First we learned what happened to our bodies one hour after drinking a can of Coca-Cola, then Diet Coke, and now a new infographic reveals the effects of energy drinks.
The graphic by Personalise.co.uk reveals what happens 10 minutes, 15-45 minutes, 30-50 minutes, one hour, five-six hours, 12 hours and 12-24 hours after necking a Red Bull.
From the first ten minutes when your heart rate and blood pressure rise, to the final 12 to 24 hours when your body begins feeling withdrawal symptoms – including headaches, irritability and constipation.
This new infographic by Peronalise.co.uk looks at what happens to your body after drinking an energy drink
FEMAIL speaks to science communicator and food researcherDr Stuart Farrimond for his expert comment on how the energy drink affects your system.
Speaking about the overall effect of energy drinks on the body, Dr Farrimond told FEMAIL: Energy drinks are a bad way to get caffeine.
They are high in sugar – some frighteningly so. The added extras, like taurine, are hocus-pocus and dont really do anything other than make the drink more marketable.
All fizzy drinks are acidic because they are carbonated, and drinks manufacturers usually add extra acid to give it a zing.
In the first ten minutes your blood pressure and heart rate start to rise. Between the next 15 to 45 minutes the stimulant starts to improve your concentration levels and keeps you alert
Red Bull has a pH of 3.3 – the same as vinegar. Combined with sugar, they are perfect for eroding the enamel on teeth, and causing a lifetime of dental problems.
Moderate coffee consumption has been linked to longer life, although this is almost certainly not the case for energy drinks.
And while caffeine makes us feel more alert and awake, it doesnt make us smarter. In fact, some research shows that caffeine actually impairs our ability to think creatively.
Coffee and tea are a far better way to go. Although everything in moderation, of course!
The breakdown details the initial spike in energy followed by the dastardly sugar crash. But side effects from Red Bull can include headaches irritability and even constipation.
INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED:
Guarana: A plant native to South America, contains ingredients chemically similar to caffeine that act in the body much as caffeine does.
Glucuronolactone: Occurs naturally in the body and some people believe it provides an immediate kick of energy and purges the body of harmful substances.
Taurine: Occurs naturally in the body, some people believe it detoxifies the body and purges harmful substances.
Dr Farrimond said: This is accurate for normal weight adults. The oral contraceptive pill will make the half-life longer, although it may not be double as it depends on the precise tablet.
Pregnancy, liver damage and other drugs can also slow the rate at which caffeine is eliminated from the body.
Importantly, children and teenagers have a significantly longer half-life, meaning caffeine will remain in their blood stream for longer and at higher levels than for adults. This is why caffeinated drinks can cause behavioural problems and anxiety issues in children.
>12 hours: 12 hours after finishing your energy drink for most people all the caffeine will have been removed from your bloodstream, the exact speed or time will vary from person to person.
Dr Farrimond said: Yes, this is a fair approximation, excluding children and teenagers.
>12 to 24 hours: For regular drinkers youll find that between 12and 24 hours is the time for when youll start to feel withdrawal symptoms i.e. the urge for some caffeine, other affects of this include headaches, irritability and constipation.
Dr Farrimond said: Caffeine withdrawal symptoms are usually overstated and arent as bad as with think they are.
In blinded tests where coffee drinkers have their drinks changed for decaffeinated ones, the withdrawal effects are found to be pretty mild in most cases, if they exist at all.
Withdrawal symptoms can last for up to nine days and will depend on the amount of caffeine we drink. Everyones different, of course, but a lot of the withdrawal symptoms seems to be in our mind.
You will start to feel withdrawal symptoms including headaches, irritability and constipation between 12 to 24 hours. Your body needs seven to 12 days to become tolerant to caffeine and soon you will get used to it
> Seven to 12 days: Dtudies have shown that this is the time frame that your body will become tolerant of your daily caffeine dosage, one study found those who took a caffeine pill while others had a placebo, showed identical moods, alert levels and energy after 18 days, those who had the high dosage of caffeine had got used to the caffeine fix.
Dr Farrimond said: We do become tolerant of caffeine over time – needing more to get the same effect. it would be interesting to find out more about these studies.
The graphic then goes on to explain why it might be good or bad to drink energy drinks
It states that most things in moderation and as part of a healthy balanced diet are fine and this goes for energy drinks, be careful though as there are often large amounts of sugar in many of the drinks.
Guidelines for caffeine are 400mg per day and so having a can of this every day shouldnt pass this, yet the sugars and addiction that can be produced from doing this is something you should consider.
There has been research all over the world into the effects of energy drinks, in America, admissions to emergency departments which were energy drink related doubled from 2007-2014 according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations Dawn Report.
Energy drink companies often compare their drinks to coffee with many coffee shops offering high caffeine drinks, take a Starbucks Venti Caffe Americano which contains 300mg of caffeine which is nearly four times that of a 250ml can of Redbull.
Dr Stuart said: Tiredness is a big killer: about 500 deaths a year are caused by driving while sleepy. In moderation, caffeine can help you stay awake if you are driving late at night or in the afternoon slump after lunch.
But rather than trying to get pumped up with a can of Red Bull, it would be far better to pull over, get a cup of coffee and take ten minutes to rest.
Niraj Naik who designed the Coca-Cola and Diet Coke graphics for his blog The Renegade Pharmacist told FEMAIL: My original infographic and article was meant for my clients who suffer from health issues and for others who are on long term medications for metabolic disease like diabetes, heart disease and obesity, who really want to get better or prevent them from happening.
