{"id":35893,"date":"2024-12-13T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T07:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=35893"},"modified":"2025-10-31T19:28:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:28:04","slug":"what-are-the-health-risks-of-energy-drinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/what-are-the-health-risks-of-energy-drinks\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the health risks of energy drinks?","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re in the throes of an afternoon slump or feeling the after-effects of a late night, it can be tempting to reach for an energy drink. But do these popular products live up to the hype? Is it safe to drink them regularly? Should you down one before you exercise?<\/p>\n<p>Two MultiCare registered dietitians, <a href=\"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/provider\/lisa-lovejoy\/\">Lisa Lovejoy, MEd, RD, CSSD, CD<\/a>, and Alix Leestma, RD, share insight about energy drinks, their health effects and alternatives to consider when you need a pick-me-up.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How much caffeine is too much?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Companies promote energy drinks \u2014 not be confused with sports beverages like Gatorade \u2014 as a way to increase your alertness, focus and energy level. But all that get-up-and-go often comes at a price \u2014 namely high levels of caffeine and sugar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnergy drinks typically contain anywhere from 80-300 milligrams of caffeine per can or bottle,\u201d Lovejoy says. \u201cPart of the concern is that people who drink energy drinks tend to consume multiple drinks a day, easily putting them over the recommended caffeine limit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consuming up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is considered safe for most healthy adults, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/consumers\/consumer-updates\/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much\">U.S. Food and Drug Administration<\/a> (FDA). That\u2019s equivalent to about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee.<\/p>\n<p>However, many energy drinks also contain herbal additives like guarana and yerba mate, which contain caffeine. So the actual caffeine content of your beverage may be much higher than what you expect or the label indicates, Lovejoy shares. The FDA does not require companies to list caffeine quantities on product labels.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu\/energy-drinks\/\">Heavy caffeine use, even when below the recommended limit, can have negative side effects<\/a> such as anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, jitteriness and more.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How much sugar is in energy drinks?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While caffeine is a stimulant that can perk you up, sugar is what puts the energy in energy drinks. Lovejoy shares that the current recommended daily intake for sugar is about 24 grams for women and 36 grams for men.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnergy drinks can contain anywhere from 25-93 grams of sugar per bottle or can,\u201d Lovejoy says. \u201cSo one of these drinks, depending on the size, can contain three to four days\u2019 worth of sugar in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consistently consuming high amounts of sugar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/heart-health\/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar\">increases your risk for several chronic conditions, from obesity to diabetes to heart disease<\/a>. The high sugar content in many energy drinks also means you\u2019re likely to experience a sugar crash later on, causing you to reach for another energy drink to perk yourself up.<\/p>\n<p>What about sugar-free options? For one thing, sugar-free energy drinks provide no actual energy, Lovejoy shares. For another, many of these drinks contain artificial sweeteners. Some artificial sweeteners have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/causes-prevention\/risk\/diet\/artificial-sweeteners-fact-sheet\">associated with an increased risk of cancer<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/common-sweetener-damage-gut-diarrhea-1893734\">may cause other health problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re in the throes of an afternoon slump or feeling the after-effects of a late night, it can be tempting to reach for an energy drink. But do these popular products live up to the hype? Is it safe to drink them regularly? Should you down one before you exercise? Two MultiCare registered dietitians, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-living","category-kids-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What are the health risks of energy drinks? - MultiCare Vitals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Energy drinks may provide a quick boost when you\u2019re tired, but are they safe? 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