It may be Time to Wake up to Energy Drinks’ Harm

New Delhi, October 6: In the midst of craze for energy drinks among Indian youth, the new study may be a wake call to save sleep from them.

The study has added one more item in the list of potential harms done by energy drinks. The study underlines the negative effects of energy drinks ending up as disturbing sleep. The study done in Spain by experts from the Camilo Jose Cela University (UCJC) has said energy drinks may ruin sleep too.

Energy drinks are flaunted as enhancing athlete’s performance but the study has found that in addition to enhancing performance, they may also end up as causing insomnia and nervousness.

In the study, sportsmen (football, basketball, rugby, volleyball, and tennis and hockey players) took the equivalent of three cans of energy drink or an energy drink placebo before a sports competition. Athletes increased their sporting performance by between three to seven percent but at the same time, the consumption also led to side effects typically found with other caffeinated drinks, the findings showed.

The concentration of caffeine (32 mg/100 ml of product) present in energy drinks provides a total of 80 mg of caffeine per 250 ml can, the authors noted. Energy drinks mainly contain carbohydrates, caffeine, taurine and B vitamins, with little difference in ingredients amongst the main energy drink brands, the researchers explained. The study appeared in the ‘British Journal of Nutrition’.

Previous studies have already ticked off energy drinks for other harms. Of course, it gives instant boost but its sugar and caffeine content does more harm than good. Indian youth are being increasingly drawn towards these drinks, driven by surreal claims attached to them.

When the boost wears off, the event called ‘sugar crash’ leads to tiredness. Sports nutritionists say they are certainly not for sporting activities. They dubbed them bad for bone because of quinine. They also lead to weight gain and also cause cavities in the mouth. Caffeine in them may be addictive as it happens due to tea and coffee.

There is advisory against blending energy drinks with alcohol. It can be dangerous because alcohol is a depressant, while the energy drink is a booster. The blending escalates urge for more and more alcohol.

With inputs from ians