views on energy drinks

tndejong

please dont attack me! i am posting this cause i want to understand my problem and maybe get help.

i have had a caffeine problem as long as i can remember. in my teens, i would drink tons of regular mountain dew. when i started to gain weight and found out i had type 2 diabetes, i switched to diet pops. it has ALWAYS been a problem of mine. i can drink a pot of coffee to myself easy. i can drink one or more low carb energy drinks in a day and sometimes it seems like it helps and other days it seems just like another beverage. and when im drinking all these loaded drinks, i still drink water. i always have a drink of some kind with me through out the day. but if i don't start my day off with something caffeine loaded, i do get headaches.

without attacking me please, help me understand this and give me a good reason to stop. can this in any way effect me weight loss? so far it seems like it has not. and i don't want to hear the argument that fake sweetener are bad for you. diet drinks are bad. yada yada. and are there people out there who just can tolerate large amounts of caffeine? and for people who have stopped or cut back, how did you do it?

Louisianababy93

So, i used to drink nothing but coca-cola!
& then a kidney stone attacted me and it was so big it got lodged and i had to have surgery!
and after the surgery i had to drink a bottle of water an hour for a week to flush out my kidneys..
i peed a hella lot..but then coke didnt taste good and then i got a diet coke and i would drink one a day
but then that nasty freaking after taste started getting to me! so im back on regular coke!
i drink from 2-3 a day and i drink more water. i just dont log it.
but,seriously! A kidney stone will scare you straight! for a little while atleast.


A couple weeks ago i decided to drink a monster and im telling you! it was bad!
it made me dizzy,shaky and have cold sweats! but let me tell you! i felt like i could run a marathon!
SO ENERGY DRINK ARE A NO GO! but, i know serval people who use them before a workout.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

I used to pretty much live off of monster ultra zero but now I just drink them once in a while. Going from drinking a ton of them to drinking one maybe once a week has made no difference. If you like it, drink it. You might want to check out something like Jack3d or nitraflex if you need something stronger pre work out.

vanguardfitness

sounds like you've developed a pretty big tolerance. I like to drink caffeine as needed, because after about a week drinking it daily I don't feel it's stimulant properties anymore.

KRobertson36

It should be noted the energy drinks often have more than 1 type of caffeine in them. Depending on the drink it can have as much as 5 different types. I can look up the information again if you would like. I had to do a research paper on stimulants and this was the one I decided to do. send me a private note if you want and I will locate that info for you.

WendyTerry420

sounds like you've developed a pretty big tolerance. I like to drink caffeine as needed, because after about a week drinking it daily I don't feel it's stimulant properties anymore.

^^^ This

I detoxed myself off all stimulants and alcohol for six months. I was going back and forth, a pill to wake and a drink to sleep. That "reset" my tolerance so either of those is a "sometimes" thing now instead of a daily thing.


ETA: That's not entirely true. I drink a cup of coffee just about every day now. :drinker:

KRobertson36

Congratz on detoxing from both.

freeradicals

Hey tndejong,

It sounds like you have a pretty big caffeine dependence and tolerance.

In terms of dieting. It's not going to make a great deal of difference. Caffeine does raise your metabolism slightly which should aid slightly with weight loss. However, personally, for me, I find that artificial sweeteners tend to make my stomach go crazy, rumbling and all sorts making me crave foods.

There are tons of health reasons for quitting caffeine. This is a pretty good article that lists it's sources, so you can use it to find out further information:

http://www.naturalnews.com/012352.html

Here's another web page with some pretty detailed information and a nice overview of the effects of caffeine as a whole:

http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html

Quitting isn't easy. It's a very addictive drug. 90% of Americans drink caffeine daily. You'll often meet people who say they're not addicted and they can quit any time they like, but hey... a sign of an addict is self-denial! You know yourself how hard it can be!

I've never managed to quit and stay off it but I have managed to stop for periods of between 3-12 months on a number of occasions. Personally, I go for cold-turkey. To me it's the best way. I've never had success with the other commonly suggested technique which is gradual reduction. I quit smoking for good using cold-turkey so I know it works for me. If you've quit any other drug then you probably know a technique that's right for you.

