We all want to be the best versions of ourselves. We are constantly looking for healthier ways to live our lives and that can be hard in today’s fast paced world. It’s sometimes hard to keep up, and that’s why we can turn to what we think are good choices for hydration and energy. With everything going on around us we can get a little lost in all of the choices out there. I want to bring a couple of very important facts to your attention regarding the choices you may be making in your vitamin drinks and energy drinks.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
The first thing I would like to talk about is energy drinks and the damage they can cause to your health. First of all, the amount of sugar these drinks usually have is ridiculously high in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). This sugar should not be confused with regular cane fructose which has a lower glycemic impact on your body and is a monosaccharide based sugar. The sports drinks commonly use the HFCS which is a disaccharide (made up of fructose and sucrose) and causes your body’s insulin levels to spike. I will write an entire article on the different kind of sugars out there, but for now just know that the FDA has now put regulations in place that HFCS must now be called out on all labels, as this ingredient is being blamed as the main culprit behind Americas obesity epidemic. You should also be aware that dehydration will occur due to the huge amounts of sugar in these drinks and all that entails.
Stimulants
The other issue with energy drinks is that they use a blend of ingredients that are stimulant based. In combination with the high amounts of sugars (on average 26g-32g) per drink, you may get an energy rush but also a real crash between 60-120 minutes after consuming. The stimulants that are used are mostly either caffeine, green tea, L-carnitine, taurine and/or guarana. The fact is that three of these ingredient are all just caffeine variants. Caffeine is of course caffeine, but green tea, and guarana are also just intensive forms of caffeine. As we know too much caffeine can contribute to heart and blood pressure issues, and arterial hardening. There is so much concern regarding the amount of caffeine in theses drinks, the government of Canada has now gone to the extraordinary length of having manufactures place warnings on these drinks, and setting an age limit of 17 years old.
Taurine
One of the ingredients taurine is an amino acid, and has been linked to both increasing energy, and the mitigation of anxiety. The problem is that taurine should only be taken in the amounts of 100-500mg per day. Energy drinks usually have a minimum of 1,000mg per can. Due to the unknown side effects of Taurine some Scandinavian and other countries have banned it.
Supplement Facts
I won’t say too much about vitamin drinks that you find in your convenience store coolers other than almost all of them have over 32 grams of sugars (usually HFCS) and only trace amounts of actual vitamins. If they did in fact contain more than trace amounts of vitamins you would see complete Supplement Facts tables on each bottle.
Price
The price you pay for both vitamin drinks and sports drinks range from $1.99-$250 each. Think about that for a minute; are you really paying $2 for a sugary flavored water that could make you ill? You want to be drinking beverages that contribute to a healthier you!
There are many better ways of getting energy, like keeping up your electrolytes and staying hydrated. These drinks are part of the reason why we created Ener-C. We wanted to get you a healthy source of real energy and vitamins without all the nasty side effects.
I want to recommend next time you purchase an energy drink, or any packaged food for that matter, read the label. You will be surprised what kind of ingredients are found in everyday items you buy. It’s time we all start becoming more aware of what we put in our bodies and where it all comes from.
Be better, live better!
Richard Pollock,
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/36/1/137
https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/dangers-of-taurine/
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-101650.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15051594
