By Malia Brown

Energy drinks are becoming a controversial topic as physicians and consumers raise safety concerns about the impact they may have on the human body over time.

It’s game day. Your heart is racing. Your nerves are shaking. Your mind is being bombarded with thoughts of winning, not letting your team down and exceeding your own personal expectations. The pressure is on! You have been preparing yourself physically and mentally for months, and your team is looking to you to bring home the victory. Under pressure, and in search of anything that will grant you a little extra stamina or endurance, you take an energy drink that promises to make you feel more alert, give you an energy thrust and take effect quickly. As the mixture of caffeine and high levels of other vitamins penetrate your system, you begin to “feel” re-energized and ready to dominate the event. But is the burst of power that you are experiencing real? Is the energy drink helping to improve your physical condition during an event, or is it threatening your health?

Energy drinks, shots and gels are becoming a controversial topic in the fitness world, as physicians and consumers question their performance effects and raise safety concerns about the impact that they can potentially have on the human body over time. Promising to deliver in speed and endurance, these energy supplements have become the go-to source for young collegiate athletes who are looking to maintain a steady balance of power and enhance their performance. They’re also popular with some athletes who compete in games and races even after college.

So, what is the secret behind these over-thecounter revolutions that are helping consumers stay energized in their daily lives?

Energy supplements, better known in the medical world as ergogenic aids, have been used for hundreds of years in one form or another to help athletes maximize their energy. Coming on the scene in the mid- 1990s, energy drinks and other popular energy supplements have invaded the market, growing in popularity among younger demographics. An energy drink is a liquid that can be ingested that contains various levels of caffeine and other ingredients such as taurine, guarana, high levels of glucose, herbs and B vitamins. All of these ingredients help to increase energy, but there is no required level for each element. This freedom allows manufacturers to have complete control in the effects that the product may have on consumers.

In 2008, doctors and scientists signed a petition to persuade the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require manufacturers to place a label on their product with the stimulant amount, just as they would with soft drinks. But, the petition was denied, making energy drinks not subject to the same guidelines as sodas and other legal by MALIA BROWN Energy drinks are becoming a controversial topic as physicians and consumers raise safety concerns about the impact they may have on the human body over time. stimulants on the market. With levels not being clearly stated on the bottle, there is an increase in safety concerns because there is no way to tell how many stimulants a person is taking in a given serving. Those high levels of stimulants can harm the consumer.

Every once in a while, it is OK to have an enhanced energy supplement to help increase your endurance or give you a boost of energy for an event, but when you begin to make these supplements a part of your daily routine, that becomes a problem.

“When you hear about people getting sick or dying from energy drinks, it is either because they don’t have the tolerance for the amount of caffeine that they are consuming, or because they can’t handle the high levels of glucose that cause their hearts to go crazy,” says North Carolina State University’s head athletic nutritionist, Kate Kirby. Energy drinks are very much under-studied, and the effects of taking them vary from person to person, but what seems to be consistent across the board is the health risks associated with the high levels of caffeine in the drinks.

“Emergency rooms are having more and more admissions because athletes have overindulged in using these energy supplements, drinks and shots,” says a registered dietician and sports nutritionist, Tracy Owens.

According to The Associated Press, large amounts of caffeine in the body elicit heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death. There have been numerous reports in the media about teenagers overdosing on energy supplements. Two of the most familiar are Dakota Sailor and Lanna Hamann.

Dakota Sailor was an 18-year-old high school football player from Carl Junction, Mo., who had a seizure and was hospitalized for five days after consuming two large Nos energy drinks. Lanna Hamann, a softball player from Arizona, was on vacation with family and friends in Mexico when she went into cardiac arrest and later died after consuming large amounts of energy drinks throughout the day. The various ingredients included in energy drinks have the potential to create a toxic environment in the body, and increase your chance of damaging your health.

