High Caffine "Energy" Drinks

Big Hairy Wallapers

Hi there, I'm interested in your opinions.
Ideally informed opinions as opposed to a science lesson.

The marketing teams have successfully got many people drinking Energy drinks, Red Bull, Monster etc and their value equivalents.

I enjoy a cold 250ml can most mornings, I don't drink tea or coffee and do not feel as though I can't start my day or do anything if I don't have one.
I am not convinced it gives me wings or anything else.

Question is.... Are they bad for you?

I'm no elite athlete or couch potato but like to feel the fuel I'm putting in is essentially the right stuff the majority of the time.
As most regular cyclists, I assume, I don't smoke and only drink rarely and in moderation.

Just interested in your thoughts....

meanredspider

Read a study that suggests they are good for motorsport. There are probably better ways of getting your caffeine and carbs though.

finchy

Big Hairy Wallapers wrote:

Hi there, I'm interested in your opinions.
Ideally informed opinions as opposed to a science lesson.

The marketing teams have successfully got many people drinking Energy drinks, Red Bull, Monster etc and their value equivalents.

I enjoy a cold 250ml can most mornings, I don't drink tea or coffee and do not feel as though I can't start my day or do anything if I don't have one.
I am not convinced it gives me wings or anything else.

Question is.... Are they bad for you?

I'm no elite athlete or couch potato but like to feel the fuel I'm putting in is essentially the right stuff the majority of the time.
As most regular cyclists, I assume, I don't smoke and only drink rarely and in moderation.

Just interested in your thoughts....

Have a bowl of porridge instead. No caffeine but plenty of energy.

forcutty

Big Hairy Wallapers wrote:

Question is.... Are they bad for you?

Simple answer Yes

Complicated answer is that drinking coffee is known to inhibit the absorption of iron and calcium from food. Caffeine also has a diuretic effect and just one cup before exercise will trigger unwanted fluid loss. Within half an hour of drinking one or two cups, the flow of the blood to the brain is reduced by 10% to 20%. Combine that with the low blood sugar, in those who haven't eaten for a while, and you can start having pulpitations, feelings of anxiety or blurred vision. Withdrawal symptoms can occur after regular consumption of just one-to-two cups a day. Caffeinism, as it is sometimes called, shows up as migraine headaches and sickness. Drinking several cups of coffee a day increase one's susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists found a stong link between coffee and a biochemical marker for the disease and showed that people who drink four cups are twice as likely to test positive for arthritis. In excessive amounts, meaning more than whatever an individual's body can tolerate, coffee can cause nervousness, jitters, and rapid heartbeat.
The main concern is most people do not know their limits and cannot handle moderation. That is why it is bad.

Pigtail

I've twice had redbull to keep me awake when driving for exceptionally long periods. Both times I became very aware of my heart beating and was a bit worried about it.

There have also been studies reporting heart problems.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4537831.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1568575/Red-Bull-can-worsen-heart-risk.html

nwallace

meanredspider wrote:

Read a study that suggests they are good for motorsport. There are probably better ways of getting your caffeine and carbs though.

Yes they have been great for Motorsport, Red Bull have pumped loads of money into F1, Rallying, Moto-X etc. And Monster have pumped loads of money into Motorbike Road Racing.


Dunnoh about actual performance improvements, I know my brother drinks the crap between special stages and during road events. But he's in the "passenger" seat.

Big Hairy Wallapers

Thanks for your comments so far,
I have the bowl of porridge, with honey n dried fruit.
But often fancy the Red Bull and a banana when I'm driving an hour later, tend not to exercise until several hours later.
Guess my only vice will have to go as well!!

Cleat Eastwood

caffeine has no affect on me. I've never got it when people say they need it in the morning to give themselves a kick. Then again I think my tolerance is pretty high given that I can drink between 8 and 10 pints of tea coffee a day.

A decent brekky though, that does make a difference esp oats and banana

Herbsman

forcutty wrote:

Simple answer Yes

Complicated answer is that drinking coffee is known to inhibit the absorption of iron and calcium from food.

That's because of the tannic acid contained in tea and coffee, and not because of the caffeine. The guy was talking about caffeinated energy drinks, not coffee.

Herbsman

I'm repeating myself here but in terms of the risk of acute overdose, gram for gram, caffeine is way more dangerous than alcohol.

Two grams of caffeine can be enough to cause acute overdose. The average caffeine pill contains 50mg of caffeine (an 'average' espresso contains around the same amount), 40 of those contains 2 grams of caffeine, and Pro Plus comes in packs of 48. That's an OD for about £4, no age restriction as far as I'm aware.

Now, it would be difficult to OD on espresso unless you got someone to squeeze 40 of them into a bottle and necked it straight. But it would be quite easy to swallow one or more boxes of Pro Plus, and you can buy more than enough pure caffeine powder from MyProtein.co.uk to kill quite a lot of people.

Drink two grams of alcohol in the form of vodka or rum and you'll barely feel a thing. Except perhaps acute underdose... For comparison there are about 18 grams of alcohol in a pint of 4% lager, 8 grams in a 25ml measure of 40% spirit.

So that just shows how ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Big Hairy Wallapers

Awesome reply but you appear to be eating a pen!

I'm still not convinced.
I'm not trying to kill myself, I don't drink 8-10 pints of it a day.
I don't drink any tea or coffee and rarely any alcohol or fizzy drinks, I have a proper breakfast and ride several hours after drinking 250ml of 'poor mans red bull'

If anyone can suggest a better alternative that would be great because other than that I drink 3 ltrs of squash a day and that's it.

Herbsman

I wasn't suggesting that you might die, it was just an aside, barely relevant to your original question as yours is about long term use of small quantities. I just felt the need to type stuff.

Ollieda

I never really thought they made much of a difference. However when I was a support driver for a charity horse ride we were doing lots of long hours driving on around 4 hours sleep a night and on about the 4th day I had a red bull and noticed how much it did pick me up and help me get going in the morning. Also noticed the "crash" period later on where I felt completely drained, question is - is the "crash" period worse than how you were feeling before or does it just seem worse compared to the buzz you were on earlier?

UncleFred

I used to run an extreme sports business in a mediteranean resort and a guy working from me who was bi-polar, I didn't know it at the time. He started burning the candle at both ends and started drinking red bull type energy drinks to keep himself sharp at work and partying all night. He was getting through 4-6 cans a day, plus whatever he was drinking in the Vodka/Redbulls when he went out. The amount of energy drink consumned didn't mix well with his meds and he stopped taking them.

The result was a complete hyperactive, sleep deprived, manic mess which seemed to be verging on a pretty serious case of schizophrenia. He ended up flying back to the uk for some acute treatment.

Aggieboy

UncleFred wrote:

I used to run an extreme sports business in a mediteranean resort and a guy working from me who was bi-polar, I didn't know it at the time. He started burning the candle at both ends and started drinking red bull type energy drinks to keep himself sharp at work and partying all night. He was getting through 4-6 cans a day, plus whatever he was drinking in the Vodka/Redbulls when he went out. The amount of energy drink consumned didn't mix well with his meds and he stopped taking them.

The result was a complete hyperactive, sleep deprived, manic mess which seemed to be verging on a pretty serious case of schizophrenia. He ended up flying back to the uk for some acute treatment.

You didn't know him as Bhima, did you?