Zero Sugar Energy Drinks

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  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    When the advertising and promotion industry tries to sell me a new "healthy" alternative (which is constantly), I ask myself: does it grow on a tree? Grow underground or above ground? Can it swim, can if fly? Does it feed itself with whatever nature provides? Haven't seen soft drink cans growing anywhere (and all that other rubbish which we are constantly bombarded with.....) I know, I must be the most boring person in the world - just trying to live reasonably healthy and needing to lose lots of weight.

    Neither can water.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    edited July 2018
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    RedPowder wrote: »
    Hello everyone,
    So a big part of me putting weight on was Energy drinks the other part just not eating right at all but anyways do you have any suggestions on what can give me just as much energy as a can ? Are these suger free energy drinks just as bad as the regular ones? Well besides the surgers.

    Additives? Caffeine ? Why do more people not drink them if they’re just craving something sweet?

    Me personally: more $$$ and effort than caffeine pills.

    ETA:
    ↑for caffeine

    For craving something sweet: way more $$$ than other carbonated artificially sweetened beverages. (such as store brand diet root beer)

    Also: I hate hauling heavy loads of what is essentially 99+% water when I have indoor plumbing that brings water straight to my kitchen for me.
  • RedPowder
    RedPowder Posts: 44 Member
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    evantcook wrote: »
    Hopefully you've gotten what you need, mate. There's a lot of good stuff in the thread. Folks are on point, in moderation there's little issue with sugar free energy drinks. Be cautious of your caffeine sensitivity and you should be golden. I LOVE coffee but that Monster Ultra Zero is a real gem.

    One worthy consideration, see if you can dig a little deeper into why you need the energy from a stimulant like caffeine. Still working on getting your general food intake in order? Not sleeping well? Stressed? Or do you just like a little extra kick?

    If it's any of the first three, don't lose sight of that.

    And if the sodium is a concern, get a little extra potassium to help balance things out.

    I can honestly say it’s an addiction that I will have to one day work my way off. I’ve been drinking coffee, tea, energy drinks from such a young age I get headaches if I don’t have the caffeine throughout the day.
  • 93639
    93639 Posts: 3 Member
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    Lots of "arm chair nutritionists" in here. The amount of caffeine is high in energy drinks. Some folks are sensitive to that. If your blood pressure is okay, probably no need for concern. As for sodium, soft drinks are considered a "low sodium" food. Not a high one. Folks who say that they are high, are simply misinformed. As for salt in the diet, studies are inconclusive that they affect hypertension: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317099.php
    They do *not* affect insulin levels. They *may* keep people who crave sweets in a state of craving. Also, they interrupt our "sweetness" detectors by making everything sweet. The sweeter things are, the sweeter we want them to be is the current thought.

    Anyway, what one person said, " You do you." Good luck.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    93639 wrote: »
    Lots of "arm chair nutritionists" in here. The amount of caffeine is high in energy drinks. Some folks are sensitive to that. If your blood pressure is okay, probably no need for concern. As for sodium, soft drinks are considered a "low sodium" food. Not a high one. Folks who say that they are high, are simply misinformed. As for salt in the diet, studies are inconclusive that they affect hypertension: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317099.php
    They do *not* affect insulin levels. They *may* keep people who crave sweets in a state of craving. Also, they interrupt our "sweetness" detectors by making everything sweet. The sweeter things are, the sweeter we want them to be is the current thought.

    Anyway, what one person said, " You do you." Good luck.

    if it has carbs in it, it can affect insulin levels. and it doesnt keep me craving sweets if I drink one with or without sugar. a monster java which I do have one once in awhile has 188g of caffeine. one of sugarless drink packets that have electrolytes and caffeine in it is 100g per packet. so not that much more. for those with HBP not everyones BP will raise due to sodium. so people arent sensitive to sodium.sodium for some dose raise BP. they also dont make everything else taste sweet. at least not to me they dont. I think that will vary person to person.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,996 Member
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    Would be rather odd if they did since several of them drink Diet Coke or Pepsi max themselves.

    I've had doctors and nurses tell me to lose weight or drink less.. i am 99% certain they don't follow their own advice!!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Well, yes - and exercise more or whatever. ;) general advice type of things.

