Are Monster energy drinks bad for you?

[Jake272]

Shit I think somethin' might be bad with my heart now..... I drank a joose (9.9% alcohol with energy drink mixed in) and right after I finished it I had terrible chest pains, bad enough I had to lay down. Thankfully they went away after a while so I got back up and kept partyin'.

 

[moonyham]

I agree bighooter. If you're doing 8 hours of manual labor a day, it really isn't very bad to be drinking sugar and caffeine the whole time. Just drink them slowly and don't slam/chug them.

Then again, its not the greatest idea as you should ideally be getting use to the work so its easier instead of providing your body with fake energy(caffeine). As a kitchen hand which btw aint easy in the slightest, i think it would be very bad for me to have drank energy drinks everyday.. i just got used to it instead and now just use drinks if i really need them.

 

[ratio]

Monster is different because it carries 10 mg's of caffeine per ounce. Thats 160mg's in a 16 oz can.
Most energy drinks only carry on average of 40-60mgs the last time I checked. I use to work at a gas station about a year ago and thats what the numbers were like at the time. Basically, Monster has a really high caffeine content so like all great things, just use moderation.

 

[lostNfound]

They're all bad.

I still love JOLT Cola on occasion. It's actually got a real nice flavour.

Mostly though, I don't have time to grab a decent take away coffee. If i'm buying coffee i want it to be good, i'm a coffee snob like that.

My local convenient store has started stocking these which I had not seen in a while.

I always get the black can, very tasty and has no milk.


Real Espresso Coffee

http://www.bickfords.net/products/prod_cafecino.html

Cafecino Double Shots are unlike any other chilled coffee drink on the market because they contain a “shot” of premium Brazilian coffee to deliver the authentic taste of espresso coffee in a refreshing, drink anywhere, anytime beverage.

Cafecino Double Shot Espresso combines the finest dark roasted Brazilian Coffee with natural coffee flavours to produce a rich, satisfying and refreshing coffee drink, whilst Cafecino Double Shot Espresso & Milk also combines the goodness of premium whole milk.

 

[bighooter]

i drank nearly a litre of 'red rooster' and at first I was very stimulated and happy, then I started getting to buzzing and it felt like I wa son speed all jaded and shakey... got really bad anxiety from it and had to take a valium to come down after i finished work!

 

[aanallein]

if you have a very physical job

then energy drinks are beneficial for you imo

Because you use up so much energy if you are doing 8 hours of hardwork, you're body will go into a catabolic state and just make you really skinny.
However if you drink these energy drinks it will keep you in an anabolic state and all the bad sh1t will just get burned off from the hardwork!

sigh. caffeine is catabolic.

if you want to stay in an 'anabolic state' while working hard just drink a protein shake every 3 hrs.

 

[Georgie25]

anyone try them 5 hour energy shots?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Besides fructose/sugars, what can potentially be very bed about energy drinks is sodium or potassium benzoate. Animal studies are showing that these preservatives break mitochondrial DNA, accelerate aging, and slow metabolism. Taurine and vitamins I regard as good. I do quite a few energy drinks per day as I'm an active alcoholic and animal studies show taurine to have a the potential to reverse some alcohol related liver pathologies. Prolly I should find pills or powders of taurine & avoid the sorbate business in the energy drinks.

 

[charliegarcia]

enegry drinks are for kids in junior high...adults drink coffee. Surprised you didn't know that

Ummm........... I dont think so I drink coffee im not an adult, im a teenager that drinks coffee and hates energy drinks, its how everybody feels its not made for a designated group of people thats such an ignorant comment. Nice attempt at being a smartass though

 

[melvin420]

Ummm........... I dont think so I drink coffee im not an adult, im a teenager that drinks coffee and hates energy drinks, its how everybody feels its not made for a designated group of people thats such an ignorant comment. Nice attempt at being a smartass though

I second this.

 

[ColtDan]

what you wanna be drinking is some Pussy...

http://www.pussydrinks.com/home.html

natrual energy drink.... awesome looking can as well

contains....

* Milk Thistle »
* Guarana »
* Siberian Ginseng »
* Sarsaparilla »
* Schizandra »
* Ginkgo Biloba »

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

Total garbage, eat real food for your energy.

