Julia Liu

The energy drink market has recently been powering up: Monster Energy, a common energy drink brand, has seen its sales nearly tripled in the past seven years due to the increased mainstream popularity of fitness. The common slogan, “Red Bull gives you wings,” has become nearly a household saying in society. A new competitor, Prime Energy––an energy drink created by popular Youtubers Logan Paul and KSI––has emerged on the market as well. However, as of late, energy drinks have been under fire, with Prime being ousted from shelves in Canada due to rising health concerns. Energy drinks should be given greater restrictions, especially among adolescents and athletes, as not only do they include little benefits, and their high caffeine, sugar content, and acidity has the potential to harm consumers. 

Energy drinks are known to increase athletic performance, but in some cases, they can do little to nothing for an athlete’s abilities. According to BioMed Central, a trial was conducted to determine how Monster Energy may affect an athlete’s performance by testing it against a placebo. While some metrics such as resting heart rate increased, other measures such as the time-till-exhaustion (how long one can exercise for) and respiratory exchange ratio (how efficiently oxygen is being used by the body) were hardly impacted. That means, for some athletes, energy drinks are about as useful as sugar water; they do not enhance an athlete’s physical performance as much as some may believe. Similar results were found in an experiment by the  Physiology Department at the University of Dammam, with the placebo group and control group having very few differences in the time-till-exhaustion and respiratory exchange ratio. While energy drinks can help some athletes, their lack of consistency makes them a questionable choice if an athlete wants a reliable source of fuel.

In addition, because of the gross caffeine and sugar content of energy drinks, they can be very unhealthy, especially for adolescents. Many people see energy drinks as a better alternative to more common caffeinated beverages, such as soda; however, this could not be further from the truth. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, a 16-ounce energy drink can have anywhere from 70-240 milligrams of caffeine, compared to the 100 milligrams in an 8-ounce cup of coffee or 353 milligrams in a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola. This means that it is easy to over-consume caffeine in energy drinks compared to other caffeinated beverages. This is corroborated in a survey conducted by the National Library of Medicine in Canada, which asked younger people about their experiences with caffeine; results found that 48% experienced a faster heartbeat and difficulty sleeping because of high quantities of caffeine, while in some rare cases, individuals have even suffered seizures. In addition, according to the Guardian, UCL Eastman Dental found that 87% of athletes regularly drank energy drinks and that 49% of them had untreated tooth decay, caused by the high sugar and acidity of these beverages. While energy drinks are advertised as a healthier alternative to sugary or caffeinated beverages, they are just as much of a problem, if not more, than other drinks.

Finally, some of the positive effects that energy drinks claim to promote can instead have adverse effects. Energy drinks are advertised to be a tastier, healthier hydration alternative to water. However, according to Healthline, high caffeine content can lead to an increase in urination, and thus, dehydration. This can cause fatigue, muscle cramps, and headaches, making exercising even harder for athletes, thereby defeating the entire purpose of being a supposed better option as opposed to water. In addition, consuming large quantities of caffeine can cause caffeine crashes. According to Mind Body Green Health, caffeine crashes occur after a few hours of caffeine consumption, causing a lack of concentration and energy, and can result in exercising being much harder after an initial burst of energy. The significant side effects of energy drinks can pose difficult challenges for athletes to handle, leading to demands for restrictions on caffeine content to mitigate deleterious ramifications for athletes.

While at first glance, energy drinks may seem like a healthier alternative to water, their high amounts of sugar and caffeine can cause them to be more of a hindrance than a help. Exercising has become much more popular over the years, which has caused a spike in energy drink sales; however, if these products are poorly managed, they can end up causing serious problems for the athletic world. Limits should be placed on the caffeine content of drinks to reduce unhealthy side effects, especially among adolescents. To make working out a healthier and more enriching experience, the negative aspects of energy drinks must be lessened first.