Working around people who drink 5 or 6 energy drinks a day for years. Also consume 1 or 2 a day on average.
Keep seeing everyone talk about how dangerous they are, yet nothing about what makes them dangerous.
Edit: Answers to questions.
Wow, thanks for all the info. Amazing feedback!
Based on feedback, I’d like to specify and give some info of my own. To get more detailed info if possible.
Reign energy drinks have 300mg caffeine. I’ve seen people crush a 12 pack in 2 or 3 days. What are the risks they are giving themselves? The sugar-free ones are not usually consumed, but I have some, and they have 200mg caffeine in each.
I also drink those 5 hour energy drinks too but I will substitute 1 5hr drink for 1 energy drink and will never consume more than 3 in a day. Is that still within a healthy limit?
My routine is as follows:
Wake up, eat breakfast within 2 hours. Drink 1 energy booster an hour or 2 after that, and then wait 4-5 hours and drink another. I have a hard stop on all caffeine and sugar 5 hours before bedtime to help get down off the energy high and sleep better.
A lot of people talked about the sugar and the sugar free drinks. Yet, I see a lot of sugar substitutions like Sucralose, Stevia, aspartame, etc… I have no idea if these are better/safer than actual sugar but I do consume sugar free variants from time to time.
I guess a more detailed title would be, as someone with high heart risks, what are the dangerous levels of caffeine, sugar, and sugar substitutes for me to consume?
I’m wondering now if there is anything else in these drinks that could be a harm. I’ve read the labels on the ones I have and I’m seeing “proprietary blend” on several of them. The ingredients listed afterward are vague and little contact is given. Anyone know what is in them?
Edit #2: Info about why I started drinking them and what led to this post.
I work 17 hour days for 15 days straight. I get 7 hours between shifts to shower and sleep. Pretty much go go go till I get days off. The first day or 2, I die and hardly get out of bed.
I started drinking energy drinks to keep me going, but if I drink them on days off, it is because I’m having caffeine withdrawals and a huge headache.
My wife is super worried about me because I have a history of heart disease in my family, and too much could easily do serious damage.
Can I cold turkey quit energy drink? Will it have any effects other than the severe headache I’ve already experienced from trying to refrain?
In: Other
To use a protracted metaphor:
When you are running on normal conditions your body is like a reactor. It burns fuel creates heat and energy to do work. When your body does this, it creates waste products that slowly make the reactor work less efficiently and run hot. When that waste product builds up to certain levels (active all day) or the reactor runs especially hot such as from a particularly high demand activity (hard exercise), then a siren goes off informing you of dangerous operating conditions (melatonin/”I feel sleepy” hormones) and a need for a reduction in activity and clean up (rest/sleep) so that the reactor can return to normal temperatures.
Drinking an energy drink (or most any stimulant, including simple coffee or caffeine) is just hitting the mute button on the siren. It lets you operate while ignoring that you are no longer in a safe operating condition. It doesn’t actually reduce the reactor’s temperature or clean any of the waste products out, it just turns off the alarm (feeling sleepy) so you don’t notice it anymore.
Obviously, you can run a little hot for a while periodically without necessarily exploding. However; eventually you run higher and higher risks of meltdown or malfunction the longer you run outside normal operating parameters.
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