Seven billion cans of energy drinks are consumed every year. Most energy drinks contain highly questionable ingredients such as taurine, introduced by Redbull over 20 years ago. Red Bull added Taurine to its energy drink 20 years ago. No one ever asked why up til now.
The taurine found in energy drinks is synthetic and can cause medical problems, according to recent studies (see Heart Problems with Synthetic Taurine). The cocktail gets even worse when it is combined with caffeine, as it is often the case in smart drinks (see Taurine and Caffeine).
Taurine is banned from the supermarket shelves in France, Denmark and Sweden, and other countries such as Australia and Canada are putting together regulation initiatives.
I drink energy drinks when I need to stay awake late and during long days of work. They're great when I need to drive back home after a long day of work. They're a great addition to my everyday diet.
What is painful to see sometimes is to what lengths the marketers take over the product development process. Most energy drinks come with so many other toxic ingredients (sorbitol, nutrasweet, sucralose) that the risk of ingestiong these products is greater than the potential mental boost. The same goes for drugs being reviewed by the Federal Government. This is why the FDA is mandated to examine on our behalf, what is good and bad with chemical substances (drugs). Most energy drinks are chemical substances but are not reviewed by the FDA.
So is there another choice? Coffee on its own is not a bad alternative as it doesn't come with all the artificial ingredients found in the Red Bulls and other products. Then there are some natural energy drinks which basically contain a stimulant (coffee, guarana or tea) plus a minimum of other ingredients. I recommend Guyaki Yerba Matte, GURU Energy Drink, and Sambason Energy. In the case of GURU and Sambason, they also have gone the extra step of making them with entirely organic ingredients.
Its encouraging to see that more and more smart young peope are shying away from the chemical cocktails that have crowded out more natural alternatives. Music icon Kanye West recently annouced his collaboration on a sugarfree organic and natural energy drink with GURU Energy Drinks. He has tremendous influence with today's youth culture. This should teach us that younger can sometimes mean much smarter.
The taurine found in energy drinks is synthetic and can cause medical problems, according to recent studies (see Heart Problems with Synthetic Taurine). The cocktail gets even worse when it is combined with caffeine, as it is often the case in smart drinks (see Taurine and Caffeine).
Taurine is banned from the supermarket shelves in France, Denmark and Sweden, and other countries such as Australia and Canada are putting together regulation initiatives.
I drink energy drinks when I need to stay awake late and during long days of work. They're great when I need to drive back home after a long day of work. They're a great addition to my everyday diet.
What is painful to see sometimes is to what lengths the marketers take over the product development process. Most energy drinks come with so many other toxic ingredients (sorbitol, nutrasweet, sucralose) that the risk of ingestiong these products is greater than the potential mental boost. The same goes for drugs being reviewed by the Federal Government. This is why the FDA is mandated to examine on our behalf, what is good and bad with chemical substances (drugs). Most energy drinks are chemical substances but are not reviewed by the FDA.
So is there another choice? Coffee on its own is not a bad alternative as it doesn't come with all the artificial ingredients found in the Red Bulls and other products. Then there are some natural energy drinks which basically contain a stimulant (coffee, guarana or tea) plus a minimum of other ingredients. I recommend Guyaki Yerba Matte, GURU Energy Drink, and Sambason Energy. In the case of GURU and Sambason, they also have gone the extra step of making them with entirely organic ingredients.
Its encouraging to see that more and more smart young peope are shying away from the chemical cocktails that have crowded out more natural alternatives. Music icon Kanye West recently annouced his collaboration on a sugarfree organic and natural energy drink with GURU Energy Drinks. He has tremendous influence with today's youth culture. This should teach us that younger can sometimes mean much smarter.
About the Author:
Dr. Frederik Gupta is a specialist in natural food and remedies and has written several articles on topics ranging from big pharma to dangerous supplements and other myths regarding our health and the food we eat. You can read his blog on Wordpress at Dr. Gupta.
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