OnFitness Magazine - November/December 2021 - 37

37 WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM | VOL 22 NO 3 | 2021
THEOVERLOAD
DANGEROFENERGY
DRINKS
Lorraine Page
Do you
use energy
drinks like
" Rockstar, "
" Red Bull "
and " 5hour
Energy "
for a quick pickup? First,
there are no magic elixirs that
come without tradeoffs. If you
load up on the front end of the
day, you lose something on the
back end. Your need for rest and
recuperation can only be put off
for so long, then your body sends
you a bill for the difference.
And that difference can be big.
When you mess with your energy
output, overloading your body
chronically, you can mess up your
internal clock to some degree.
The other big issue with
energy drinks is their overload of
" energy " spiking elements-which
don't spike energy as much as they
just create the jitters and even
anxiety as a side effect. Some of
these drinks can include high
levels of caffeine and sugar.
Many combine a strong
amount of caffeine with a
substance called taurine. The
combination of caffeine and
taurine does improve alertness to a
significant degree, but it also
affects heart rhythm. And there are
some serious downsides.
The caffeine/taurine
combination has been considered
as a possible factor in some deaths
that have occurred after exercisers
consumed these energy drinks.
In California, a handful of
high school football players ended
up in the emergency room with
rapid heartbeat problems due to
these drinks. Some countries such
as France, Denmark, Norway, and
Uruguay have banned drinks
containing this combination.
There is also concern about
the ingestion of taurine due to the
response of lab animals. Rats that
were given taurine became
irritable, anxious, and some
engaged in self-mutilation. That
sounds similar to the effects of a
large amount of caffeine in the
system, which are rapid heartbeat,
nervousness, irritability, insomnia,
and increased blood pressure.
When you're getting hit by
these effects from two sources at
once (taurine and caffeine), the
result is an overload tsunami on
your body's system.
By themselves, the ingredients
may not be all that bad in very
small amounts. However, they are
often put in large amounts, and
combined with other ingredients
that also have similar effects on
the nervous system.
These drinks blast the adrenal
system into the hemisphere. The
adrenal system was not designed
to be turned on all the time.
The adrenal system should be
employed like a tourniquet -
needed badly now and then but
only for sporadic use. To turn it
on all the time and in huge
overload blasts can burn it out,
and lead to early aging.
Not everyone is fooled by
these drinks. The National
Federation of State High School
Associations has come out with
caution, stating that such
beverages should not be taken
before, during, or after physical
activity due to heightened risk of
potential heart illness and
dehydration. Interaction of these
energy drinks with alcohol can
magnify problems.
There has been some attempt
to curtail the drinks by limiting
the caffeine. Canada has put a
ceiling on the caffeine input,
limiting it to no more than a
hundred and eighty milligrams per
twenty ounces of beverage.
In the United States, there is
no limit on the amount of caffeine,
and if the industry labels it as a
dietary supplement, they are not
required to list the caffeine
content, and may even call it a
proprietary or energy blend.
Other ingredients may include
bitter orange, guarana, green tea,
yerba mate, Yohimbe, and more.
Toss some or all of these in with
the caffeine and taurine and your
body is in for a serious overload.
Another effect of these drinks
is that many acts as a diuretic,
draining the body of hydration
exactly when you need that
hydration the most (during or
after exercise).
Avoid these energy drinks and
get your " jolt " from your training
and a strong mind instead. Don't
make the makers of these drinks
wealthy just because they use
catchy names or ridiculously tiny
bottles. Z
Notable
chemicals
found in
fast-foods
Sodium phosphate
can be found in fastfood
coffee and
detergents.
Titanium dioxide can
be found in fat-free
ranch dressing and
sunscreens.
Dimethylpolysiloxane
can be found in
McDonald's
McNuggets and
silicone caulk.
Azodicarbonamide
can be found in
certain Subway bread
which can cause
asthma.
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OnFitness Magazine - November/December 2021

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