Addiction to Energy Drinks
Can there be an Energy Drinks Addiction?
What is an energy drink?
This is a kind of beverage containing ingredients are purported to boost the energy levels in the body. These drinks are marketed as providing both mental and physical stimulation due to its paramount ingredient, caffeine. It may sometimes be carbonated and also added sugar or other sweeteners. Herbs extracts and amino acids are also common ingredients to the energy drinks though in very small quantities.
Is energy drink addictive?
Caffeine is a stimulant and it acts by stimulating the central nervous system, which has effect on the brain and hence making you feel wonderfully alert though in the actual sense you are tired. This is so because the caffeine stimulated the nervous system and consequently blocking the message that tells your brain that you are tired. The effect induced by caffeine, is pleasant to many people, but to some it may result to anxiety, depression and other unpleasant side effects.
Energy drinks often contains caffeine or sugar which can affect the neurotransmitter causing temporal energy boost. These are the brain chemicals which regulate the human moods and behaviors, and if they can be stimulated, they can make our bodies have a feel of energy gain. This is the property that the energy drink manufacturers capitalize on. It simply works by blocking the messages which would otherwise trigger energy needs.
What are the side effects of energy drink?
The main cause of side effects in energy drinks is the high amounts of caffeine in them. Though some of the other ingredients can also have some side effects, the main side effects which are attributed to energy drinks are related to caffeine. Thus the side effects that we will look at here may be similar to those of caffeine addiction particularly.
The following are the main side effects of energy drinks:-
- Risk of cardiac attack – caffeine which is an ingredient of energy drinks is known to cause heart diseases. Taking of energy drinks leaves a person under a very high risk of getting a cardiac arrest. For those with history of heart diseases, this cardiac arrest can occur just after a few energy drinks. Researches done on the effects of energy drugs on the human body have indicated that energy drinks causes forceful heart contractions, which could be very harmful to some with certain heart conditions.
- Chronic headache – since caffeine is addictive, reduction or too much caffeine can cause severe headache due to the withdrawal symptoms of caffeine. Therefore taking too much energy drinks can lead to severe headaches.
- May lead to insomnia – since energy drinks stimulate the rain to keep a person awake/alert, its abuse may cause someone to miss sleep. The lack of sleep can be very harmful to your body, since it affects your drive to perform other concentration heavy tasks.
- Can lead to Type 2 Diabetes – this is a type of diabetes which results from too much sugar in the body. Since these energy drinks many of them have high levels of sugar, their consumption may lead to typpe2 diabetes.
- Addiction – another risk or side effect of taking energy drinks is addiction. The ingredients of the energy drinks such as caffeine and sugars are highly addictive. Addiction itself is a danger to your health, but the biggest problem is that the addiction will make you dependent on energy drinks and thus you cannot survive without taking them. This will even put you to a much bigger ganger of the side effects of the individual ingredients of the energy drink.
- Jittering and nervousness – when caffeine is taken in high levels into the body, it causes some people to shake and be nervous. The energy drinks are high in caffeine and thus when frequently taken, they can lead to this side effect.
- Interaction with prescription drugs – it has come to the knowledge of scientists that, some of the ingredients of energy drinks can interact with the prescription drugs, especially those meant for depression treatment.
Should energy drinks be made illegal?
The debate on whether energy drinks should be declared illegal has been ongoing in many areas of the world. Some countries are in the process of banning the sale of the drinks, especially to underage. Among the noticeable countries which have come out to show the world that energy drinks should be banned is Lithuania.
The recent reports are that, “Lithuania has banned the sale of energy drinks to anyone under 18 on the basis of health concerns. The ban will take effect in November 2014 after it was approved by parliament in May. Lithuania’s health
ministry said it was setting a precedent within the European Union.” The message from the state read, “According to our survey, a majority of other nations say that they only have recommendations in place, not bans,” ministry official Almantas Kranauskas said. “I think it will serve as an impetus for other countries. Many of them are still hesitating and might be influenced by the lucrative energy drinks industry.”
Can there be an Energy Drinks Addiction?
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