In 1997 Red Bull produced the first major energy drink. Since then, the market has become a billion-dollar per-year industry. In late June, I published a survey on Surveymonkey.com, and asked people to complete it. During the last month I studied energy drinks in anticipation for this story.
I am not a regular energy drinker myself. In fact I have only had two bottles of energy drinks, a Red Bull and a Full Throttle. I personally stick to Dr. Pepper. I did this research for two reasons, I noticed the people I was always around had an energy drink in their possession, and the other reason I was concerned for those people’s health.
Survey Results
22 people took my survey throughout the month of July. 76 percent said they had tried an energy drink. My surprise came during the second question. 42 percent of those who drink energy drinks only drink them once a month, 20 percent said 3-5 per month. This answered shocked me because I have seen many people drink 3-5 per week.
Monster energy drink was the most common energy tried with 16 people, it was followed closely by Red Bull with 15 people. 12 people had tried Sobe, 10 had tried Full Throttle, and 5 Nos. Note: people were allowed to pick more than one answer.
Monster gave 5 people the most energy followed by Nos with 5 people, 6 people said none of the energy drinks helped them.
Best taste award went to Sobe with 7 people, then Full Throttle with 4 people, and 2 people said Red Bull.
More than half of the people who responded said they don’t spend any money on energy drinks, while 33 percent said the spend 2-3 dollars.
My Research
Most energy drinks contain high amounts of caffeine. This could be potentially dangerous, and some people have died after consuming energy drinks, but people die from falling coconuts too. Many energy drinks have taken steps to lower the amounts of caffeine in their product.
My Concern
Energy drinks ARE NOT for everyone. Because of the high caffeine amounts, it can literally make some people act crazy. I have witnessed teenagers literally become toddlers after having an energy drink. Also after achieving your energy high you wanted there is the crash-down mode. I have personally experienced this. This is where your body goes into a weak-stage for a short time in order to recover. Please be careful.
I recommend sticking to coke and Dr. Pepper. For those that want to know, a black cup of coffee contains more caffeine than the average energy drink with about 200ml compared to Monsters 160 and Red Bull 80ml.
In Conclusion
Don’t believe the myths that there are health risks, unless you have a medical condition. Enjoy your energy just be wise and not overuse them.
Yuck. Energy drinks taste gross. I’ll take my coffee any day, thank you very much. Oh, with spenda and half ‘n half please.
sweet. I enjoyed reading that. “people die from falling coconuts too” that was great.
I only drink energy drinks sparingly, just when there is not other cold alternative such as a Frappacino with 2 shots of expresso, Mountain Dew, or cold water on the face! They work on me because I don’t drink them that often, but I have seen people drink them like it was soda on daily or frequent basis! They stop working on these type of people because the body has built a tolerance to them. I also only like Monster, the green one because it tastes decent and not like diesel fuel like Red Bull. One does have to be careful because there was a story awhile ago about people going into the emergency room suffering from anxiety attacks as a result of drinking too many energy drinks.