How do Energy Drinks Work

Energy drinks have taken the beverage market by storm, with more and more people resorting to these non-alcoholic beverages for their daily dose of energy. But do energy drinks really give you a boost as their manufacturers claim? On one hand, we have all those energy drinks reviews provided by the manufacturers which are obviously biased. On the other, we have a list of reviews by health experts which give these energy drinks a thumbs down for their alleged ill-effects on our health. Going through all these reviews and opinions, the end user is obviously left confused about whether these drinks are healthy or not. In such circumstances, understanding how they work can be of some help for sure.

How do Energy Drinks Actually Work?

Even though these non-alcoholic beverages are more than popular among masses, not many people can actually boast of knowing how these energy drinks facilitate that sudden burst of energy. In order to understand how they work, one needs to know what these energy drinks are made from. A look at the list of ingredients featuring on a can of some energy drink brands, and you'd realize that caffeine is a primary ingredient of these drinks. Similarly, these drinks also contain sugar, taurine, maltodextrin, creatine etc. Other than that, ginkgo biloba, guarana and ginseng extract also happen to be important constituents of these energy boosters. The list and quantity of ingredients tends to differ from one brand to another.

The so-called 'energy' that these drinks provide can be attributed to the ingredients that they have. The stimulating effects of caffeine - which is also found in coffee and tea, needs no introduction. In the same way, taurine is known to assist in heart rate regulation, muscle contraction, etc. Herbal supplements - like ginseng and gingko biloba, are known for their medicinal value. Other than all these ingredients, these energy boosting drinks also contain sugar and flavoring substances which are added to make them tastier. You also need to understand that energy drinks are not the same as sports drinks, as the latter, with their typical water, electrolytes and sugar content, are more often used to replenish fluids that are lost during a strenuous physical activity.

How do Energy Drinks Affect Your Body?

The inclusion of all these ingredients to energy drink help your body absorb it at a faster rate as compared to the rate at which your body absorbs plain water. The burst of energy that these energy drinks claim to provide is attributed to the presence of ingredients like caffeine and sugar in it. When you consume energy drinks, the caffeine in it blocks adenosine receptors - which restrict the central nervous system, and makes sure that the central nervous system functioning is not hampered. This in turn gives you the feeling of being all charged up. When the neuron activity in our brain begins, the pituitary gland triggers adrenaline release in the body.

The adrenaline release in turn increases heart rate and prompts the liver to release extra sugar in the bloodstream, which in turn results in production of extra energy in the body. While caffeine has a major role to play when it comes to energy drinks, other ingredients also have a specific role of their own. Most of these ingredients in the energy drink, including taurine, help in replenishing lost energy. When we indulge in some physical activity, the taurine level in body goes down which results in tiring of muscles. Drinking some energy drinks tends to restore the taurine level in body, and thus facilitates better muscle contraction which helps you do away with that feeling of tiredness and puts you into an energized mode.

While the manufacturers claim that energy drinks help in improving your endurance levels, there is no scientific evidence to suggest the same. They do give you a temporary boost - which can be attributed to the presence of ingredients like caffeine and taurine in it, but the same can also be derived from coffee and other caffeine rich products. Consuming these drinks on a regular basis does no good to your endurance levels. On the contrary, regular consumption of these beverages can cause harm to your health in a long term. At the end of the day, if temporary feeling of being charged up is what you call an energy boost, then energy drinks do help, but as far as overall health is concerned these drinks are not helpful at all.