The first thing to do is make absolutely sure you know what contains caffeine and what doesn't. It may sound obvious but sometimes you can be surprised. Caffeine doesn't have a strong taste and is added to lots of drinks and products where you wouldn't notice.

KRobertson36, said above that there can be up to 5 different "types" of caffeine. This isn't strictly true. There are actually a number of different "sources" of caffeine. Chemically they're all identical and the generic name is caffeine. However sometimes caffeine is called something else depending on the source that it's extracted from. All the ones I know of are eg.

caffeine (extracted from coffee or just a generic term)
yeba mate
guarana
kola nut
tea (eg. green tea extract)
cocoa*

With the exception of cocoa, all of these chemicals are identical. They're just different names for the exact same thing. The only difference is where the chemical was obtained.

Cocoa is different. You'll often hear people say that chocolate contains caffeine. They're wrong; it contains something similar. It contains a chemical called theobromine (also known as theobromide and xantheose) which is very similar structurally to caffeine. It's a very similar stimulant that binds to the same receptors, so for all intents and purposes it can be regarded as the same thing and should also be avoided.

So, yeah... if you're ready to go cold turkey, keep the following in mind.

The golden rule is: Once you've started going cold-turkey, don't touch any caffeine or theobromine at all from that point on. Not even a drop. You might think one small cup or even a little sip won't do any harm "just this once", but it's very likely to send you back to square one and you'll feel terrible about yourself when it does. It's just not worth it for one taste.

Those headaches you get: You're going to have to put up with them for a while yet. Sometimes they go after a day or two, but I've known them to last just over a week. Keep a stock of acetaminophen and ibuprofen ready. You'll probably have to take a dose of both together just to dull the pain. Obviously check the ingredients because often manufacturers put caffeine in their painkilling products!

Once the headaches are over, you're through the worst of it and you can pat yourself on the back. Along with the headaches you'll probably feel a lot of tiredness as well and if you're like me you might become a bit irritable and bad tempered; keep away from sources of stress.

After a week, these withdrawal symptoms will have peaked and you're on the way to being clear. They'll virtually have gone after a month has passed, they'll be barely noticeable, and here's the good bit...

You'll feel loads better than you did before! You'll have more energy and alertness... all the time! You'll basically feel the same as you used to when you'd just finished drinking a caffeinated drink. You'll get that sense of alertness all the time. Loads of energy, really alert, even first thing in the morning!

After 3 months, all the withdrawal effects will be gone completely and you'll be feeling even better. Just remember not to get complacent. Stay off the bad stuff and you'll be fine. One sip could send you spiralling back to square one.

Good luck!

WendyTerry420

Congratz on detoxing from both.

Thanks. Lots of sleeping was necessary for the first few weeks, but then it felt good to feel "normal" again.

stephaniemejia1671

Energy drinks tend to contain just sugar, and caffeine makes your heart race. All that stuff is just bad for you if you just drink it to drink it and don't move enough to work it out of your system. Yes in can affect your weightloss a great deal. Have you tried cutting back more so than you've done already? It took me about a month before I was ok with drinking just water. I can walk away from soda and the energy drinks just fine now. Are you still Type 2?

navywendy00

So, i used to drink nothing but coca-cola!
& then a kidney stone attacted me and it was so big it got lodged and i had to have surgery!
and after the surgery i had to drink a bottle of water an hour for a week to flush out my kidneys..
i peed a hella lot..but then coke didnt taste good and then i got a diet coke and i would drink one a day
but then that nasty freaking after taste started getting to me! so im back on regular coke!
i drink from 2-3 a day and i drink more water. i just dont log it.
but,seriously! A kidney stone will scare you straight! for a little while atleast.


A couple weeks ago i decided to drink a monster and im telling you! it was bad!
it made me dizzy,shaky and have cold sweats! but let me tell you! i felt like i could run a marathon!
SO ENERGY DRINK ARE A NO GO! but, i know serval people who use them before a workout.

Im like you. I have had 9 kidney stones. I stopped drinking soda all together. I have the occasional pepsi or rum and coke. I like energy drinks but don't drink them often. Kidney stones are no joke!

JusticeGirl25

Never been big on energy drinks but I do drink a cup of coffee every morning. That always wakes me up.