'Energy Drinks' : It's Not Just the Caffeine!

 

Devi Sridhar (University of Edinburgh) notes that the sale of 'energy drinks' to under 16's has just been banned in England. She suggests that the real question is why this ban has taken so long. 'Energy drinks' have long been linked to obesity, lack of concentration and mood changes. Sridhar focuses on their caffeine content. Caffeine (also contained in tea and coffee) is certainly psychoactive and intake by children needs to be minimised. 'Energy drinks' are also, however, marketed on the basis of their glucose content. Slurping down glucose often produces reactive hypoglycaemia. Reactive hypoglycaemia is an undershoot of the resting blood level of glucose, produced by the monosaccharide stimulating insulin release. Our brains are entirely dependent on their blood supply for energy. No carbohydrate is stored there. I distinctly remember being involved in a study some decades ago. In it, students, after drinking glucose solutions, showed increases in irritability and hostility. These questionnaire-assessed mood changes, were especially prominent in male subjects. So glucose and caffeine are an unhelpful combination (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/10/england-ban-energy-drinks-caffeine-children-parents-social-media). If you need extra energy for a sport, eat a banana well before the event starts!