible and I had SO much to get done. I haven’t had one since and I will not drink another.
Energy drinks are disgusting. I never drink them because I like my teeth.
Im 16 and the only time I drink energy frinks is if im with my best freind who does and were going out to a dance or really ne time we want 2 be hyper 4 an adventure iv never had a problem w them and they really dont make me that much more hyper i think its more mental. i think the only bad thing is if u become addicted
I used to drink sugar free energy drinks. I was up to 3 or 4 a day because of the crash that follows after you drink one. What a mess. I also beleive that I gained weight from them even though they were “sugar free”. I feel better since I stopped drinking them.
I too am a nurse who workd night shift. I probably drink at least 2 Low Cal Monsters or Java Monsters every night that I work. I really like the flavor of them. They don’t make me feel too energetic or hyper, and I never have experienced a crash like a lot of other people experience. They also don’t effect my sleeping habits. I am able to go to sleep without problems at the end of my night. For me, they help me get through a long night without feeling sleepy or drained.
I drink the Monster juices or regular Monsters two or three times a week to wake me up. I am so not a morning person and even if I get enough sleep I still can’t seem to wake up. I did have like stomach reaction to the Java Monsters. So I stopped drinking them. I do plan to start exercising again. Then maybe I won’t need the Monsters. But they are less than Starbucks!
I used to drink energy drinks and they made me short with people and my coworkers did not like me on high caffeine levels. I always start the morning with a Bolt House Perfectly protein mocha cappuccino drink now. Its great for you and all natural. More information: They are in the product isles http://www.bolthouse.com/html/cs_mocha_n.html
I’m another old fart — 18 years old with 43 years of experience. I don’t do energy drinks — I’m diabetic, though medication-free due to healthy diet and exercise. I’ve never consumed energy drinks, though I’ve heard that it’s a good idea to take on some fast-digesting carbs if your workout goes past 90 minutes, as mine routinely does. I will admit to stopping at Starbucks for a dopio espresso (couldn’t they come up with a better name?) on the way to my workouts — the caffeine hit (150 mg.; I’ve read recommendations of 300-400 for pre-workout consumption) gets me going a little more than normal, but with weight training, that’s a good thing. I’ve found that the noticeable hit is relatively short lasting — maybe an hour.
What I will do for longer workouts is eat a banana when I switch from weights to cardio at somewhere around 75 minutes into my workout.
Energy drinks are meant to replace lost electrolytes and fluid when exercising vigorously for more than an hour. Therefore unless I am going to run for more than 60 minutes I don’t need the added calories. For heavy lifting I use a protein drink, which is different. I am astounded by people who stroll on a treadmill guzzling gatorade or other energy drinks and wonder why they don’t lose weight.
As this past semester of college became more stressful, I began to drink Amp–it tasted good, and it kept me going through my class on the musical works of Bela Bartok (as a music major, this should be interesting, but it just isn’t). But I found out the hard way that I needed to stop. I had to perform in front of my voice class one day, and sing three songs of my teacher’s choice (out of 8 that I had memorized in the past year). I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’m usually great with this–I memorize quickly, and in comparison to the rest of my class, I perform better. That day, when I had to sing a song that I had actually known by memory since I was 15, completely blanked out because I was so jittery from all the caffeine. From there, I still drank Amp when I had a paper or a project (it helped me get an A in another really hard class), but made sure to stay away from it before a performance. I have been out of school for a month, so I have stopped drinking Amp. But now I am still suffering from a caffeine addiction like nothing I have ever been through before!