“What we get into with energy drinks is, not only does it have caffeine, but it might have other stimulants in there,” Owens says. “So, now you are looking at products that have multiple stimulants in them, and each one has an effect on the central nervous system… and, there can be a rapid heart rate, high blood pressure and toxicities.”There is little evidence to support the widespread belief that energy drinks and supplements in the same category are the immediate answer to improve performance in sporting events. An article published in The New York Times reports that a study of collegiate runners found that after taking a sugar-free version of Red Bull, which had large amounts of caffeine, runners did not improve in their run-to-exhaustion times, and there were also problems with dehydration, nausea and diarrhea. There was no improvement in performance times because the athletes were so accustomed to taking the substance that their bodies had become used to the stimulating effects. This cumulative effect causes problems among athletes because in many cases they begin to increase their intake to reach that initial “feeling” of energy burst, and that causes major health risks.

So, why are energy drinks popular among teenagers and collegiate athletes? “I think partly, it is the way of our society,” Kirby says. “We want results and we want them now. We aren’t used to waiting on things, and the media sends out mixed messages to athletes who may or may not be educated or understand that they may not necessarily be the best long-term plan.”

The market for energy drinks in 2006 was $5.4 billion, and that number continues to grow by 55 percent each year. Through commercials and advertising in various print publications, companies market their products to teens and young adults, particularly young men.

Companies such as Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar appeal to younger crowds by selling them a lifestyle through advertising. Most of the ads are alluring and promote the idea of quick energy, which gives way to an enhancement of skills. Most collegiate athletes don’t have the time or the budget to prepare meals that might or might not improve their performance because of their heavy training and practice schedules. When it comes to energy, they need it immediately because their performance depends on it. Energy drinks and similar supplements appeal to the athletic lifestyle. That’s why the demand for them continues to increase.

THE BETTER ALTERNATIVE

There is an alternative source to maintaining and gaining energy that, over time, actually has great benefits for your physical and mental health: Food! Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are a great source of energy that work with the body’s natural processes to improve athletic performance. Eating sounds like such a clichéd solution to improve energy, but it actually works!

Carbohydrates are broken down into usable sugars that are absorbed into the bloodstream and provide four calories of energy per gram. Fats are a major source of stored energy that is held in the body on reserve, and they also aid in energy for the heart.

Proteins are a longer-lasting form of energy that is used when energy can’t be extracted from carbohydrates. “Without vitamins and minerals that come from a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables, our body doesn’t metabolize as efficiently as it can,” Kirby says. “It helps performance, it helps recovery, and it recycles energy for better recovery.”

Although food sounds like a pretty solid natural alternative for gaining energy, it isn’t a fan favorite among athletes. “Athletes don’t initially turn to the more natural supplements because it doesn’t come with the glamour,” Owens says. “But, what athletes need to understand is where true energy comes from. True energy for every single cell in your body comes from food and nutrition when it is broken down.”

The whole idea of eating almonds, or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to gain energy before a race isn’t as appealing as sipping on a cool energy drink because food has a longer reaction time than the energy drink, and eating wisely is a process that you have to remain consistent with in order to see continuous desired results. Owens recommends that you eat every three to four hours to maintain energy and remain alert throughout the day.

“A lot of the time, athletes get really busy… and they forget to eat,” Owens says. “That is how they show up to practice feeling wiped out, worn out and exhausted. Food is the source of true energy.”

In a society where we want everything from our food to our energy fast, we sometimes sacrifice our health for a temporary solution. Energy drinks are satisfactory in providing you with a boost of energy if you use them sparingly, but if you abuse them, there can be some substantial consequences to your health. Not all energy supplements are bad for you. Alternatives such as gels and goos have the proper amount of caffeine and stimulants that may increase performance for up to 30 or 60 minutes and not deplete your natural resources. The only problem with these alternatives is that they are only temporary. Food is the ultimate source for long-term energy, and over time eating right will help to improve your performance.