Energy Drinks Rationale Essay

Rationale Energy drinks were maufactured for the purpose of providing mental and physical stimulation for a short period of time. They are specially formulated for people who needs extra energy and are looking for a temporary mental and physical booster in order to get through day to day’s activity. Energy drinks sprung in the global market wayback 1997 with Red Bull being the very first product that hit the market. Energy drinks contain different ingredients such as caffeine, sugars, taurine, ginseng, guarana extract, and other ingredients such as vitamins and amino acids. Indeed, energy drinks are useful especially for those people who are exposed to heavy work and thinking and need an extra energy to do so. But along with the benefits that one may get in ingesting energy drinks comes the negative effects it may give in one’s body. The energy drink market is a fast-growing market, as it remains as the most dynamic segment on the soft drinks market, with strong growth in most market, according to Zenith International. It is most popular to athletes, people in professions, and students. This study is conducted to study the good and bad effects energy drinks may bring to those who ingest it, focusing specially on college students who are most likely exposed to different kind of stress and energy-draining activities such as studying. Since the focus of the study is towards the college students, the research’s aim is to explain the effects of energy drinks to the college student’s health and school performance, to weigh the good effects and the downside of ingesting it, to suggest some ideas for the betterment of the situation or for the elimination of problems encountered, and to find some alternatives for those situations which are found and proven ineffective. The discovery of energy drinks has been phenomenal. Its global consumption over the last five years has grown by about 10% anually, and now it is sold in over 160 countries worldwide, with 44% of it purchased in convenience strores and 56% purchased in bars and other places. Most of its consumers ae students. Indeed, energy drinks are very helpful to those students who need to stay awake late at night to study for a test, who are making reports, projects, assignments and other schoolworks. Energy drinks contribute in staying awake and focus. But mcuh to our knowledge, energy drinks has limitations. They  may provide extra energy, but it is temporary. They just stimulate the body and brain over a short period of time. They also do not provide an effective way of rehydrating our body and stay in our stomach longer than water because of high sugar concentration. Energy drinks, when taken up without precaution, may cause a serious problem to one’s body. Energy drinks contain caffeine, a primary content of coffee. The caffeine content of an enery drink is about 80 mg per 250 ml, equivalent to one cup of coffee. But there are energy drinks sold in larger containers, which means more caffeine content. Caffeine overdose may cause side effects such as nervousness, insomnia, palpitation, dizziness, nausea, and headache. There were reported cases of hospitalizations due to these symptoms, and even death. According to Dr. Matteo Cameli. from University of Siena, despite of its dominant bad effects to the body, they found a health benefit that it may bring in one of their studies. He explained that energy drinks enhance the contractions of both the left and right ventricle of the heart. This may be because of the effect of taurine which stimulates the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. But despite this effect, he still added that energy drinks raise the risk if cardiometabolic disease. Most cases of energy drink symptoms and toxicity are mainly caused by the effects of high-caffeine intake of the body. Most of the labels of energy drinks containers don’t really specify the contents, warnings and dosage that’s why harmful events occurs. For example, energy drinks contain guarana, which contains caffeine, but the caffeine content is not specified in the label, therefore the caffeine content of that energy drink might be higher than what is reflected. Also, most of the college students are not really typical on what is written on the labels. They must be aware on what is written on labels such as recommended use, recommended dosage, intended population, precaution, and list of ingredients. They must also be aware that the maximum recommended dosage in general is one or two cans a day. It is necessary to read the labels before purchasing a product. There are alternative ways to boost energy without taking in energy drinks, such as making one’s own energy drinks by means of natural ingredients such as fruits. In that way, they can make sure that what they are drinking are safer compared to over-the-counter energy drinks.