Around 1.7 million people in the UK consume energy drinks two or three times a week. Every week a new one pops onto supermarket shelves in a new flavour with claims that they’re enriched with vitamins and minerals. Most worrying is that these drinks that are labelled ‘healthy’ often contain whopping amounts of caffeine (the latest by Tenzing has 200mg of caffeine and is the strongest on the market) never mind artificial sweeteners and a cocktail of chemicals. Unsurprisingly, the NHS have expressed their concern that these drinks that promise energy without calories, are also fuelling record cases of anorexia and eating disorders.
Eva Humphries, a registered nutritionist, shares their concern. “I spend the majority of my time steering people away from energy drinks in all their forms,” she says. “With high doses of caffeine and either artificial sweeteners or large amounts of sugar alongside a cocktail of stimulants such as guarana, L-carnitine and taurine. They have a really high cost to the body.”
While once it was the likes of Monster and Red Bull which has 32mg caffeine per 100ml, a new raft of drinks have steadily ramped up the caffeine. Prime Energy packs in 42mg of caffeine per 100ml. All of these however are dwarfed by Super Natural Energy which has a caffeine concentration of 60mg per 100ml.
Britain’s caffeine addiction isn’t waning either. According to the British Coffee Association, British consumers drink approximately 98 million cups of coffee per day. “I’d say stress is probably the biggest reason we turn to caffeine,” says Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi, a lifestyle and physical lead for the Royal College of GPs. “Caffeine works by blocking the release of a chemical called adenosine which is normally produced throughout the day as a signal for when we’re tired and fatigued, and so it makes us more alert.”
Although caffeine clearly helps when your brain needs a kickstart, excessive amounts of caffeine can actually inhibit our ability to function.
Al-Zubaidi says that one of the major issues with having too much caffeine is simply that it will impact your sleep quality. “Caffeine lingers in the body for quite some time,” he says. “And even though you may still be able to drift off to sleep, having caffeine in your system reduces the quality of your sleep. So we always advise not consuming any at all, at least six hours before you go to bed.”
There are more sinister risks associated with excessive caffeine consumption too. Research studies examining energy drinks have identified adverse effects which can include anxiety, dehydration and heart palpitations. Consuming more than 500mg of caffeine at a time can sometimes even induce seizures in people without any prior history of epilepsy.
A group of researchers in the United States published a study indicating that energy drinks can raise the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, a condition known as arrhythmia while more research has suggested that large doses of taurine in particular could lead to acute kidney injury.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the healthier options.
A major 15-year study of more than half a million participants, known as the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, has previously found that regular coffee drinking can protect against a number of chronic diseases. Without artificial sweeteners or preservatives, it’s a healthier choice for a caffeine kick.
“Coffee contains bioactive components which have been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer,” says Alice Benskin, a nutrition education lead Nutritank, which provides free education on food, nutrition and lifestyle medicine to health professionals.
Last year, a study from scientists at the University of Verona in Italy even showed that these chemicals may help maintain brain function through middle age and later life by protecting the connections between nerve cells in the brain and inhibiting the deposition of toxic proteins such as alpha-synuclein which causes Parkinson’s and tau which is linked to Alzheimer’s.
A mug of instant coffee gives you around 80mg of caffeine. “Caffeine was actually the coffee component which showed the greatest effect,” says Prof Mariapina D’Onofrio who led the study. “But it also seems that the beneficial effects are due to the combination of caffeine with other molecules in coffee.”
NHS guidelines recommend no more than two and half cups of coffee in one sitting, and no more than five cups per day. Dr Ally Jaffee, the founder of Nutritank suggests opting for lightly roasted coffee beans as roasting can impact the nutritional content.
If you’re buying a coffee out, some studies have suggested that an espresso is the healthiest. “Drinking black coffee has been shown to have a variety of health benefits,” says Dr Jaffee.
While energy drinks are perhaps the least healthy way of getting a caffeine hit, some newer natural brands are better than others. Registered nutritionist Clarissa Lenherr recommends either the Kombucha Energy Berry Blast made by Remedy Drinks or Pineapple Yuzu Healthy Energy which is made by PerfectTed.
“They contain 80mg of caffeine in a can which is equivalent to one cup of coffee,” she says. “People who regularly drink coffee will be used to this kind of lift, rather than 200mg in a serving.”
Lenherr recommends checking the label for artificial ingredients. “I like the kombucha version as an energy drink as it is also a fermented food, meaning it provides live bacteria, while PerfectTed’s drink has no artificial sweeteners or added sugars at all, all the sweetness comes naturally from fruit.”
Not everyone is genetically built to tolerate as much caffeine as others which can lead to anxious or jittery sensations or even twitches. If you’re struggling to tolerate coffee, Lenherr recommends switching to green tea. It contains antioxidants and compounds that may help reduce inflammation in the body and is commonly seen as superior for our health but also less caffeine. A 230ml cup contains 30 and 50mg. “Green tea is often a better source of caffeine for people who are sensitive, as it provides L-theanine, an amino acid that can have a relaxing effect, potentially taking the edge off the caffeine,” she says.
Benskin recommends going for matcha, a green tea powder made from finely ground dried tea leaves. As well as caffeine, this contains four types of plant chemicals known as catechins which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in the body.
Available in tablet or capsule form, caffeine pills typically provide a dose of between 100-200 mg in one go.
“Caffeine pills can provide a more even and prolonged energy boost compared to [many] energy drinks,” says Ashley Kitchens, a registered dietitian and owner of Plant Centred Nutrition. “However, if you feel like you need caffeine pills, there are likely other lifestyle factors you can change such as exercise, sleep, diet, and stress management to give yourself more sustained energy throughout the day.”
While Kitchens doesn’t recommend caffeine pills, if you are going to try them, she suggests brands which contain more moderate amounts such as Energy by Now Foods which contains 64mg of caffeine per serving, equivalent to about half a cup of coffee. “This product is also formulated with B vitamins, caffeine and other ingredients to promote sustained energy production and mental alertness,” she says.
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2024-07-25T07:04:33Z dg43tfdfdgfd