Consumption of energy drinks has raged in current years. They arise intending to increase physical resistance, enabling quicker reactions to those who consume them, achieving a higher level of concentration, avoiding sleep, and providing a feeling of well-being.
Energy drinks are relatively recent because they began to be marketed in Europe in 1987. They have become popular very quickly and have been taking over spaces previously dominated by soft drinks (alone or in combination with alcohol): sporting events and parties.
Sway Energy Drink is one example of the many brands that have become famous. These energy drinks are consumed by athletes, students, night employees, among others. But are they as miraculous as they say?
What exactly is an energy drink?
Various products are marketed under the name of energy drinks, whose composition is basically:
- Water, sugar, or artificial sweeteners
- Caffeine (as such or from ingredients that contain it, such as guarana)
- Group B vitamins and minerals
- Nitrogenous substances (taurine, carnitine)
- Glucuronolactone (added for a possible detoxifying effect not well determined)
It is important to differentiate them from sports drinks, designed to recover mineral salts after intense physical activity and known as isotonic drinks.
Manufacturers highlight the following effects in their advertising (with justification or not):
- Provoke a state of euphoria in the consumer, even an aphrodisiac, which allows them to remain hyperactive for many hours at a time.
- Improve physical and intellectual performance.
- Effect against remaining of the consequences of alcohol intake.
- Fostering a differentiated, rebellious and rebellious character (bad boy image)
Except for caffeine (a single can of soda provides the same amount of caffeine as three or more cups of filtered coffee), which is known to be stimulating, the other ingredients do not justify these claims.
Improves athletic performance, but with side effects
In recent years, energy drinks have also become fashionable among athletes. It is estimated that half of them regularly consume during training or before competing. However, its use is not without side effects.
Although recent studies have shown that these energy drinks improve athletic performance between 3% and 7%, they also cause undesirable effects. According to this study, the group that drank energy drinks more frequently suffered insomnia, nervousness, and the level of arousal after the competition, effects traditionally related to the consumption of caffeinated drinks.
A responsible consumption of these drinks would be to take them occasionally at specific moments of physical decline, always without abusing and never continuously.
