Energy Drinks effect on the brain

When I was working, I always had an energy drink after work. I came home one day and my mom told me that all energy drinks are bad for you, so I started thinking. Can energy drinks also affect the brain? That’s how I got interested in this topic!

From all that I have herd. Energy drinks mostly affect the muscular system. I already knew this though so, I wanted to see how many if any energy drink related deaths there were! I was shocked to find out that there are four documented deaths from energy drink consumption. There were also five recorded seizers. This is scary for me personally because I don’t actually know how many energy drinks I have consumed in the past.

The effects that these drinks have directly on your brain, is that they are blocking adenosine. This chemical in the brain is what causes sleep, so that’s why if you’re tired and need a boost, you drink energy drinks! But when this happens your body thinks it is being put in an emergency situation. This causes the body to release adrenaline. Adrenaline causes your heart to beat fast, and makes your liver release sugars into the bloodstream, thus giving you energy. The drinks also give you a false sense of energy by affecting your levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical in the brains pleasure center that is making you feel like you have energy!

Mostly energy drinks are moderately safe, but like everything it can be harmful in large quantities. If you were to go and, have one energy drink a week. You would be completely okay and you would have no risks. Then theirs the other side let’s say you drink around two cans a day and you start to become dependent on this supplement. Then you can suffer from tremors, rapid heartbeat, and though highly unlikely Death!

In all reality though there are very little effects on the brain when consuming energy drinks. I’m not saying there still good for you, but you’re not going to have to worry about your brain activity when drinking your monster or red bull. The main risks are mostly in your heart! So please drink energy drinks responsibly!

       What do you think is a reasonable amount of energy drinks to have in a day?

       What effects do you feel after having energy drink?

        How do you feel emotionally about energy drinks and there effects?

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8 thoughts on “Energy Drinks effect on the brain

  1. I found this blog very interesting because I used to think drinking energy drinks made me more awake and focused, then one day I realized the next day it gave me headaches and I felt light headed. I did not know that energy drinks caused around four documented deaths a year! This was a crazy fact to me! I also did not realize that energy drinks blocked a hormone which allows you to sleep; this is a natural part of your body being blocked so that cannot be good. I am glad to hear that having one energy drink every now and then is not a bad thing. Here is some more information about energy drinks. http://www.energyfiend.com/energy-drink-side-effects

  2. Laura, there actually is a difference in the type of caffeine used in coffee and the type used in many of the energy drinks on the market today. In coffee there is just straight caffeine which in moderation is not bad for you, unless you’re sensitive to caffeine. In energy drinks though in a 20oz can of red bull there is more caffeine then 4 cups of coffee, and of that caffeine there are usually three main types Taurine, Ginseng, and lastly regular caffeine. Because there is so much caffeine in each energy drink it can cause dependents faster. So yes there is a difference in caffeine from energy drinks to coffee.

    Hope this was helpful.

    http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/energy-drink.htm

  3. Personally, I’m not a fan of energy drinks – but I do love my coffee! I don’t function without my morning cup and I swear I can feel it immediately tingle through my veins. Is there a big difference between coffee (caffeine) and what is in energy drinks? Don’t they say coffee, in moderation, is good for you?

  4. I have actually had this come up at work before. There was a girl with unexplained tremors, heart flutters, and fainting. She ended up having a big medical workup to look at possible causes. Nothing was ever found. Then it was discovered that she was drinking multiple energy drinks a day. When she stopped, so did her symptoms.

  5. Interesting! I knew energy drinks could lead to increased heart rate, but I didn’t know how much they affected brain chemistry. I know there are many different ingredients in energy drinks, is there one in particular that affects your brain the most?

  6. I do not believe that energy drinks would be healthy for anyone at all. Having an energy drink to stay up longer or to have a little boost of energy is not worth risking your health. By drinking energy drinks you are dehydrating your body and speeding up your heart rate at a rate so fast that can cause you to have heart palpitations which can be extremely dangerous. To read into the topic further I suggest you take a look at the link I have posted at the bottom.

    http://brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/energy_drinks.php

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