![]() ![]() If artificial sweeteners don’t cause you GI distress and you don’t have a medical condition like diabetes or high blood pressure to consider, Gately says they are safe for most people to consume in moderation. “Some people may experience GI distress, like diarrhea, after consumption,” explains Gately. ![]() Though faux sugars like stevia and sucralose (known as Splenda) have no sugar content, they also have zero nutritional value and can cause digestive issues. Then there are the sugar alternatives found in many energy drinks. The seed itself isn’t unhealthy, but it’s an NCAA-banned stimulant -it can show up in a urine test and shouldn’t be consumed by competitive college athletes, says Gately. If you’re starting your day with a quad-shot latte, reaching for an afternoon Americano, and taking down a Celsius before your men’s league basketball game, that’s overdoing it.īeyond excess caffeine and sugar, some popular “healthy” energy drinks, such as Celsius, also include guarana, whose seed s contain about four times more caffeine than coffee beans ( 1 ). The average person can safely consume around 400 mg (or less) of caffeine per day, or about four small cups of coffee. So it’s not about avoiding caffeine altogether, but rather about limiting your intake. “When you consume caffeine, it stimulates your nervous system causing your heart rate to increase, which pushes blood to your muscles and signals your liver to release glucose, providing you with energy,” adds Gately. Though some caffeine is perfectly healthy-it gives you energy and improves your ability to focus and concentrate-“some energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine that can be dangerous and negatively impact your heart, not to mention your anxiety and ability to sleep,” says registered dietitian Valerie Gately, MS, RDN, LD. Fortunately, it’s 2023, and there are plenty of healthy-ish alternatives to the sugar bombs of youth.ĭoes that mean we can consider these new-wave energy drinks to be “healthy”? Not quite. But that vice may come with downsides: caffeine jitters and an eventual sugar crash. “This study suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us that helps us live longer and healthier lives.A can of Red Bull or Monster can give you a boost when your ass is dragging at 3 p.m. “For the last 25 years, scientists have been trying to find factors that not only let us live longer, but also increase healthspan, the time we remain healthy in our old age,” Yadav said. The claims are frequent enough that Red Bull, which independently has a bovine name, addresses it on its list of frequently asked questions on its website. Such claims are not true and the chemical is produced synthetically. The nutrient’s bullish history also occasionally spark spurious claims that the drinks contain bull sperm or are made from bull’s testicles. Taurine is a common ingredient in many energy drinks-including best-selling brands like Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar-though experts warn these may pose a danger to public health for their large caffeine and sugar content. Its name is derived from the Latin word for bull or ox, “taurus,” as the chemical was first isolated from ox bile in the early 1800s. Taurine is a naturally occurring amino acid. Yadav said the finding “suggests that some of the health benefits of exercise may come from an increase in taurine.” Surprising Fact The researchers tested taurine levels in men-a mix of athletes and less-active individuals-after a strenuous workout, finding a significant increase for all. The researchers also conducted a study linking taurine levels with exercise, another intervention well-known to improve health. Rigorous and randomized clinical trials will be needed to prove the link for sure, Yadav said. As the study was observational, Yadav said it can’t prove taurine was responsible for the findings or whether supplements would help improve lifespan and health. To test the connection, the researchers evaluated 12,000 European adults ages 60 and over on around 50 health metrics, finding those with higher taurine levels to be healthier, with fewer cases of type 2 diabetes, reduced high blood pressure and lower levels of obesity and inflammation. The role taurine may play in human aging is not yet clear and understanding it fully will still leave many questions unresolved. While important strides have been made in recent years, there is still a great deal scientists do not know about aging, its drivers or how to slow, stall or reverse it. Similar health effects of taurine supplementation were also seen in middle-aged rhesus monkeys, the researchers said, where six months of daily supplements prevented weight gain, increased bone density in the spine and legs and improved immune system health. ![]()
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