    But I dont expect somebody to consume something they are telling others causes brain tumours :o:*



    how many medical professionals do you think smoke?!

    Extremely few doctors in my experience.

    constantly amazes me how many nurses smoke, I must admit.

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    Would be rather odd if they did since several of them drink Diet Coke or Pepsi max themselves.

    I've had doctors and nurses tell me to lose weight or drink less.. i am 99% certain they don't follow their own advice!!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Well, yes - and exercise more or whatever. ;) general advice type of things.

    But I dont expect somebody to consume something they are telling others causes brain tumours :o:*



    how many medical professionals do you think smoke?!

    Extremely few doctors in my experience.

    constantly amazes me how many nurses smoke, I must admit.

    same here .hubbys dr told him to quit smoking. hubby told him I will when you tell your nurses to stop smoking. he laughed and said unfortunately he cant do that.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    newfun42 wrote: »
    When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer


    please can you link the study that shows this, i couldn't see it in the article?
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
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    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    No they don't. The sugar craving is also not a universal truth - it does cause some people to have cravings, but it does not cause all people to have cravings.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    ccrdragon wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    No they don't. The sugar craving is also not a universal truth - it does cause some people to have cravings, but it does not cause all people to have cravings.

    Plus, I loathe all forms of coffee and love most forms of diet Cola. And need a caffeine buzz. (For whatever reason, tea somehow makes me sleepy, even when caffeinated.)
  • newsunk
    newsunk Posts: 4 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    So you're new to the MFP forums - Welcome! You will find we are very science based, if you are going to make a strong scientific statement, you will need to back it up with reputable sources to make an impact and be ready for others to go into those sources with a fine toothed comb (especially if you are going to assert that something causes cancer :huh:). We have doctors, nurses, RDs, research scientists, archaeologists, molecular biologists, and many other scientific and medical professionals who post here regularly. And we discuss artificial sweeteners ad nauseum.

    To catch you up, you might find these previous threads interesting:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10656903/for-those-who-lost-fat-do-you-think-diet-soda-impact-the-fat-loss-negatively/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10537256/artificial-sweeteners/p1

    There are many many more :lol:

    Artificial sweeteners have been all over the food supply since at least the 1970's. There has been no evidence of causation period, and even the correlation data and studies are pretty easy to poke holes in.

    Thank you for your feedback. I will shut up.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    newfun42 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    So you're new to the MFP forums - Welcome! You will find we are very science based, if you are going to make a strong scientific statement, you will need to back it up with reputable sources to make an impact and be ready for others to go into those sources with a fine toothed comb (especially if you are going to assert that something causes cancer :huh:). We have doctors, nurses, RDs, research scientists, archaeologists, molecular biologists, and many other scientific and medical professionals who post here regularly. And we discuss artificial sweeteners ad nauseum.

    To catch you up, you might find these previous threads interesting:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10656903/for-those-who-lost-fat-do-you-think-diet-soda-impact-the-fat-loss-negatively/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10537256/artificial-sweeteners/p1

    There are many many more :lol:

    Artificial sweeteners have been all over the food supply since at least the 1970's. There has been no evidence of causation period, and even the correlation data and studies are pretty easy to poke holes in.

    Thank you for your feedback. I will shut up.

    I certainly didn't mean it that way, sorry if that's how it sounded. Just wanted you to know what you were wading into, lots of new folks end up kind of shell-shocked when they get into some of these hot button topics on here. If you're up for the argument, go for it!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    ccrdragon wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    No they don't. The sugar craving is also not a universal truth - it does cause some people to have cravings, but it does not cause all people to have cravings.

    This study is about the effects of artificial sweeteners that seem to alter the glycemic and hormonal responses to glucose ingestion: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/9/2530 and you are right it is not a universal truth, it is science so it will be challenged and perhaps disproved in the future.

    This one is about the long term effect of aspartame on the liver: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691511000639

    This one about aspartame on lymphomas and leukaemias (in rats): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225029050_Aspartame_induces_lymphomas_and_leukaemias_in_rats

    To be fair there is also a great number of studies that disprove the relationship between sweeteners and cancer. Again, counting the number of (possible) adverse effects vs the positive I personally stick to (carbonated) water with fresh lemon or lime but I can understand that if someone has been drinking sugary sodas all his life it's probably easier and better to switch to artificially sweetened sodas then not switching at all.