And to whoever made the drug comment earlier, not everyone on this forum does drugs. I don't even drink alcohol!

 

[Tunnelfission]

I was getting headaches and a clinic doctor said to cut the caffeine, I stopped drinking my daily redbulls (or 4) and I don't feel nearly as irate or tense.

I think the stuff like sodium benzoate (preservative) are worse for you in the long run than chronic caffeine consumption but I also choose to be somewhat pretensious about that kind of stuff.

bad for you yes!, buy individually the protiens like L-tyrosine and maybe ginseng that they put in there and take them for themselves instead of dosing energy drinks, the supplements will do more for you that way.

 

[SilverFeniks]

Monster is different because it carries 10 mg's of caffeine per ounce. Thats 160mg's in a 16 oz can.
Most energy drinks only carry on average of 40-60mgs the last time I checked. I use to work at a gas station about a year ago and thats what the numbers were like at the time. Basically, Monster has a really high caffeine content so like all great things, just use moderation.

Hmm. They always seemed weaker than Rockstars to me. Tho cryptically they don't publish the caffeine content on the cans.
A standard or diet Rockstar has 120 mg / 16 oz (IIRC).

The zero-carb, however, had 240 mg IIRC.

As much as I'd love to defend energy drinks, especially when consumed with an otherwise-healthy diet, a couple inexplicable periods of bad health (centered around gastrointestinal issues) this year have forced me to quit my beloved meth-in-a-can twice.
I have very little knowledge about health issues, but my irrational distrust of sugar/acid is enough to make me avoid the damn things for the future.

As much as I dislike the taste of coffee, at least it has proven health benefits without all the bullshit.

 

[jamesmartin]

Would like to point out (if noone has already) that monster has ginseng in it which I believe is a stimulant ... Maybe more powerful than caffiene ? Can anyone confirm?

 

[Jabberwocky]

^ There is a ginseng abuse syndrome described by books I've read. However I wouldn't call ginseng a stimulant. Caffeine adheres to adenosine receptors in a way that keeps them inactivated a while. I don't know of a comparable CNS activity by ginseng but I could be wrong. Adaptogen and tonic are words to describe ginseng in TCM and sometimes it might get called a stimulant as well but it is really a very different sense than what we mean in western pharmacology. Maybe I'm wrong about this. If ginseng is a stimulant than there is a mode of a action. I don't even know that anything from ginseng crosses the blood brain barrier.

 

[Inoxia]

A friend drank three 500ml cans the other day and was shaking worse than me, after being on mephedrone for two days and also popping a few pseudoephedrine pills that morning. So yeah, probably.

 

[SilverFeniks]

Would like to point out (if noone has already) that monster has ginseng in it which I believe is a stimulant ... Maybe more powerful than caffiene ? Can anyone confirm?

Yup, of course, its in big letters at the top of the can Or maybe that's Rockstar...

What's odd to me is that Monster doesn't specifically list the caffeine content.
This is what led me to believe they were 'weaker' than Rockstars (which also vary by label)

Monster lo-carb label ... can anyone enlighten as to some of the chemical cocktail?

Ingredients:

CARBONATED WATER, GLUCOSE, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, TAURINE, SODIUM CITRATE, COLOR ADDED, PANAX GINSENG ROOT EXTRACT, CAFFEINE, SORBIC ACID, SUCRALOSE, BENZOIC ACID, L-CARNITINE, NIACINAMIDE, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, SODIUM CHLORIDE, GLUCURONOLACTONE, INOSITOL, GUARANA SEED EXTRACT, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, MALTODEXTRIN, CYANOCOBALAMIN.


Vs. my favorite Rockstar Zero-Carb:

I really want to start drinking those again but am paranoid from all the (mis?)information

 

[Jabberwocky]

Here is a superficial and very cautious assessment of energy drinks and many of the common ingredients as a starting place. http://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/content/infosheets/EnergyDrinks.pdf

 

[belarki]

...

What's odd to me is that Monster doesn't specifically list the caffeine content.
This is what led me to believe they were 'weaker' than Rockstars (which also vary by label)...

Wow that's odd. I'm 99% sure the cans in Australia list caffeine content. ...


Edit: The cans in Australia do list caffeine content: 160mg/can.