Energy Drinks--- Good or Bad?

You pop open your favorite Energy drink and pound it down. A few minutes later you are 10 feet tall and bulletproof and on top of the world, you feel invincible. An hour later you feel overwhelmed and depressed, your officemates stepping over your now crashed and energy depleted body. You drag yourself to the nearest Energy drink and the vicious cycle starts all over again. How did this happen? Where did it all start?


The soft drink market is a 56 BILLION dollar a year industry. A rising part of this industry falls under the category of Energy drinks. Some of the largest beverage manufactures in the world are scrambling to get a piece of this Energy drink market. Companies such as Anheuser-Busch Co., PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Co. and Hansen Natural Corp. are just a few of the big name companies cashing in on the Energy drink phenomenon.

Red Bull, an Austrian company that introduced its trademark brand to Europe in 1987, created the energy drink category. That year, the company sold 1 million cans. The brand came to the United States in 1997, and last year Red Bull sold 1 billion cans worldwide. Red Bull continues to dominate with 51.4% of the market.

In 2002 Energy drink sales totaled nearly 300 million dollars, nearly double from 2000. In 2005 the Energy drink market reported 3 BILLION dollars in sales. However, all these profits come with a price…your health.

Most Energy drinks contain these 4 main ingredients: caffeine, taurine, sugar and guarana. (some energy drinks are now sugar free but be wary of what they substitute the sugar with. Aspartame is linked to many health issues).

All of these ingredients are stimulants, which squeeze or stimulate our adrenal glands to produce additional adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol, which are stress hormones that give us that boost of energy. Unfortunately this continual squeeze on our adrenals can eventually exhaust and burn them out. The continual over-stimulation of our adrenal glands leads to adrenal fatigue and exhaustion. This is becoming a common and underlying cause for many of the health challenges we face today.

Our adrenal glands play a critical role in our survival. Yes they make our stress hormone cortisol, which is catching a lot of attention because of their association with weight loss. But they are also intimately involved in stabilizing our blood sugar. Insulin Resistance and diabetes is increasing. Many of these problems are attributable to over-stimulation of our adrenal glands, which leads to adrenal burnout.

The adrenals also make our sex hormones. This is critical for both women and men, because if the body is constantly having to make stress hormones, it will have to steal progesterone, which in turn effects the balance of estrogen and testosterone. Is there any wonder why so many people are suffering from hot flashes, PMS, loss of libido and depression?

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THESE UNHEALTHFUL ENERGY DRINKS?

The answer is: YES!

Water...or better yet,  Kangen Water…. http://www.thewetterwater.com  – the truly amazing ionized alkaline WATER that hydrates to the cellular level.

It's time to say NO to Energy Drinks that are slowly destroying health.  Take a stand today against Junk Drinks.

Deborah Mumm, The Allergy Queen
http://www.healthy-environments.com/water.asp