What happens when you drink energy drinks on a daily basis?

While beverages like tea and coffee have been known to energise the human body for years, the modern era demands modern options and they have arrived in the form of quirkily branded, creatively flavoured and Gen Z-designed energy drinks that apparently taste better and are more energising.

According to CivicScience, 82% of U.S. adults drink at least one energy drink every day, including 53% who consume two or more. The most popular brands consumed were Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar Energy, Celsius and more.While energy drinks might be more "cool" and provide higher amounts of caffeine than traditional beverages, is it healthy to have them every day? Let's figure out.

What are energy drinks?

Energy drinks are beverages designed to work as an "energy boost" for the drinker by a combination of stimulants and energy boosters. While the main constituents in most of them are caffeine, other constituents include vitamin B, ginseng, taurine, methylxanthines, yerba mate, acai, maltodextrin, creatine and more, as per the National Library of Medicine.

Positive health effects of energy drinks

It's important to understand that energy drinks do have benefits. They improve memory, increase alertness and elevate moods among other things. A study analysed the effects of a popular energy drink to find out that it significantly improves aerobic endurance and anaerobic performance on cycle ergometers. It also increased mental performance in terms of choice reaction time, concentration, memory and more.Many studies have shown increased performance by physically active individuals after drinking energy drinks.

One study found that the consumption of 3mg/kg of caffeine in the form of energy drinks improved the physical performance of female volleyball players. While another showed that tired volunteers were better at lane drifting and reaction time while driving after consuming energy drinks.While they might make you feel energised and ready to tackle the head head-on, drinking even one energy drink every day might not be as harmless as it seems. Here's why!

Is it healthy to have energy drinks daily?

According to the National Library of Medicine, studies show that energy drinks can have a variety of cardiovascular, neurological, psychological, metabolic, and other effects.Cardiovascular effects: Several studies have shown that the consumption of energy drinks increases heart rate and arterial blood pressure, arterial dilatation, aneurysm formation, dissection and rupture of large arteries.Neurological and psychological effects: Consumption of doses equal to or above 200mg usually develops caffeine intoxication with symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, muscle twitching, restlessness and periods of inexhuastibility.

It can also lead to acute and chronic daily headaches. Hallucinations are also common in individuals who consume more than 300mg of caffeine per day.Gastrointestinal and metabolic effects: Energy drinks typically contain large amounts of sugar ranging from 21g to 34g per oz in the form of sucrose, glucose or high fructose corn syrup. Consuming them daily or even more than once increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, increased caffeine intake decreases insulin sensitivity leading to a rise in blood glucose levels.Dental effects: A Swedish study analysed the effects of soft drink consumption in relation to dental erosion. Consuming energy drinks causes a 2.4-fold increase in dental erosion due to the low pH and high sugar content they have.All of these results lead to the fact that consuming energy drinks once in a while for their flavours is harmless. However, making their consumption a daily habit might cause you a trip to the hospital sooner or later.