Energy drinks are worse than junk food

Energy drinks are worse than junk food and can make you tired, experts warn.
At the same time, record numbers of young people are drinking the drink.

– I think an official age limit should be introduced, says Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson, professor at Lund University.

Twice as many people aged 15-24 drink energy drinks at least once a week compared to five years ago, this year’s Youth Barometer shows. This means that close to 4 out of 10 young people choose the drink regularly.

It may be because the energy drink companies have changed their focus, says Johanna Göransson, senior consultant in lifestyle and consumption at the Youth Barometer.

– They market the energy drink as a health drink. Previously it was connected to gaming.

“Can’t exercise without”

When Aftonbladet visits a gym in central Stockholm, the deposit bins are full of empty energy drink cans. Several visitors say they drink energy drinks to perform better during training.

– I drink at least two to three a day, a little too much almost. It feels like sometimes I can’t train without a Nocco, says Anton, 25 years old.

Make you dehydrated

Although energy drinks are marketed as performance enhancing, they can have the opposite effect. For example, you shouldn’t exercise with an energy drink in your body, says pediatrician Kajsa Kaiser, at Astrid Lindgren’s children’s hospital.

– A lot of caffeine disturbs your fluid balance and makes you dehydrated.

The drink can also make you more tired, because the caffeine works for a long time in the body and can disturb your sleep, she warns.

– There is a big risk that it is the energy drink that makes you tired, because you sleep worse at night.

“The heart gets stressed”

The risks of energy drinks are many, according to the Swedish Food Agency. They also warn that the drink can lead to sleep problems.

Headache, anxiety, dizziness and palpitations are additional side effects, the authority writes on its website.

– When the heart beats faster, it becomes stressed, and then you can have problems with supplying yourself with blood. You can get tired, feel sick or faint, says Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson, professor of medical and physiological chemistry at Lund University.

Age and genes affect how resistant we are to energy drinks.

– Those who metabolize caffeine quickly have an easier time coping with energy drinks compared to those who cannot break down the caffeine, says Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson.

“Pure pharmaceutical products”

Pediatrician Kajsa Kaiser is concerned about the development of more and more young people drinking the drink.

– In the energy drinks there are several active substances that we are not entirely sure how they can affect the body, so you should not take unnecessary risks, says Kajsa Kaiser.
Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson also urges young people to be careful.
– If you compare energy drinks with junk food, energy drinks are much worse.

She believes that junk food contains nutrients that are important for us, unlike energy drinks.

– They are pure pharmaceutical products, with caffeine and taurine. Substances that we don’t normally add to ourselves.

Want to see the age limit raised

Today there is an industry agreement not to sell energy drinks to young people under 15.

– I think an age limit of 18 or 20 should be introduced. Then you realize what the body can withstand. When you are 15, you are still growing, says Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson.