There has been a significant increase in the demand for energy drinks in contemporary times specifically among the youth. Don’t you find it surprising, how most beverage companies are including energy drinks in their new productions? The product has become the cash cow for some organisations since it has attractive returns.
Notably, many people consume it for many reasons. To the driver, it’s either a replacement for lost energy or a booster whereas the student trying to finish reading a topic overnight sees it as an emergency beverage to keep him or her awake since it constitutes a significant amount of caffeine. The problem is not with the consumption, but the overuse of it. Taking energy drinks is fine until it goes unregulated. At this point, it becomes worrying.
Caffeine Addiction
Too much of everything is indeed bad and energy drinks are no exception. With time, people begin to develop an addiction to it due to the frequency with which they consume it. They begin to rely on it to do the very little things that can be done without an external boost. This addiction, when left unchecked, invites critical health issues into a once healthy body, and the health implications are just too many to be ignored.
Excessive intake of energy drinks can make one develop insomnia. Employees in corporate environments particularly would opt to take these energy drinks to stay awake and complete cumbersome tasks or meet deadlines and although they may be effective for a short moment, their sleeping patterns are distorted as a result.
Imagine staying awake throughout the night for a project with the help of an energy drink and going to bed for just two hours since you have to be at post the following morn. You may have won a battle by finishing the project but the war is far from over as drowsiness may set in during the day while at work, and since it’s unethical to sleep off at work, you are tempted to take another bottle of energy drink to keep your eyes open for hours. With time, your body adjusts to the new and rather unnatural sleeping pattern and sleep will be nowhere around you when you need it the most at night.
Additionally, once you miss the right sleeping hours, you’re likely to be nervous and jittery throughout the day. Everything around you makes you anxious. In extreme cases, excessive intake of energy drinks makes one develop heart complications such as irregularities in the heartbeat or worse, heart failure. Have our busy lifestyles then doomed us to a life of slow death?
Overcoming addiction is nearly impossible if one does not practice self-discipline. How about this? Instead of an energy drink, why don’t you eat fruits and drink water often? How about if you also manage your time better during the day so you could have at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep at night? It is always important to invest in our bodies because a healthy body equals a healthy life.