    For the first study - ok, it affects hormones, so what? There was no correlation in the study to any other effect such as increased desire to eat more sweets.

    For the aspartame effects on the liver, the rats were given the equivilent of 1000 mg per kg of body weight - to reach that amount of aspartame, an average sized human (80 kg) would have to drink a minimum of 640 diet cokes (a 12 oz diet coke contains 125 mg of aspartame)... don't think that is going to happen.

    The third one was a rat study hidden behind a paywall... so cannot read the original study and look at methodologies, etc.

    ETA: I was able to get to the actual text of the third study - biggest flaw they had was using Sprague-Dawley rats, a known strain of rats that spontaneously develop tumors about 50% of the time (even without any experiments being done on them).

    ..correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't at least one of commonly quoted by anti-aspartame rat studies have results that bounced all over the place with increasing dose. ...they point to the 2nd? highest dose numbers (really super high dose still) that showed an increase, neglecting to point out that it dropped down in the highest dose, and some of the (still high doses) showed a decrease versus none....in other words- the numbers they got were pretty much just data noise. (this might be that Sprague-Dawley study if memory serves).
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    ritzvin wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    newfun42 wrote: »
    There are several studies that seem to point in the direction that energy drinks have lots of problems associated:

    https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19542947/energy-drink-health-effects/

    Best 'energy' drink in my opinion: carbonated water with freshly squeezed lemon.

    https://draxe.com/benefits-of-lemon-water/

    did you read that article? its not even talking about sugar free energy drinks to start with?!

    The article is indeed about energy drinks in general, but that does not make a lot of the described effects less true for sugar free energy drinks. When it comes to sugar free drinks the biggest issue seems to be that some artificial sweeteners cause cancer and other health risks, plus when the body thinks it's getting sugar (you taste something sweet) it responds to it and when the sugar rush doesn't come the craving for actual sugar goes up. So combining the potential negative effects of the energy drinks plus the negative effects of artificially sweetening I think the overall conclusion is (at least for me) that these risks outweigh any potential short term gain. If you need caffeine buzz, drink a cup of espresso in the morning and stick with water (carbonated) the rest of the day.

    No they don't. The sugar craving is also not a universal truth - it does cause some people to have cravings, but it does not cause all people to have cravings.

    This study is about the effects of artificial sweeteners that seem to alter the glycemic and hormonal responses to glucose ingestion: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/36/9/2530 and you are right it is not a universal truth, it is science so it will be challenged and perhaps disproved in the future.

    This one is about the long term effect of aspartame on the liver: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691511000639

    This one about aspartame on lymphomas and leukaemias (in rats): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225029050_Aspartame_induces_lymphomas_and_leukaemias_in_rats

    To be fair there is also a great number of studies that disprove the relationship between sweeteners and cancer. Again, counting the number of (possible) adverse effects vs the positive I personally stick to (carbonated) water with fresh lemon or lime but I can understand that if someone has been drinking sugary sodas all his life it's probably easier and better to switch to artificially sweetened sodas then not switching at all.

    For the first study - ok, it affects hormones, so what? There was no correlation in the study to any other effect such as increased desire to eat more sweets.

    For the aspartame effects on the liver, the rats were given the equivilent of 1000 mg per kg of body weight - to reach that amount of aspartame, an average sized human (80 kg) would have to drink a minimum of 640 diet cokes (a 12 oz diet coke contains 125 mg of aspartame)... don't think that is going to happen.

    The third one was a rat study hidden behind a paywall... so cannot read the original study and look at methodologies, etc.

    ETA: I was able to get to the actual text of the third study - biggest flaw they had was using Sprague-Dawley rats, a known strain of rats that spontaneously develop tumors about 50% of the time (even without any experiments being done on them).

    ..correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't at least one of commonly quoted by anti-aspartame rat studies have results that bounced all over the place with increasing dose. ...they point to the 2nd? highest dose numbers (really super high dose still) that showed an increase, neglecting to point out that it dropped down in the highest dose, and some of the (still high doses) showed a decrease versus none....in other words- the numbers they got were pretty much just data noise. (this might be that Sprague-Dawley study if memory serves).

    That's the one.