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Consumption Specifics Excerpted from Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: a guide to energy drinks By Danielle Robertson Whether an energy drink is safe for you, specifically, depends on who you are. It also depends on how you consume the product. Without Water Caffeine has a mild dehydrating effect so someone on the verge of dehydration may become even more dehydrated if they have caffeine. Minimal dehydration (12 percent of body weight in fluids) can slow down metabolism and make you feel thirsty and slightly fatigued. The solution to this fatigue is not an energy drink, it's plain old-fashioned water (or water with cucumber slices in it if that's more your style). Consuming an energy drink won't quench your thirst and it could worsen your degree of dehydration. If dehydration reaches 4 percent (meaning a 135 pound woman now weighs about 130 pounds), symptoms include lagging pace, weariness, sleepiness and apathy. Again, these symptoms of sleepiness and weariness are not to be used as reasons to consume an energy drink – doing so is neither a good idea nor safe. Without Food Consuming an energy drink on an empty stomach is never a good idea. Some of the common ingredients can irritate the stomach lining and trigger dizziness, or nausea. Sure, you might know someone that has coffee or tea for breakfast every day with no problems. Coffee and certain types of tea can irritate an empty stomach, but those unwanted symptoms are less likely if the coffee is consumed with cream, milk, sugar or whip cream. Caffeine in general can irritate the stomach but that's not the only reason energy drinks make a poor breakfast. Have you ever taken a multivitamin before eating breakfast? If so, you might've felt queasy soon after. Some vitamins and minerals irritate the lining of an empty stomach, leading to inflammation and nausea. On top of that, bonking is another consequence of having an energy drink on an empty stomach. In the sports world, "bonking" or "hitting the wall" means to reach the point where the body has depleted its glycogen stores in the liver and muscles. The body is literally running on empty. The body uses up some of these glycogen energy stores while you sleep, which is why getting a quality breakfast is so important. Energy drinks with fruit juice don't count as a quality breakfast. If you need caffeine in the morning (join the club) just give some real food a head start to your stomach before you reach for caffeine. Without Fail The safety of a supplement depends on many different factors, including how often a person consumes the supplement. Vitamins are the perfect example of the importance of frequency. Multi-vitamins have specific instructions on the label indicating how many vitamins to take at one time and how many to take in one day. It's common knowledge that ignoring these instructions can make someone ill, and that's one of the concerns with vitamins that look like candy. Frequency is just as important for energy drinks as it is for vitamins and aspirin. There are four different frequencies that affect caffeine safety, but to truly understand them, you must first understand half-life. Half-life The true meaning of the term "half-life" does not involve marriage, video games or unicorns. Half-Life, the video game, was released in 1998 as a science fiction first-person shooter game about a theoretical physicist in a post-apocalyptic world. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a half-life is a cursed life, punishment for drinking the blood of a unicorn. In chemistry, the half- life of a compound or molecule is how long it takes to reach the half-way point in the process of breaking down. Caffeine molecules are broken down and metabolized by the liver, and for some people it may take up to six hours to break down half the amount of caffeine ingested. Every person metabolizes caffeine differently because every person has different lifestyle factors that make their metabolism unique. Multiple servings of any caffeinated beverage in a short time span can be hazardous just because it takes the body so long to process the caffeine. Knowing how long it takes you, personally, to metabolize caffeine will help you avoid caffeine toxicity. In other words, how long after the first sip of a caffeinated beverage do you feel alert? How long after that do you feel like the caffeine has worn off? The more you pay attention to your body and mind, and also to how your surroundings affect your level of fatigue, the easier it'll be to answer these questions. Frequency Knowing how long it takes your body to process caffeine will help you avoid overdosing, but the following four frequencies will also help you stay safe. Milligrams per Day Consuming up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is considered safe for the healthy adult population. This limit was determined by the Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate of Health Canada. The FDA uses this limit because it's based on a comprehensive review of published studies on the effects of caffeine on human health (Nawrot 2003). Essentially, the authors of this review searched all published studies on human health and caffeine, then determined the overall consensus among the studies. The consensus was consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine per day doesn't pose a threat to the heart, the bones or male fertility, and doesn't cause general toxicity or increased incidence of cancer. Consuming caffeine safely means not exceeding this 400 milligrams per day limit. Milligrams per Serving If a caffeinated product has 400 milligrams of caffeine per serving, that amount is safe for one day, but it could be way more than your body can handle in one shot (pun intended). Before consuming an energy drink, look at the number of milligrams of caffeine per serving AND the number of servings per container. Not all caffeinated beverages list the milligrams of caffeine per serving so, to ensure your safety, choose the ones that do. The alternative is to take only one sip every 20 minutes to see how the product affects you. Consuming caffeine safely means paying attention to milligrams per serving. Milligrams per Hour The best way to ease into a new caffeinated beverage is one sip at a time. This sounds quite simplistic, because unless you have the mouth of a pelican or the thirst of a Frat Boy, you probably already drink liquids one sip at a time, right? In this case I mean take one sip of that caffeinated beverage, and then wait 20 minutes to see how you feel. That one sip could be all you need to feel refreshed or to satisfy a craving. Remember, the placebo effect is real. Also remember the boy from the energy shot adverse event report – he had a history of drinking energy drinks, but it was the multiple servings of an energy shot he'd never tried before that caused the seizure. Limiting your milligrams of caffeine per hour is a good way to limit the risk of consuming too much. Milligrams per Week – caffeine tolerance The "caffeine headache" is a real condition, and caffeine withdrawals are not a myth. It's true that drinking coffee all the time can lead to a tolerance. A coffee newbie might be fine with a short non-fat mocha, but a veteran coffee drinker demands nothing short of a Venti Americano. Drink an energy drink or a cup of coffee every single day and you may find your body getting used to it. When you start needing more caffeine to feel that same energy boost, you're heading toward the upper intake levels of safe consumption. Consuming caffeine safely means keeping track of how many milligrams of caffeine you consume throughout the week. Key Concept Review Safety of a caffeinated product depends on how it's used. Consuming caffeine safely means: Not consuming it while dehydrated; Not consuming it on an empty stomach; Calculating your own personal caffeine half-life; and Keeping track of the four frequencies of caffeine consumed (milligrams per day, per serving, per hour and per week).
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enery drinks, caffeine, safety, ingredients, B-vitamins, half-life,
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