Energy drinks represent a relatively recent invention of humankind. Although their components are used as invigorative since long ago

Energy drinks represent a relatively recent invention of humankind. Although their components are used as invigorative since long ago. Invention of energy tonics seems to be a panacea for students during examinations period, office workers during dead-line days, fitness coaches striving for a record, tired drivers and night-club visitors and everybody, who is very tired, but has to stay cheerful and vivacious. Just one can - and you already don’t nod off to sleep, and can go on again and again??¦

 
Manufacturers state that their drinks bring only use and produce new sorts. If everything is so rosy, then why legislators tried to advance a law, restricting distribution of a miracle-drink? Let’s examine.
 
Composition
 
Caffeine. All energy drinks contain it. It has a stimulating effect: 100 mg of caffeine stimulate mental activity, 238 mg increase cardiovascular endurance. To gain such effect, you need to drink at least 3 cans, but manufacturers of energy drinks recommend drinking no more than 1-2 cans per day.
 
Taurin. One can contains from 400 to 1000 mg of taurin on average. This is amoni acid, accumulated in muscular tissues. It is considered to improve work of cardiac muscle. However, recently doctors started stating that taurin has no influence on human organism.
 
Carnitine. This is a component of human cells, contributing to quick oxidation of fatty acids. Carnitine increases metabolism and reduces muscular fatigability.
 
Guarana and ginseng. Medicinal plants, having toning effect. Guarana leaves are used in medicine: they lead out lactic acid from muscular tissues, relieving pain while physical loads, protect from atherosclerosis and clean liver. However, doctors consider that exciting effects, arrogated to guarana and ginseng, are not confirmed scientifically.   B vitamins. They are necessary for normal work of nervous system and brain in particular. Organism can feel their lack, but increase of dosage won’t improve your productivity, mental facilities or something else, like manufacturers of energy drinks try to persuade us.   Melatonin. This is a substance, contained in South-American green tea mate composition. Ilex Paraguarensis extract helps to cope with hunger and contributes to weight loss.
 
Pluses
-          If you just need to cheer up or stir up mental activity, energy drinks are great for these purposes.
-          You can find a drink corresponding to your needs. Energy tonics are divided into groups for people with different needs: some of them contain more caffeine, others - vitamins and carbohydrates. “Coffee” drinks suit inveterate workaholics and students, who work or study at nights, and “vitamin-carbohydrate” - active people, who prefer spending spare time in a gym.
-          Energy drinks contain complex of vitamins and glucose. We all know about use of vitamins. Glucose penetrates into blood quickly, is included in oxidative processes and supplies muscles, brain and other vital organs with energy.
-          Effect of coffee drinking lasts for 1-2 hours, energy drinks - 3-4. besides, almost all energy drinks are aerated, what hastens their influence - this is third difference from coffee.
-          Packing allows taking energy drinks in any situations (dance floor, car), what cannot be said about coffee or tea.
 
Minuses
 
-          You can take drinks strictly observing dosage. Maximum - 2 cans per day. If you drink more, your arterial pressure or sugar content in blood can increase significantly.
-          Energy drinks are prohibited in France, Denmark and Norway, they are sold only in drug-stores, as they are considered medicines. And recently Swedish authorities started an investigation of 3 people’s deaths, who supposedly died because of energy drinks.
-          Vitamins, contained in energy tonics, cannot replace multivitamin complex.
-          People, having problems with pressure or heart, should avoid these drinks.
-          Opinion, saying that tonic provides you with energy, is illegal. Tin contents open a door to internal reserves of organism, like a key. In other words, tin does not give you energy, it sucks it dry from you. A man uses his own resources, more simply, just borrows them from himself. Of course, sooner or later you should pay your debt, suffering from tiredness, insomnia, irritability and depression.
-          Caffeine, contained in tonics, like any other stimulator, exhausts nervous system. Its effect lasts from 3 to 5 hours on average - then organism needs a break. Besides, caffeine causes adaptation.
-          Energy drink, containing sugar and caffeine, is dangerous for young organism.
-          Many energy drinks contain big quantity of vitamin B, which can cause heartthrob and trembling in hands and legs.
-          Fans of fitness should remember that caffeine is a good diuretic. And this means that you cannot take such drink after training, during which we lose water.
-          In case of overdose side effects are possible: tachycardia, psychomotor agitation, nervousness, depression.
-          Tonics contain taurin and glucuronolactone. Taurin contents is several times higher, than in all other products, quantity of glucuronolactone, contained in 2 tins, can exceed daily norm in almost 500 times (!). Even scientists do not know how these components work in our organism. They do not know how they interact with caffeine. That’s why experts state that safety of usage of such doses of taurin and glucuronolactone is not determined and further researches are necessary.
As you can see, there’re more minuses, than pluses. And still, it’s quite possible, that a moment can come into your life (we hope only once), when you will feel a necessity to drink a tin of energetic. In such case read rules of usage of energy drinks, which help to protect your loved organism.
 
Directions for use
 
-          Don’t exceed daily norm of caffeine - these are two tins of average energy drink.
-          When energy drink’s effect is over, your organism needs rest to restore resources.
-          Don’t take drinks after sports trainings - both things heighten blood pressure.
-          Pregnant women, children and teenagers, old people, people, suffering from hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, glaucoma, sleep disorders, heightened excitability and sensitiveness to caffeine cannot take such drinks.
-          Caffeine is led out from blood in 3-5 hours, and only half of it. So during this period you cannot mix tonics and other caffeine drinks (coffee, tea) - you can exceed permissible dose.
-         Many drinks are too high-calorie. If you take energy drinks in a gym, drink them only before training. If you are going only to restore strengths, not to lose weight, you can take such tonics both before and after trainings.
-          You cannot mix tonics with alcohol (like night-club visitors often do). Caffeine heightens pressure, and its effect is intensified many times in combination with alcohol. As a result, one can suffer from hypertensic crisis very quickly.
 
Health and medicine experts state that tonics are just vitaminic coffee substitutes, but more dangerous for health. And fruit juices and glucose, contained in many products, can cheer us up the same way. So, it’s you to decide whether to drink tonics or not. But now we have a good reason to drink a cup of coffee with a favorite chocolate bar!