Energy drinks

[QuarterMillionMan]

Have you tried this stuff? Which brand tastes best (5 hour, Monster, Red Bull, etc)? Does it really boost energy? I cannot fathom spending my hard-earned money on such products. Howevever, at the gym once they were giving away free Red Bulls and I must say it tasted good. I wish they would give away 5 hour energy drink, those costs more than a few bucks. The CVS store near my house keeps 5-hour energy drinks locked up in a display case. Recently on the news they reported a few deaths from these beverages. Kind of a scary stuff.


Edited to add: In my era, the 80's, there was a product called Jolt Cola, it claimed to have about triple the amount of caffeine than a cup of coffee. It did what it claimed but with it came the "crash" afterwards (lol).

[bjl584]

5 hour energy works the first couple times that you use it, but you get used to it and its effectiveness starts to lesson over time. It tastes awful though (at least to me.) Kinda like rotten strawberries.

[phantom]

If you keep your eyes open and you may come across some 5 Hour Energy samples eventually. I've found myself at places where they were giving them away several times. Twice I've seen booths at the local outlets, but that probably doesn't help you much.

I've never actually gotten up the guts to actually try the stuff myself, but I know a couple people who love it. So, when I can get samples, I do, and I give them away. I'm not afraid of the stuff killing me. But, I figure that if I'm tired, there's probably a good reason and that I'd be better off fixing the problem than treating the symptom with an energy drink.

[disneysteve]

These things taste horrible at best and are potentially dangerous at worst. They can cause spikes in blood pressure and heart rate and can even lead to dangerous irregular heart rhythms.

Want energy? Get a good night's sleep. Eat a nutritious diet. Exercise regularly. Don't let yourself get overweight or obese. Don't depend on drugs to do the job for you.

[JoeP]

Want energy? Get a good night's sleep. Eat a nutritious diet. Exercise regularly. Don't let yourself get overweight or obese. Don't depend on drugs to do the job for you.

Agreed. I find I have a lot of energy when I successfully manage my stress. Also, I found that too much sleep (more than 8.5 hours for me) makes me feel logy for a couple hours, as do naps.

[newguy]

I agree with disneysteve, but I have a few energy drinks in my fridge and I just use it once in a blue moon. If I feel I'm gonna get sick, I drink tylenol and energey drink (not at the same time) or if I'm really, and I mean really tired, energy drink helps a little bit, physically cause they have this chemicals, and emotionally cause you will think drinking energy drink will give you 'energy'.

Just don't be addicted to it and don't drink a lot. The only thing I don't like about drinking energy drink is its hard to sleep at night when I drink energy drink that day and my heart will palpitate after drinking some.

My favorite brand is Monster and I like those coffee + energy drink, I think its called Java Monster or Expresso, something like that, and it taste really good like an iced coffee.

Bottom line is, a few is not a really bad thing. If you drink energy drink let say once in two to three months, what worse can happen to you?

[gostumpy]

They are so very bad for you... they have 5x the caffeine of a cup of coffee... 5 cups of coffee isn't necessarily the dangerous part... because it takes you an hour or two to drink 5 cups of coffee...

but a 5-hour energy has all that in ONE SHOT! Instant shock to the system, and it is VERY BAD for your body!

I drank tons of them growing up, and I won't drink em anymore!

[lhkorn99]

They are so very bad for you... they have 5x the caffeine of a cup of coffee... 5 cups of coffee isn't necessarily the dangerous part... because it takes you an hour or two to drink 5 cups of coffee...

but a 5-hour energy has all that in ONE SHOT! Instant shock to the system, and it is VERY BAD for your body!

I drank tons of them growing up, and I won't drink em anymore!

I agree - these are terrible for you, and for a gym to promote red bull is crazy (although my gym did this as well). I would stay away and use foods that can give you natural energy.

[disneysteve]

I agree - these are terrible for you, and for a gym to promote red bull is crazy

I actually had a 5 hour sales rep come into my office a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to know if I wanted samples for my patients and brochures to hand out. I practically threw her out of the office. I told her pretty blatantly that I would never encourage my patients to use the product. I actually am pretty vocal in telling them to avoid these products entirely. Why the company thinks going around to doctors' offices is a good idea is beyond me.

[lhkorn99]

I actually had a 5 hour sales rep come into my office a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to know if I wanted samples for my patients and brochures to hand out. I practically threw her out of the office. I told her pretty blatantly that I would never encourage my patients to use the product. I actually am pretty vocal in telling them to avoid these products entirely. Why the company thinks going around to doctors' offices is a good idea is beyond me.

Good for you! That's crazy that they think a doctor would promote it. I just saw an article on web m.d and this is a quote from there -

"Jim White, RD, a national spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says, "I’m seeing a lot of combinations -- coffee, 5-Hour Energy, green teas -- and if you add up all the mega doses of caffeine during the day, it can cause problems." Specifically, too much caffeine can cause nervousness, trouble sleeping, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeats, and higher blood pressure. "

[YLTL_Dan]

I actually had a 5 hour sales rep come into my office a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to know if I wanted samples for my patients and brochures to hand out. I practically threw her out of the office.

The sad part is they must continue to go around to doctor's offices because it works. I don't take energy shots and rarely even drink caffeine. I try to let my body regulate my energy level... but I admit to liking chocolate more than I should.

[JoeP]

I actually had a 5 hour sales rep come into my office a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to know if I wanted samples for my patients and brochures to hand out. I practically threw her out of the office. I told her pretty blatantly that I would never encourage my patients to use the product. I actually am pretty vocal in telling them to avoid these products entirely. Why the company thinks going around to doctors' offices is a good idea is beyond me.

Did you suggest she visit the local DMV? If yours is anything like mine, the workers could certainly use a little boost to increase throughput!

[FrugalTexan75]

My brother who is otherwise a health nut, drinks the Monster drinks. I've tried to nudge him out of it, but he tells me "I only have them once in a while." But when talking with him, I hear him mention drinking one quite often. I do worry, but not much I can do about it.

[kv968]

I actually had a 5 hour sales rep come into my office a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to know if I wanted samples for my patients and brochures to hand out. I practically threw her out of the office. I told her pretty blatantly that I would never encourage my patients to use the product. I actually am pretty vocal in telling them to avoid these products entirely. Why the company thinks going around to doctors' offices is a good idea is beyond me.

They may have been trying to use you in their survey. I saw a commercial awhile ago (I think it's since been pulled) where they surveyed doctors and "73% who reviewed 5 Hour Energy would recommend a low calorie, energy supplement to their healthy patients who use energy supplements". Of course, being the skeptical person that I am, I read the fine print and it doesn't sound quite as convincing when you do.

Evidentally your reaction was pretty much the same as other doctors since the "2500 participants" of their in-person survey were only 50% of those approached. Meaning the other 2500 just told them to get the hell out from the start. The other 503 were from an online survey.

You'll have to pause the video to catch it all...

5 Hour Energy Commercial

Forbes didn't seem to find it very convincing either...

Forbes

[snafu]

I've found eating an orange helps boost energy if feeling sluggish as the workday winds down and you need that boost of energy for all the family activities about to start!