Trust me, we all know the iconic slogan “Red Bull gives you wings” —but I’m 100% confident that the slogan wasn’t meant to be taken literally. Energy drinks give you strength, energy, and dopamine boosts, but they can also give you anxiety, digestive issues, and cardiac troubles. The growing dependence on energy drinks should, if it hasn’t already, draw major health concerns across the globe. These sugary drinks are merely imposters that deceive you into thinking that they are benefitting you when they are, instead, doing the complete opposite. Several studies have proven that the consumption of energy drinks can potentially lead to cardiovascular issues, kidney damage, and even death.
Alright, alright, before you get scared and go on a googling frenzy of why red bull kills people, let me explain. Consuming energy drinks is not inherently bad. As the common saying goes, everything is fine in moderation. Drinking a Monster every once in a while most likely won’t pose any risks. However, it is the routine consumption of the liquid poison that can cause significant harm to the body. Energy drinks innately increase heart rate and blood pressure as they contain lots of caffeine, a factor that stimulates the cells in the heart. While the indulgence of caffeine offers a rush of dopamine and energy, it makes your heart beat abnormally fast which, in turn, can cause you to feel anxious or shaky.
Caffeine, in many ways, can also be considered a drug and as a result, makes energy drinks immensely more addictive over time. This factor explains why people develop a reliance on the drink despite being aware of the clear health risks that they bring.
Besides the unhealthy doses of caffeine, energy drinks contain significantly high levels of sugar. A can of Red Bull may contain up to 37g of sugar in just one can. Other drinks like Monster (containing 27g of sugar) and Rockstars (containing 26g of sugar) are more examples of the extreme sugar levels found in these harmful substances. The overconsumption of sugar on a regular basis can lead to high blood pressure, tooth decay, weight gain, diabetes, and even more severe health compromisations. Drinking one Red Bull meets or can even exceed the advised sugar intake for one day.
With that being said, of course I’m not saying that it is nutritionally sinful to chuck an energy drink as you start your cram session the night before a big exam, nor am I saying that it is bad to drink one to get you through a grueling shift at work. However, it’s the habitual consumption of them that makes them a major concern. Drinking an energy drink every single day can practically cause your heart to burst—-hopefully not literally, but it is, in fact, possible. In order to properly manage your heart health and care for your body, it is important to consume energy drinks only in moderation as drinking too much can cause significant impairment on your physical health.
