A look into energy drinks and their impact on you

According to a recent study, energy drinks are the most popular supplement in the American adolescent and young adult population, aside from multivitamins. More than a third of both male and female adolescents in the United States take these supplements on a daily basis. Strongest energy drinks are the most preferred supplement among young elite British athletes with reference to the survey  (41.7 percent of the 403 athletes surveyed).

energy drinks

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Caffeine in Energy Drinks

The desired intent for their use is assumed to be a motivation to lose or control body fat.Many competitive athletes, on the other hand, consume these energy drinks for their ergogenic properties i.e. energy drinks to promote stamina . Although ergogenic benefits have been seen with caffeine supplementation in doses equivalent to approximately 1.5-3.5 cups of automatic drip coffee in a 70-kg person, there appears to be a difference in ergogenic potential when caffeine is ingested in a food source (coffee or sports drink) versus its anhydrous form. 

Supplement firms frequently add many other substances to increase the stimulatory potential of caffeine in energy drinks in order to maximize its effectiveness. There are some energy drinks composed of natural caffeine which you can find here.

Weight Loss And Energy Drink

Caffeine has been shown to improve lipolysis, fat oxidation, and glycogen breakdown when used alone . However, when mixed with other thermogenic drugs, its efficiency appears to be amplified . Caffeine has been demonstrated to be an excellent supplement for raising metabolic rate and encouraging fat loss when used with ephedra.

The effect of long-term energy drink intake on weight loss has yielded some promising outcomes. Following 6 months of consuming an ephedrine and caffeine supplement, observed significant decreases in body mass and body fat, as well as beneficial changes in lipid profiles. A further study in women testing a combination of ephedra, caffeine, omega-3 fatty acids, and many vitamins over 9 months found significant reductions in body mass and body fat, as well as improvements in various metabolic markers like insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles .

 Energy drinks have also been shown to have a positive effect in short-term experiments without the usage of ephedra ingredients. A study found that after 28 days of taking the energy drink , healthy college-aged athletes had a significant drop in body fat and body mass. 

The Relationship Between Energy Drinks And Athletic Performance

Athletes frequently utilize energy drinks and energy shots to promote stamina as a pre-workout or pre-game energy supplement, aiming to enhance the quality of their training or sporting performance. Although caffeine has long been utilized as an ergogenic aid, consistent advantages have only been shown during endurance exercises, where time to fatigue is frequently claimed to rise. Caffeine’s capacity to change exercise metabolism by boosting fat oxidation, hence maintaining muscle glycogen levels, is suggested to be responsible for this delay in fatigue. Caffeine has also been suggested to improve strength and power performance by enhancing muscle contraction efficiency through accelerated mobilization of intracellular calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and/or by improving glycolytic regulatory enzyme kinetics, establishing a clear relation between energy drinks, including energy shots, and enhanced athletic performance.

Caffeine is often combined with additional chemicals to generate a synergistic impact and improve the likelihood of a performance response, making it ‘the strongest energy drink’. One such efficient energy drink is 9MM Energy.

Studies Supporting Energy Drinks

A pre-exercise energy drink  has been shown in several recent trials to delay exhaustion and increase the quality of a resistance training activity . When compared to subjects who consumed decaffeinated coffee, a combination of 450 mg of caffeine, 1,200 mg of garcinia cambogia (50 percent hydroxycitric acid), 360 mg of citrus aurantium extract (6 percent), and 225 mg of chromium polynicotinate in an enriched coffee drink significantly increased time to exhaustion during cycle ergometer exercise by 29 percent.However, no change in anaerobic power performance was found between those who took the supplement and those who took a placebo in the same research (decaffeinated coffee). 

Another study found that an energy supplement improved upper-body muscle endurance but had no effect on power performance during repeated Wingate anaerobic power tests . The increased training volume was also demonstrated to increase both the growth hormone and insulin response to exercise, implying that using this pre-exercise energy supplement improved the anabolic response to the workout.

Target Energy Drinks for Stamina

Energy drinks promote stamina, improve endurance and the quality of a resistance training programme; nevertheless, many athletes take them primarily for the stimulant effect, which helps them focus, alertness, and react faster. Although the data supporting this impact is sparse, it does provide evidence to back many of the athletes’ empirical claims. Energy drink has been proven to improve cognitive performance by improving choice reaction time, focus, and memory, all of which indicate increased alertness .

Applications in the Real World

  • Energy drinks are currently the most popular supplement among young adults and athletes. 
  • Although caffeine is the main active ingredient in these drinks, the combination of other substances, such as herbal and botanical chemicals, makes it impossible to make a general judgment about their efficacy as a pre-work out energy drink.
  • The answer to the efficacy and risk of an energy drink is dependent on the components contained within each supplement. 
  • The usefulness of these supplements in improving exercise endurance has been shown based on a number of studies, testing various energy drinks to promote stamina (e.g., delaying fatigue). 
  • Energy drinks, on the other hand, do not appear to have a substantial impact on strength and power performance, but they do tend to improve the quality of a resistance training workout. 
  • Furthermore, many strength and power athletes consume energy drinks for their stimulant properties. 
  • These energy drinks have been demonstrated to improve alertness, focus, and reaction time to diverse stimuli when consumed.

Conclusion

Beyond ENERGY, have also been found to promote stamina, boost fat utilization and increase energy expenditure. 

Several studies of varying lengths have produced intriguing findings showing that energy drinks may play a prime role in weight loss plans and may have a therapeutic effect when used in conjunction with food and exercise therapies. 

References

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/energy-drinks#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2010/02000/caffeine_and_energy_drinks.2.aspxhttps://www.center4research.org/energy-drinks-caffeine-calories/

Sam Jones
Sam Jones
My name's Sam and I'm a writer for Seen in the City. I am a digital nomad that travels the world and enjoy writing while on my travels. Some of my favourite past times are go-karting, visiting breweries and scuba diving!

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