Question by GLS: How bad are energy drinks for your health?
I love AMP energy drinks, and I drink the sugar-free ones, and I drink about 4-5 a week. How bad is this for my health, what long-term affects could it have?
My friend loves the little 5-hour energy drinks. She drinks 2 every day. How bad is this for her health, what long term affects could it have?
Best answer:
Answer by Amanda Scott
I love energy drinks too. It’s like my guilty pleasure. (Green Monster ftw)
My parents lecture me all the time about them, as well as some friends.
So, I’m actually kind of curious about this as well.
Sorry this isn’t an answer:)
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Sugar free is far healthier than the ones that have sugar. Usually the ones with sugar contain so much I don’t know how companies get away with the amount of sugar they put in those. Though I don’t think the 5-hour energy drinks have sugar in them so she’s probably fine. But there’s an energy drink called 180 which has 30 grams of sugar — 3.75 TABLESPOONS. That’s crazy. May as well just forego the drink and eat sugar.
I think it’s a super bad drink! The more you drink it, you will get addicted to it
don’t know
Suposedly, sugar- free sodas are much worse for you than sodas with sugar. Sugar-free means they use fake sugar instead of natural sugar and it can have harmful long term effects. I’m not sure if it’s the same for energy drinks, but otherwise, it doesn’t look that unhealthy… a bit of sodium though….
I don’t really like energy drinks because instead of giving me energy, they always make me crash 🙁
For the 5 hour energy, I’ve seen the back of those and all it is is major B6 and B12 vitamins. (2000% dv for B6 and 8333% dv for B12.)
Its like taking a lot of vitamins 😛 (especially if she’s taking 2 a day!)
An energy drink is a drink and it has benefits. I will educate you about how each chemical isn’t as “poisonous” it is painted up to be, but a fancy name for some things that are good for you.
Monster Ingredients
Carbonated Water- what it says it is, water with a little carbon dioxide gas in it to make it bubble
Sucrose- complex sugar, table sugar, you eat it all the time in many foods
Glucose- simple sugar, just not as complex as sucrose (it is a carbohydrate something you need to live)
Citric Acid- organic acid used in the metabolism of all living things
Natural Flavors- chemicals taken from plants to make you to have the impression of a certain flavor, used in almost all foods you eat
Taurine- absorbed through the blood barrier isn’t harmful in fact supplementation helps protect body from lead poisoning, prevents epileptic seizures, prevents obesity, helps prevent coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis
Sodium Citrate- an acidic salt that helps your blood platelets from sticking together, preventing strokes
Color Added- used in almost every food product sold, helps people associate colors to certain foods.
Panax Ginseng Root Extract- Is a muscle relaxant not tenser, helps treat type 2 diabetes, sexual dysfunction in men, helps increase resistance to stress on the body, anti inflammatory effects on humans,
L-Carnitine- required for the transport of lipids (fat cells) to the mitochondria for metabolic energy
Caffeine- comes from the leaves of plants even in chocolate, restores alertness for a limited time, helps treat apnea and correct irregular heartbeats, reduces the risk of liver injury for liver disease patients, consumed since the Stone Age
Ascorbic Acid- sugar acid with antioxidant properties, known more commonly as vitamin C, deficiency results in scurvy
Sorbic Acid- organic compound, prevents from mold, yeast, and fungi growing in foods so you don’t have to immediately consume everything you buy
Benzoic Acid- also helps prevent mold, yeast, and bacteria growth; apples even contain it, treats fungal skin diseases such as ringworm and athlete’s foot, also used as a decongestant
Niacinamide- known more commonly as vitamin B3, although serving the same function it doesn’t have the same toxic effects as niacin due to your metabolic conversion, it has anti-inflammatory effects, it has been proven to restore cognition in Alzheimer’s disease patients, and it prevents immunosuppression due to UVA and UVB radiation
Sodium Chloride-more commonly known as table salt, needed by your body to absorb water for life processes
Glucuronolactone- broken down form of glucose, important component for the structure of almost all connective tissues in living organisms
Inositol- a different form of the carbohydrate molecule, necessary in insulin signal transduction, nerve guidance, intracellular calcium concentration control, cell membrane potential maintenance, serotonin activity modulation, breakdown of fats, reducing blood cholesterol, and gene expression
Guarana Seed Extract- contains caffeine just like coffee beans, has the same benefits as caffeine
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride- more commonly known as vitamin B6, is required in the production of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, helps in the balancing of sodium and potassium, red blood cell production, maintains cardiovascular health, lack of this chemical is linked to the cause of anemia, nerve damage, seizures, skin problems, and sores in the mouth
Sucralose- zero-calorie artificial sweetener so those who don’t like sucrose or glucose can still have sweet without the extra calories to make them fat
Riboflavin- more commonly known as vitamin B2, needed for maintenance in human and animal health, it has a key role in energy metabolism and metabolism of fats, ketone bodies, carbohydrates, and proteins, since the human body is constantly excreting it this means many humans can easily become deficient of this needed vitamin, deficiency leads to stunts of cell growth which includes the fatty degeneration of the liver and kidney
Maltodextrin- polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose and is just as harmless as glucose
Cyanocobalamin-more commonly known as vitamin B12, it is used widely for people deficient due to gastric problems resulting in problems absorbing enough from normal meals throughout the normal day
As you can see all these chemicals are things you need. They are chemically stable and have no solid proven dangerous chemical reactions have ever been observed between each other or any other chemicals you absorb throughout the day.In moderation as everything should be used this is another drink you can enjoy every once in a while.
Other energy drink’s contents vary especially 5 hour energy, but with every chemical there can be adverse effect if you consume too much.
Long term effects vary from person to person because no one person metabolizes a chemical like another person.