Are energy drinks bad for health?

Caffeine, in one form or another, is consumed more than any other psychoactive drug in the world. In the USA, it’s estimated that 85% of adults consume caffeine regularly, with the average intake being 180 mg per day (compared to the global average of 70 mg).

Recent and high-quality UK data is harder to find. Some 1984 data suggested that UK consumption may be even higher than it is in the USA, with our average intake at that time being three times the intake of those over the pond. Some more recent estimates are a little more conservative, and some others suggest intake is higher. Overall, the total intake is difficult to quantify, but daily intake does seem to be the norm rather than the exception. Indeed, the popularity of caffeine is undeniable, but with that comes one critical question:

What is it doing to us?

We are all familiar with the main benefit of caffeine, namely its ability to pick you up when you’re tired, but what else is it doing? Concerns abound, with talking points typically involving the ways in which caffeine affects our cardiovascular system, our ability to sleep and even our psychological wellbeing, with talk of addiction becoming increasingly popular.

These points need to be addressed, and that’s why we’re here.

When did we start drinking so much caffeine?

According to the book entitled ‘A Brief History of Drugs, from the Stone Age to the Stoned Age’, which we only mention by name because that title is brilliant, caffeine has more than likely been consumed since before humans really had anything that could truly be called a civilisation. Initially, nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes would have likely chewed bark, seeds or leaves of plants in order to increase energy and vigour, only discovering the idea of using them to make drinks later. Many civilisations have stories or legends of their ancestors discovering this brewing process, such as Shennong, a Chinese emperor from around 3000 BC, who is said to have discovered by accident that when certain leaves fell into water, they made what he described as a restorative drink (4). Tea is the oldest known caffeine source and arguably one of the most culturally relevant ones. It’s not the only source of caffeine, however, and as the years went on, humans found more and more ways to get the buzz they wanted. First came cocoa, which was used in South America by 600 BC, but then came the truly big hitter – coffee, the most popular caffeine source worldwide.

One common myth attributes the discovery of coffee to a ninth-century Ethiopian goat herder called Kaldi, who found that some of his goats became extremely energetic after eating certain berries. Wanting to achieve the same experience, he tried the berries himself and discovered increased energy and alertness. He supposedly then brought the berries to local monks, who disapproved of this practice and threw them into a fire – the amazing smell led them to remove the charred berries from the fire and place them in water, thus creating the first cup of coffee. There are numerous other tales, none of which truly has any evidence to back it, as you would expect.

The first substantiated information does, however, bring us to Ethiopia. The ancestors of the present-day Oromo ethnic group are believed to be the first to have recognised the stimulant effects of the coffee plant, with hunters using it to keep them awake during multi-day hunting trips. It grew in popularity across the Islamic world thereafter, thanks to its ability to help consumers fast during the day and stay awake at night during Ramadan.

Indeed, the historic popularity of coffee here has resulted in the drink even being associated with Muhammad’s birthday, thanks to a legend suggesting he brought it to humankind, via the Archangel Gabriel, to replace wine, which is prohibited in the Islamic faith.

European consumption of coffee didn’t take off until the 17th century, when travellers returned from Egypt with what they called at the time ‘Arabian wine’. Coffee houses in Constantinople and Venice quickly opened, with the first in London opening in Cornhill in 1652. Another, called Queen’s Lane in Oxford, opened just two years later and is still open today! Of course, much like tea, the coffee trade soon had significant cultural, economic and political ramifications, with coffee often being banned by religious figures and national leaders while funding enormous (for the time) multinational distribution corporations.

Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, a German chemist, was the first to isolate caffeine, and now, thanks to others continuing his work, the world’s most popular psychoactive drug can be found in synthetic forms in tablets, energy drinks and much, much more. Caffeine is now such a strong cultural influence and so prevalent that it’s often difficult to see it, much like you can no longer feel the watch on your wrist until you pay attention to it being there.

