College students are closely related to energy drinks. Every night we see students with serious faces, laptops, and 5 hour energies. It seems quite useful. What happens after drinking 5 hour energy? Are there side effects?
First, in general, we know energy drinks contain plenty of caffeine, sugar, and other chemicals. And we are scared by sensational news like Caffeinated Drink Cited in Reports of 13 Deaths. And we continue to drink and get good grades. What is really going on??????
This study conducted by Marczinski Cecile raises meaningful points. “Participants (n=14) completed a three-session study where they received the energy shot, a placebo control, and no drink. Following dose administration, participants completed subjective Profile of Mood States ratings hourly for 6 hours. Participants also repeatedly completed a behavioral control task (the cued go/no-go task) and provided blood pressure and pulse rate readings at each hour. The results turns out that consumption of the energy shot did improve subjective state, as measured by increased ratings of vigor and decreased ratings of fatigue. However, the energy shot did not alter objective performance, which worsened over time. Importantly, the energy shot elevated both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.”
The study is designed perfectly. The double blinded trial with placebo control shows the most direct effects of the energy drink. However, the sample size of 14 is too small to rule out the possibility of happening by chance. So I find another study conducted by David Apotov to further confirm the results.
David predicts that the energy drinks will have effects on blood pressure, heart rate, heart rhythm irregularity, and brain activity. Involved more than 100 participants, David also conducted double blinded trial with placebo control, and he got the following results.
The charts are quite clear. With no doubts,
the regular 5- Hour Energy drink showed a trend towards a significant increase in systolic blood pressure and a trend towards a significant increase in heart rhythm irregularity energy drinks do something to hour body which may be potential risks of our health. The companies always claims that a regular amount will not hurt. However, who can define regular for everyone. And with true stories like this one: Anais Fournier, 14-Year-Old Girl, Dies After Drinking 2 Energy Drink. We have to reconsider should we continue to drink energy drinks.
Using the risk measurement method in Andrew’s class, we may get the answer that it is less possible to die from energy drinks than marry Kim Kardashian. However, health problems can be progressive. It is different from car crash. It is true that only 1 in a million people die from energy drinks, but if we count the number of people who have bad body reaction after drinking five our energy, will that be 9 in 10? At least people will get dizzy after more than 20 hours awake.
As for my personal opinion. I do not recommend energy drinks. First, there must be some side effects, and I think everyone knows that. But humans always assume themselves are the lucky ones, so they overlook those implicit potential risk to their health. And second, no matter what is inside the little bottle, it didn’t give you real energy. 5 year energy only stimulates you to stay up and consume your own energy. Where the extra energy comes from? Can we avoid making up for overconsumption of our own energy? Most of us can easily get the answers. But ignores them and keep hurting our own bodies. Stop that, try to be responsible to your health!!
I have never had energy drinks because I have always heard that there are negative side effects. After reading your post, I am pretty sure I am going to stick to just drinking water. I looked up more information on energy drinks and I found the top 15 dangers of energy drinks. http://www.caffeineinformer.com/top-10-energy-drink-dangers
I am sure drinking one energy drink to stay awake studying will not cause cardiac arrest (one of the top 15), but it is important to not drink them on a continuous basis.
Please excuse my other comment on this blog, as it seems my links did not work! I agree with you and Caroline that there must be better ways of getting more energized. This got me wondering how caffeine (a main ingredient in 5 hour energy) works and how it keeps us awake. I found an article that explains how caffeine blocks adenosine from entering adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a chemical our bodies naturally produce that over the course of a day fill into these adenosine receptors that begin slowing down cell activity. This makes us feel more and more tired and lets us know we need to rest. Since caffeine has a very close chemical makeup to adenosine, it can fill in these adenosine receptors, which blocks adenosine from doing its job. This process will certainly make you feel more awake. However, like you mentioned, these various energy drinks that contain caffeine have many negative consequences such as increased blood pressure and irregular heart rhythm. So how else can we lower these adenosine levels in the brain? Sleep! Sleep is known to rapidly decrease the amount of adenosine in one’s brain. To me, this definitely seems like the healthier and more efficient option. The relative risk of taking an energy drink compared to taking a nap seems quite substantial. It would be interesting to see a study that is able to find an exact relative risk. Think about it. What seems more harmful? Drinking ten energy drinks, or taking ten naps!
I agree with you and Caroline that there must be better ways of getting more energized. This got me wondering how caffeine (a main ingredient in 5 hour energy) works and how it keeps us awake. I found an article that explains how caffeine blocks adenosine from entering adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a chemical our bodies naturally produce that over the course of a day fill into these adenosine receptors that begin slowing down cell activity. This makes us feel more and more tired and lets us know we need to rest. Since caffeine has a very close chemical makeup to adenosine, it can fill in these adenosine receptors, which blocks adenosine from doing its job. This process will certainly make you feel more awake. However, like you mentioned, these various energy drinks that contain caffeine have many negative consequences such as increased blood pressure and irregular heart rhythm. So how else can we lower these adenosine levels in the brain? Sleep! Sleep is known to rapidly decrease the amount of adenosine in one’s brain. To me, this definitely seems like the healthier and more efficient option. The relative risk of taking an energy drink compared to taking a nap seems quite substantial. It would be interesting to see a study that is able to find an exact relative risk. Think about it. What seems more harmful? Drinking ten energy drinks, or taking ten naps!
I definitely agree with your advice to stay away from energy drinks. I received a pack of Red Bull recently, and decided to get rid of it because of the story that my mom always told about how one of her best friends drank so much Red Bull that he ended up burning a hole in his stomach and ultimately dying. That is such a scary idea, and when there are so many alternative ways to get energized, I just think it’s best to stay away from them. I’m sure it is good at times to be more energized so you don’t sleep in class or you can get all of your work done, but there are most definitely better options. I found an article that discusses ways to get more energy, and it’s definitely worth reading!