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I had a friend who drank a “Five Hour Energy” drink right before a soccer game a couple weeks ago. It was a morning game and he felt like he needed more energy. During the game, he didn’t feel so good. He regretted it completely.
However, so many do drink an energy drink before exercising because they believe it’ll give them the energy they need to finish their workout. I feel like it’s a bad idea. My friend felt like it was a bad idea too.
I do drink energy drinks once in awhile but I never drink it before playing soccer or exercising. The reason is they are filled with a lot of caffeine, herbal supplements, and sugar. All those pose health risks including:
- Restlessness. Drinking too much makes you feel jittery. Too much caffeine gives you tremors, headaches, nausea, and insomnia.
- Increased heart rate. The caffeine and stimulants increase your heart rate. This could be bad if you’re mixing it with an intense exercise.
- Dehydration. Some studies out there say caffeine causes dehydration while others say it doesn’t.
- Weight gain. Most energy drinks are loaded with sugar! All that sugar gets turned into fat in your body. So why drink a bunch of sugar and then go exercise to try and work off that sugar? Even if it’s sugar free, the reasons above still would make it a bad choice to drink before exercising.
Have you ever noticed some energy drinks suggest you only drink half first and see how you feel? That’s some potent stuff. I read an article before where a young man drank two of that particular kind and had to be rushed to the hospital.
So what should you drink instead? Water. H20. It’s so good for you. Unless you are exercising for over 60 minutes, you don’t need anything but water. If it’s over 60 minutes, some Gatorade won’t be bad.
Just no energy drinks or keep them in moderation in your life. You’ll feel much better!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My hubby lurks around those energy drinks every so often. I don’t believe in their claims of super powers. H2O is what we need.
Does your hubby drink a lot of water usually? I’m addicted to water, if that’s even possible.
I drink a Red Bull from time to time but I still feel tired after that! So I don’t believe it either. I haven’t tried other brands of drinks like Rockstar or Monster, which might be stronger.
I think it’s psychological. We want to believe we have more energy than what the drink is really giving us.
Relying on energy drinks is detrimental to ones health. As what you’ve said, it has a lot of caffein and sugar. Sugar counters the proper functioning of our growth hormones.
I didn’t know sugar affects the proper functioning of our growth hormones. I’ll have to remember that. Thanks for reading!