The Popularity Of Energy Drinks And Their Impact On Health

The popularity of energy drinks in the entire world has exploded in recent years, especially in the United States. According to the source by Nielsen (2019), since 2015 to 2018, energy drink sales in the United States from 2.8 billion U.S. dollars achieved to 3.14 billion U.S. dollars. Thus, why are many people willing to purchase energy drinks? Now the world moves so much faster that we have to make every endeavor to keep up with its pace. It is a common phenomenon that many people have to work on their strenuous tasks until midnight, which prevents them from attaining normal sleep standards. Then energy drinks or coffee will become your best companion. Actually, the only concept we are familiar with about energy drinks is that they can help us be energetic. But what is the definition of energy drinks? “Energy drink is a usually caffeinated soft drink supplemented with vitamins, minerals, and/or herbs, used to stimulate concentration, memory, or reaction time, or to reduce sleepiness.” (..) But are energy drinks really helping people? In fact, energy drinks can be more harmful to our health than we imagine. From now on, people should limit energy drinks. The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body, and it is crucial to protect the health of our heart. However, caffeine and other elements in energy drinks can boost heart rate and blood pressure. In 2007, a 28-year-old Australian man consumed eight cans of energy drinks containing 80mg of caffeine in seven hours, leading to cardiac arrest. The patient had no history of chest pain.

In addition to caffeine, energy drinks may contain chemicals such as guarana, taurine, l'inosine, ginseng and yohimbine. But the safety of these ingredients has not been fully studied. Meanwhile, caffeine can cause heart cells to release calcium, affecting electrical signal that regulates the heartbeat, causing arrhythmias. Changes in sodium or potassium levels may also be associated with arrhythmias. The negative effects of energy drinks are more likely to appear for kids. On October 19, a girl’s parents in Maryland filed an improper death suit against the Monster Company. According to reports, the girl died after drinking two cans of 24 ounces of Monster energy drink in 2011. A spokesperson for Monster Energy told reporters that the company is still unclear whether the drink will cause death. Energy drinks are acceptable for specific groups of people. If the body does not lack a certain nutrient, people do not need to supplement the nutrition with energy drinks. Children are at the stage of development and do not need to do much more exercises. If these ingredients are added in excess, it will increase the burden of self-regulation for kids. Drinking energy drinks sometimes hurt people unconsciously, such as mental health and insomnia. 

All energy drinks contain sugar. When the sugar is ingested into the human body, it will cause blood sugar to rise, resulting in a feeling of fullness in the central nervous system. However, the blood sugar level caused by long-term drinking of energy drinks instead of water will increase, which will not only affect people's appetite, but also affect the normal intake of various nutrients. If the balance of your diet is broken and you start to lack certain nutrients, it is very likely to cause psychological problems. When I work on assignments or review with my friends at night, they sometimes drink a bottle of Red Bull. I acknowledge that people who drink energy drinks will have more vigorous and energetic than those who don’t drink. But in the long term, frequent drinking of energy drinks can affect people's sleep quality. Energy beverages can make people feel dynamic in a short time because the caffeine plays a role. Caffeine is a nerve stimulant that temporarily dispels drowsiness and restores energy. If people ingest a large amount of energy beverages containing caffeine for a long time, it will have an inhibitory effect so that the central nervous system will be in a state of hyperactivity without any sleepiness. After my friends drink Red Bull, I sometimes hear them complaining that flustered or insomnia often happens. But we did not think that it would be the impact of Red Bull, its original purpose should be to assist people, but we have never thought that energy drinks will bring such a great harm to people. 

Energy drinks can cause some damage to our teeth. Although our teeth seem to be just a small organ in our body, it is one of the most essential organs in our body, just like the heart. A lot of my friends would choose to drink a can of energy drink before the sports competition to keep their energy. But when I had dinner with one of my friends, his teeth were loose. The teeth are the strongest part of our bodies. And for people who have had tooth damage before, energy drinks can easily cause irreparable damage to the teeth. Accident like this situation happens not only to my friends. Vinny Pyner, a 21-year-old male university student in the UK, comprehended energy drinks can help people stay conscious. So he started to consume 6 cans a day, which is about 45 cans in a week. In initially, energy drinks were able to help him awake. After more than half a year, his teeth suddenly became painful. Even when he was eating apples one day, he broke four teeth. After careful examination, the doctor found that Vinny's teeth were all rotted. In fact, the main components of sugar and acid in energy beverages are citric acid and ascorbic acid, which not only corrode the outermost enamel of our teeth, but also cause discoloration of the teeth. Moreover, the various additives contained in the energy drinks have a strong corrosive effect on the teeth and damage the protective layer of enamel on the surface of the teeth. Once the enamel is damaged, symptoms such as soreness may occur, and pulp disease may also be caused. It is conceivable how serious the damage of energy drinks is to the teeth. 

Many countries have begun to prohibit selling energy drinks completely, which is unnecessary. Because if people can control the dose of energy drinks, in most cases the situation is not hazardous. Most of my friends who drink energy drinks are still very healthy. Because they do not depend too much on energy drinks.