The drinks of the third millennium – this is how energy drinks are called; they have established widespread popularity. Students cramming all night over textbooks; young people bursting with energy in nightclubs; truck drivers, security guards, or cleaning personnel whose working shifts last the whole night; those wishing to do some workout in a gym after a hard day’s work — and this is not the entire list of their consumers.
Despite the fact that media often warns about the harmful effect of energy drinks on human body, they still remain bestsellers. So what is more — the benefit or the damage that they bring?
General information
Energy drinks are the drinks that have a pronounced invigorating and anti-sedation effect due to the presence in their composition of natural psychostimulants. It is recommended to consume them for the purpose of rapid recovery, getting rid of tiredness and drowsiness. They are primarily taken by those who need to avoid sleep or to double their energy for several hours.
Many people believe that this is an invention of the 21st century, but this is not the case. Their predecessors can be found in the works of ancient herbalists. In particular, one of the books by the famous German Abbess Hildegard von Bingen (12th century) provides a recipe for an elixir that gives vitality.
They appeared in the form, in which they are known to us now, about a century ago. In 1927, in Great Britain, Lucozade was developed for the purpose of rapid recovery of patients, with a composition typical of modern energy drinks: carbon dioxide, glucose syrup, citric and lactic acids, caffeine, sodium benzoate and bisulphate, vitamin B9.
Based on it, in 1962, in Japan, a new drink, called Lipovitan, was created; it was marketed not as a medicine for rapid recovery, but as a stimulating drink that prevents falling asleep for several hours and provides a burst of energy and vivacity. Since then, the production of energy drinks in the East has been put on stream.
In Europe, this trend was initiated by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz, who borrowed the recipe during one of his visits to Hong Kong. Having improved it by adding modern and more advanced components, he created a completely new product — Red Bull, which eventually made him one of the richest people on the planet. The brand has a scandalous reputation, but still enjoys incredible popularity all over the world.
In 1985, energy drinks conquered America due to Jolt Cola, which was recommended for students and people employed in professions where intensive mental and physical efforts are required for a long time. In 1995, it was replaced by Josta by PepsiCo, which was used since 1999 as a basis for the production of Adrenaline Rush.
In New Zealand and Australia, the sales leader is Frucor Beverages.
Currently, the sales volume exceeds 50 billion dollars.
Many are interested in the question of the minimum age from which energy drinks can be sold. If they do not contain alcohol, then in the Russian Federation they can be freely sold to people of any age, including children and teenagers. This is not prohibited by law. An exception is the Moscow region, where the sale of such drinks to minors has been prohibited since May 1, 2015.
Effect on the body
Since the mass production of energy drinks was established, there has been a lot of talk about what effect they have on the human body. In order to understand what is more in them — benefit or harm, it is necessary to find out which systems and organs they affect and how.
Properties:
- invigorating — it raises the vitality, ensures the state of prolonged excitation of the nervous system and muscular tissue without feeling tired;
- stimulates the central nervous system — it causes an increase in its activity, speeds up its functioning;
- has an anti-sedative effect — it has an invigorating effect, eliminates drowsiness and apathy, prevents falling asleep.
Thanks to these properties, for the duration of 2 to 4 hours after consuming the drink (the duration of effect depends on individual characteristics of the human body):
- the state of mind significantly improves, to the extent of euphoria;
- there is a burst of energy, vigor and strength;
- there is no urge to sleep;
- the performance increases;
- the indices of strength and endurance improve;
- the intellectual activity becomes more active;
- the desire for physical activity increases.
A person feels all this within 5-10 minutes after taking the drink. However, the coin has a reverse side, which is not so obvious.
It seems to everyone that energy drinks are the source of energy themselves. This is not true. The active ingredients, of which they consist, are stimulants that operate according to a simple pattern: they are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, excite the nervous system, forcing the body to spend the double amount of its own energy, and only then deliver it to the cells. In other words, they do not give the body energy, but, on the contrary, take it away from the person in large quantities.
Let’s give an example for clarity and comparison. A loader needs to unload four cars during an 8-hour working day. He can do it by distributing the load evenly — one car every two hours. In this case, he will take breaks to rest and in the end will feel only slight fatigue by the end of the working day. However, he can act differently: unload all four cars in two hours, working fast and without taking any rest. As a result, he will exhaust all his energy resources, and will feel terrible by the end of the second hour.
The same thing happens to the body, which in its normal state distributes the available energy evenly. Energy drinks force it to spend it all in a short period of time. It is not difficult to guess what will happen when the effect wears off: exhaustion, loss of strength, general malaise — and this is not the entire list of sensations that you will experience after the euphoria.
So, the effect of energy drinks on the human body is a vivid example of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is a burst of energy and an incredible surge of vivacity, when you feel like moving mountains. On the other hand, this is followed by complete exhaustion of the body and nervous system in a few hours.
Composition
The effect of energy drinks on the human body is determined by the active ingredients that they contain. The basis is the same for almost all brands, with minor deviations.
Main active ingredients:
- glucose — the main “supplier” of energy for the body;
- taurine — an amino acid that accelerates energy processes in the body;
- caffeine — an alkaloid psychostimulant that invigorates the central nervous system and cardiac activity, speeds up the pulse rate, causes vasodilatation, increases intellectual and physical performance and eliminates drowsiness;
- guarana — a climbing plant, the extract of which contains a high amount of caffeine, raises the state of mind and invigorates;
- ginseng — a natural psychostimulant;
- nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) stabilizes the functioning of the nervous system;
- pantothenic acid (B5) participates in the restoration of neural tissues;
- pyridoxine (B6) has a regulating effect on the nervous system;
- folic acid (B9) increases the production of serotonin and noradrenaline in the body, which raise the state of mind;
- ascorbic acid (C) ensures the delivery of glucose to its destination, participates in the production of serotonin.
This is excluding preservatives, colorants and carbonic acid that makes them fizzy. Caffeine and glucose are basic components. Taurine is present in 75% of drinks.
At first glance, the composition may seem balanced: some substances invigorate the nervous system, while others calm and stabilize it. However, in reality, there are several times more of the former than the latter. Also, manufacturers use only 1-2 vitamins, and in minimal quantities.
