I have survived my first Black Friday. It was a much anticipated morning. No, I wasn’t like that women in the commercials who had alarm clocks tied to her body, but I admit I did have a hard time falling asleep with fear my alarm would fail me. When my alarm did go off in the wee hours of the morning, my body wasn’t so sure this was a good idea.
Entering my first store, I noticed employees giving out 2 ounce bottles of 5 hour energy drinks to its shoppers. Watching shoppers drink them down made me think about the effects these drinks have on our body. These drinks contain some controversial ingredients – guarana, taurine, caffine,  cyanocobalamin, citric acid and ginseng. Even though these are basically harmless when taken in low dosages, studies have shown that these ingredients can do major damage to people who don’t know how to spell moderation.
Studies on energy drinks have shown that the common ingredients such as sugar, sodium and caffeine can be very dangerous in high dosages for diabetics and for people with high or low blood sugar. Even an average person who drinks one that is very high in sugar can feel out –of-control when a sudden drop in insulin levels kicks in. Now think about what it could do to a person with underlying heart conditions. These drinks have the ability to stimulate a person’s heart to the point of palpitations. Next time you need a quick energy boost – you might want to think twice about consuming one of these…
