Many of us have taken the very bad habit of consuming energy drinks during exercise or in the evening.
- The term “energy drinks” includes drinks that present themselves as having stimulating properties both physically and intellectually.
- They generally contain ingredients such as caffeine, taurine, glucuronolactone, vitamins or plant extracts (guarana, ginseng).
It’s summer and many take advantage of it to party or play sports. In these two situations, ANSES recommends not consuming energy drinks.
In France, approximately 32% of consumers of so-called energy drinks drink them during festive occasions (bars, discos, concerts, etc.), and 41% in connection with a sporting activity. 16% of French people mix these products with alcohol.
More risky situations
“The joint consumption of so-called energy drinks and alcohol promotes risky situations due to the person’s overestimation of their abilities, which can lead them to continue their alcohol consumption and increase risk-taking”, say public health experts.
“As far as sports practice is concerned, so-called energy drinks have no nutritional value in a situation of exercise (unlike exercise drinks, also called energy drinks); they increase the loss of water and mineral salts and increase the risk of heat accidents”, they continue.
The consumption of so-called energy drinks in a festive setting is particularly conducive to the accumulation of several risk factors: co-consumption of alcohol, physical exercise (for example related to dancing) and heat.
Three recommendations
ANSES therefore recommends:
– to avoid the consumption of so-called energy drinks by association with alcohol or during a physical exercise ;
– to be particularly vigilant with regard to caffeine intake, in particular via so-called energy drinks, for some consumers in particular: pregnant and breastfeeding women, children and adolescents, people sensitive to the effects of caffeine or with certain pathologies (cardiovascular, psychiatric and neurological disorders, kidney failure and severe liver disease);
– and in general, for all consumers, moderate the consumption of caffeinated beverages.
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