Caffeine is big business

For an example of just how important caffeine is to our culture, consider the following:

Starbucks is currently worth $79 billion, making $23.5 billion in sales per year and employing 277,000 people at the time of writing. It’s also ranked number 30 on Forbes’ list of most valuable brands.

Starbucks’ business empire is impressive, but that’s only a small part of the picture. At the time of writing, there are 988 Starbucks stores in the UK if you combine company-owned and licensed operations. These can be added to the 2,422 Costa stores and 637 Caffè Nero stores (as of 2017), alongside smaller chains, independent operations and other coffee-selling outfits like McDonald’s. You can’t go anywhere without having access to coffee, and that’s not to mention the ubiquity of tea!

But what about energy drinks?

Alongside the coffee empire and British tea culture is the growing market for energy drinks, which are the fastest-growing soft drinks in terms of consumption rates. These range from the comparatively mild Red Bull (80 mg per can) and Monster (usually around 150 mg per can) to stronger products such as Bang! (300 mg per can) and have found their way into almost everywhere that you can buy drinks, from supermarkets and vending machines to fridges in petrol stations and even clubs and bars.

In fact, Monster Beverage Corp is worth roughly $27.7 billion, with sales of $3.5 billion. Not bad for a company selling caffeinated soft drinks that only started in 2002…

Who is drinking it all?

In the 21st century, we have a number of different sources for our fix, and it’s probably not surprising that the choice you make differs with age. Most people start consuming caffeine in childhood through chocolate and soft drinks such as cola, then, as children reach adolescence, they start to add energy drinks and coffee/tea (1). This is likely to reflect changing tastes as people age (children are better able to taste bitterness in food and drink), but also cultural norms and advertising – energy drinks, specifically, are marketed towards an adolescent/young adult audience, whereas coffee is pitched in a more age-neutral manner.

Interestingly, despite the massive increase in coffee and energy drink availability, no data exists to say that caffeine consumption in general has increased since the 1990s, though some experts believe this is largely due to a lag in data rather than it being a true reflection of our behaviour (in other words, it hasn’t been properly studied recently enough for the difference to show).

It’s very hard to imagine that we are really drinking less caffeine than before, considering the increased availability and marketing of caffeine-containing products. This is especially true when you consider that while coffee remains the most popular caffeinated drink in the world (the word caffeine is literally taken from the German word for coffee – Kaffee), energy drinks are the most popular source for adolescents, and this market is growing rapidly. With that being said, we must be careful when making assumptions, as other experts explain this through simple replacement – those who like caffeine may be drawn to energy drinks in place of coffee sometimes, and so the growing market may reflect a spreading out of intake rather than an overall increase.

Regardless, the influence of caffeine and coffee on both our culture and day-to-day behaviour is undeniable. This tends to be explained by the exact same reasons as caffeine’s popularity around the time of its discovery – it wakes you up, can make you feel better when you’re tired and can help you concentrate on things for longer than you otherwise would. A small search for ‘coffee quotes’ will turn up almost innumerable references to it (and by extension caffeine) as something that is not only desirable but almost necessary for the normal function of many people. It’s regularly described as a life force, a medicine or a vital ingredient without which a person is unable to wake up, speak to people or be pleasant to talk to.

That can’t be a good thing, right?

Is the fact that some people dread the idea of starting a day without coffee a problem?

Or are we making a mountain out of a molehill?

Is caffeine harmful, beneficial, or neutral?

Is it leading us to long term ill health?

Is it having a dramatic effect on our sleep?

If you want to know more, why not take a look at our range of Nutrition Courses, or specifically our Nutrition Supplements for Exercise and Fitness Course.

Author

Ben Coomber

Founder of Awesome Supplements

Ben Coomber is a nutritionist (BSc, CISSN), educator, speaker and writer. Ben has the UK’s #1 rated health and fitness podcast on iTunes ‘Ben Coomber Radio’ and he's the founder of Awesome Supplements.