However people who have a healthy, active lifestyle and who manage their stress properly, are at a much lower risk of getting stress related illnesses.
So having a can of cola or energy drink now and then wont do much harm. It is when it is drunk in excess and in replacement of other more nutritious drinks or food that you get problems.
My advice to my clients and everyone else is to learn to live a healthy lifestyle, stay active, manage your stress, have a nutritious pure diet as much as possible and view things like fizzy drinks and energy drinks as treats – not to be had with every single meal.
Gavin Partington, BSDA (British Soft Drinks Association) Director General, told FEMAIL: Energy drinks deliver a caffeine or glucose-based energy boost and are enjoyed by millions worldwide. In fact, this year the European Food Safety Authority reaffirmed the safety of energy drinks and their ingredients. Its worth remembering that a 250ml can of energy drinks contains the same amount of caffeine as a typical cup of coffee.
WHAT’S IN YOUR ENERGY DRINK?
Red Bull: 80mg of caffeine; 1,000mg of taurine; 600 mg glucuronolactone.
Rockstar: 75mg of caffeine; 946mg of taurine; 200mg of guarana. (All per serving. There are two servings in each can)
SoBe Adrenaline Rush: 79mg of caffeine; 1,000mg of taurine; 50mg of guarana.
Monster: 2,500mg energy blend of guarana, glucuronolactone; 80mg of caffeine; 1,000mg of taurine. (All per serving. There are two servings in each can)
In the first 10 minutes: The caffeine starts to be absorbed into your bloodstream, your body responds by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure.
>15 to 45 minutes: At some point during the first 15-45 minutes depending how fast you drink it the levels of caffeine will peak, youll feel alert and find your concentration is improved, this is due to caffeine being a stimulant drug. This is when its recommended to drink one if you are driving and feel you need to be more alert.
Dr Farrimond said: These times are about right: after drinking a caffeinated drink, caffeine passes from the intestines into the blood and then into the brain and around the body.
It is a stimulant drug that works by clogging up the tiredness signals in the brain. A chemical in the brain, called adenosine, plays an important role in how tired we feel – it tends to build up throughout the day, causing us to get sleepy in the evening.
Caffeine is a crafty drug that temporarily blocks adenosine pathways, giving you a boost while allowing feel good molecules in the brain (such as dopamine) to be released more readily. You feel more alert and you feel better about yourself!
> 30-50 minutes: After you finish your drink and your body has now fully absorbed the caffeine , your liver will often then react by absorbing more sugar. Its during this time that your body has also absorbed most of the sugar initially in the drink as well.
By 50 minutes your body has fully absorbed the caffeine but your liver also starts taking in more sugar. When the one-hour mark hit you will experience a sugar crash
Dr Farrimond said: Yes, ordinarily you would expect all the caffeine to be absorbed by about 45 minutes after drinking, although it could be longer if drunk as part of a meal.
The liver breaks down caffeine and caffeine itself does indeed raise blood sugar levels. Its not as straightforward as the infographic suggests, however.
Caffeine can make low blood sugars worse in diabetics, for example. Interestingly, caffeine seems to be good for the liver and coffee consumption has been linked to lower rates of liver disease and liver cancer. The same hasnt been shown for energy drinks, however.
>60 minutes: An hour in and youll likely be getting the dreaded sugar crash , this often is a mix of the sugar levels in your bloodstream dropping as well as the effects of the caffeine dying down.
Dr Farrimond said: Lots of scientists dont think the sugar crash actually exists. We think we know when our sugar levels are high or low, but we usually cant.
Eating a meal makes us feel tired for other reasons, and we do get a comedown from caffeine, which can start around this time. We can also feel a bit of a slump when the happy hormones circulating in our brain start to wear off.
In the next five to six hours your body reduces the content of caffeine in the bloodstream by half. 12 hours is the time it takes for all of the caffeine to be removed from the body
> Five to six hours: Roughly five to six hours is the half-life of caffeine. This means that it takes this many hours for your body to reduce the caffeine content in your bloodstream by 50 per cent. For women who take an oral contraceptive this time is doubled.
What Happens To Your Body After Drinking Red Bull | How energy drinks affect your body ?
FAQ
Can Red Bull make you constipated?
Can energy drinks affect your bowels?
Can energy drinks help with constipation?
What happens if you drink 1 Red Bull a day?
Does Red Bull cause headaches and constipation?
If you happen to be a regular Red Bull drinker then issues such as headaches, irritation and constipation can be prevalent. Here’s the graph with all the relevant information.
Does eating red meat cause constipation?
In the same way that saturated fat in fried foods contributes to constipation, eating large quantities of red meat may do the same. A 2015 study in Neurogastroenterology and Motility reported that a high level of saturated fat in the diet, defined as over 30 grams per day, is linked to a higher risk of constipation.
Can you drink too much Red Bull?
It’s also high in sugar and low in nutrients, so drinking coffee or tea may be better Red Bull is one of the highest-selling energy drinks in the world ( 1 ). This article reviews the possible side effects of Red Bull, including whether drinking too much of it could be life-threatening. What is Red Bull?
Is Red Bull bad for You?
Red Bull is a sugar-sweetened, caffeinated drink marketed as a way to boost mental and physical performance. Due to its combination of ingredients, there are concerns over its potential side effects, especially when consumed in larger amounts. Though Red Bull remains a popular beverage, research suggests that it may negatively affect your health.