Energy Drinks – The Ups and the Downs

Posted May 27, 2010

By Jennifer Gibson

As a sports dietitian, the last thing my athletes need in their nutrition plans is an empty-calorie filled, high sugar-containing supplement, that causes over stimulation. Despite this, energy drink companies (ie. Red Bull, Monster, Beaver Buzz, Tab etc), seem to be targeting athletes, and promoting the above mentioned attributes, as a “good” thing, and even a “performance enhancer”. Combined with flashy marketing and athlete/event endorsements, frankly, they are selling A LOT of product. Read more…Here are 5 reasons why athletes that are serious about what they are putting into their body, should avoid the use and abuse, of energy drinks:

Common Ingredients	Issues that athletes could face with these ingredients.
Sugar	-One can of Monster energy drink has 52g of sugar (13 teaspoons), and 200 calories. That’s only 50 calories less than a McDonalds hamburger. -Sugar is simply an empty calorie, with no added vitamins or minerals for health at all. It provides a short burst of energy, with much less staying power than high fibre carbohydrates.
Caffeine	-There is research demonstrating caffeine can help improve performance. Be aware that most of this research has studied pure caffeine, and not drink/food products and these effects are seen in some individuals (not all) and only in some sports. -Like it or not, caffeine is a drug can be addictive. It can also impair sleep, heart rate and contribute to dehydration (in non-habitual users). These side effects are just not worth it for a high performance athlete.
Carbonation	For an athlete with a nervous stomach before competition, drinking a carbonated beverage could make matters worse by increasing gas production. In my opinion, these could become mental distractions which can be avoided.
Extra ingredients	Extra amino acids, herbal forms of caffeine and other herbs like carnatine, tyrosine and ginseng are added for their reported “energy” and “mental boosting” properties. In addition to little scientific evidence to support these claims, I also worry about the their safety in long term use and also from a drug testing perspective.
Mixing with Alcohol	-Mixing a drug that stimulates the body systems(caffeine) with a drug that depresses the body’s systems (alcohol) is a dangerous game and has been linked to serious cases of medical complications and deaths. See the reference section for a study in this area.