Energy Drinks are BAD for you.

To begin I would like to clarify that the debate is simpily whether energy drinks are healthy for you or not. Im not asking for a more positive than negative but simpliy whether or not they are good for you(health-wise). "You list several ingredients with no explanations for any of them. I am assuming that you believe all of those things are bad for you, or else you wouldn't have listed them to prove your point. Let me go through this list and explain the effects of each of these ingredients. "-Antipatriot I'm sorry i didnt offer an explanation why these ingrediants were harmful and why they helped my arguement. "Glucose/Sucrose/Sugar - Glucose and sucrose are complex carbohydrates that the body consumes during organic reactions for energy. The chemical reactions of these two sugars with oxygen gas have very high, negative enthalpy values. This means that during this process a lot of energy is released--this is energy that our body uses for fuel. When your body breaks down carbohydrates for consumption, glucose is the most abundant saccharide. So glucose is the main sugar that our body consumes for energy. When sucrose is broken down, its main products are glucose and fructose. As I've mentioned earlier, glucose is the good sugar that our body can efficiently use. Fructose, while still among the three most important blood sugars (along with glucose and galactose) and readily consumed by the body, is the main culprit in energy drinks. The problem with fructose is that, in excess, it can lead to many health risks. In moderation however, fructose is very beneficial to the body. The fact that energy drinks have a relatively high concentration of sugar is what leads some people to consider them unhealthy. But if you are going to stop drinking energy drinks on the basis that they have sugar, you would also need to stop drinking soda and most juices, as well as abandon the indulgence of any candy. "- Antipatriot So yes it is agreed that glucose is a simple sugar that your body breaks down for energy and is good for your body when used. But this is really only in small doses compared to avg. energy drink having about 21.5 g sucrose, 5.25 g of glucose, which if not used can quickly add unwanted pounds to the body. "Herbal supplements - Most of those things you listed aren't necessarily unhealthy. Gingko Biloba is a supplement that you can buy at the grocery store. Many people take it regularly to supposedly enhance brain-functioning. Those other supplements can be (and are) consumed in moderate quantities by health-conscious individuals. The effects (positive or negative) of all those substances mentioned are in question however. Some nutritionists will say that those supplements will help you in various ways, while others say that they won't do anything. However, I would ask of you to find anyone that says that those supplements are unhealthy (in moderation). The truth is that those substances are present in energy drinks are only there in very low quantities--therefore ANY effects that they might have (positive or negative) are not significant enough to discontinue your use of energy drinks on the basis that they are some of the ingredients. "- Antipatriot . http://www.drugs.com... Here is a site with info on gingko biloba and as far as i can tell. .its not saying its the best thing for you either. With Severe side effects ; possible effects include headache, dizziness, heart palpitations and GI and dermatologic reactions. Ginkgo pollen can be strongly allergenic. Contact with the fleshy fruit pulp causes allergic dermatitis, similar to poison ivy. So im not saying all herbal supplements are bad for you that are included in a energy drink, but they are all not definetly good. "Guarana - Guarana is classified by the United States as GRAS--Generally Recognized As Safe. Yes, it does contain caffeine, but that is the main psychoactive ingredient in energy drinks. You shouldn't be having an energy drink if you don't wish to be stimulated. "- Antipatriot Yes guarana is "generally considered safe" but its basically a twin to caffiene. So when you have 25 mg of guarana and 280 mg per serving size of 240 ml (8.2 US fl oz)(Rockstar-common energy drink sold in stores)It all adds up to a very unhealthy amount of caffiene. Also the crashes that "tend" to happen after a couple hours prior to drinking an energy drink are linked to that of the high doeses of caffiene. Its also been included that the heart rate increase made from energy drinks is unhealthy due to it all being caffiene. "Any intelligent drinker of energy drinks would know this and plan accordingly. "- Antipatriot Sorry but this has nothing to do with anything. Still unhealthy. Sorry alex. "My argument is that for someone who needs/wants energy and a stimulant (someone like a truck driver), energy drinks are a perfectly acceptable way to get those desired effects. Energy drinks CAN be unhealthy when they are consumed in copious amounts. I'm not saying that it's okay for kids to have an energy drink twice a day. I'm simply saying that, in moderation, energy drinks can be positively used and are not permanently damaging to the body. "-Antipatriot Well this is your agreement with me that energy drinks are unhealthy when you first say: "Energy drinks CAN be unhealthy when they are consumed in copious amounts. " And "are not permanently damaging to the body" By saying the second line your saying that they are unhealthy if not permanently but in short term. I would like to conclude that even though they may be convienent for the working trucker for needs a "pick me up", that does not help the case that over all the avg. energy drink is more unhealthy than healthy. Also here is a website to refer to for futher explanations. . http://www.drugs.com...