Liquid Lightning Bolts: Energy Beverages, The Promises, Hype and Truth

If your car were making noises or running slowly you could go to a trusted mechanic and have it repaired properly so it would run well for a long time.  However, you could also go to the auto-parts store and spend $19.99 on a product with a name like "Octane-Insane Booster", pour it into your gas tank and see if it solves your problem.  You would probably find that you had wasted 20 bucks and decide to get and oil change and a tune up. 

If your body feels tired and is moving slowly, you can rest, eat well, take care of yourself properly, or there are cans and bottles of products that promise to rev you up and keep you fully functional even though your body is clearly telling you that you need rest and care. 

Let's review some of these products. 

Sport drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are marketed primarily as products that rehydrate.  They suggest that they replace carbohydrates, electrolytes, as well as missing water.  They do not suggest that the user will not need to sleep or will have more energy other than feeling better for being hydrated. 

True energy drinks like "Red Bull", "Rockstar", "Monster", "Full Throttle", and "5 Hour Energy" all derive their energy delivery from caffeine.  With the exception of "5 Hour Energy" there is also a significant amount of carbohydrate.  That means the "energy" is a sugar rush and a "sugar rush" tends to have a quick onset, last a short time and then end with a dull, slow feeling. 

Each of the energy drinks add 10 - 20 dietary supplements in form of vitamins and herbs with unproven effects.  Some of the ingredients could cause dehydration which could be detrimental to someone participating in athletic or heavy physical activity.  There is no clearly stated advantage to most of these ingredients other than a vague "energy" claim without any data to support the claims.  

Energy drinks are probably not significantly dangerous, but it is probably better to work toward getting adequate rest, addressing sleep problems and then forcing alerness won't be necessary. 



Darius Zoroufy, M.D.



Reference: 
Higgins, John P, et al, "Energy Beverages:  Content and Safety", Mayo Clin Proc, Nov 2010; 85(11)1033-1041.