Just like coffee and tea, energy drinks such as 'Red Bull', 'V' and 'Mother' are often consumed to improve energy, reduce fatigue as well as increase stamina, performance and concentration. Like tea and coffee the focus is on the caffeine they contain, however energy drinks tend to contain a range of other ingredients that may include artificial sugars, preservatives, vitamins, herbal supplements and amino acids.
It turns out that the caffeine, mostly sourced from Guarana is essentially what provides the 'energy' in energy drinks. The average 250ml coffee contains about 100mg of caffeine; and a can of energy drink the same size (Like Red Bull) contains slightly less at 80mg of caffeine.
Of course the reason we seek out caffeine, apart from addiction, is for its stimulating effect on cognitive functions. Caffeine helps to improve concentration and increase alertness.In this respect, Energy drinks (and coffee) can pose a problem if they are masking fatigue and intake is consistently high over a prolonged period and you are pushing your body further than it wants to go, ignoring the fatigue.
Taking the anti caffeine argument a little further, clinical studies show that caffeine may increase blood pressure, disrupt sleep patterns causing insomnia, exacerbate psychiatric disease including anxiety and paranoia, cause physiologic dependence and increase the risk of subsequent addiction. At it's worst, consumed excessively, caffeine intoxication may result in a pounding and irregular heartbeat, so if you are someone that already is predisposed to these it may be worth giving both coffee and energy drinks the flick. But the real issue with Energy drinks is the same hoary old problem. Sugar. A Red Bull contains 27 grams of sugar per 250ml, which runs at just over 10% of the content. Like most sodas or juices, this is potentially a bigger issue than the caffeine itself, depending upon how much of it you are drinking. (Somewhat cutely, on their website, Red Bull compares caffeine ml for ml with coffee, but resorts to counting the sugar in grams per 100ml and comparing this to sodas and juices. You work out what that means...)Red Bull are keen to point out that the product contains water soluble Vitamin B - Niacinamide (B3), Pantothenic acid (B5), Vitamins B6 and B12 although if it's Vitamin B you are after, maybe eat some pork, poultry, fish, cereals, eggs, vegetables or Soya beans!See also: The Worst Possible Foods You Can EatImage: OlegDoroshin/Shutterstock / Unsplash: Nathan Dumlao | Hutomo Abrianto