Heart-Healthy Alternatives to Coffee and Sugar-Free Energy Drinks
Ultimately, it’s the total amount of caffeine you consume that determines the risk to your heart, and both beverages have plenty of it. Someone who drinks cup after cup of coffee or who goes in for the extra-large serving size at their local coffee shop could have the same problems with caffeination as even the most overzealous energy drink fan. That said, it’s quite possible to limit your caffeine intake when using sugar-free energy drinks, just as it’s possible to overdo it with your coffee consumption. This consumption adds up drink just three sugar-free energy drinks and you could be looking at 450-500 mg of caffeine, compared to the 250-300 mg in the same number of cups of coffee. A can of a popular energy drink, however, could contain well over 100 of this stimulant, and it’s not uncommon for users to go through two or three cans over the course of a day. When you pour yourself a cup of coffee, you’re serving yourself about 90 mg of caffeine, well below the 400 mg threshold. As mentioned above, however, it all comes down to how much you drink. After all, neither drink contains any sugar (unless you add it yourself, in the case of coffee), and their levels of caffeine per serving are fairly similar. How Sugar-Free Energy Drinks Compare to Coffee for Heart Healthīecause both coffee and sugar-free energy drinks seem comparable in a number of ways, it’s understandable to wonder why one might be worse for your heart than the other. Because of this increased volume, someone drinking a sugar-free energy drink can wind up with several hundred milligrams of caffeine after just one can drink two, and you could be approaching or exceeding the commonly accepted safety limits. Although caffeine concentration in an average energy drink is similar to that of other caffeinated beverages, these drinks come in large cans that can contain two or three times more liquid than a mug of tea or coffee. Men who consume more than 300 mg (or more than three cups of coffee) on a regular basis have been shown to have a higher rate of heart attacks 1, according to one study, and can experience unpleasant side effects ranging from anxiety and jitters to headaches and insomnia.īut even if you consider 400 mg the upper limit on caffeine intake for heart health, many sugar-free energy drinks make it easy to consume far too much of the substance. At most, an average adult can safely consume about 400 mg of caffeine in a day, but the adverse effects can start well below that point.
While this is undoubtedly a useful benefit, the way that energy drinks produce the effect has shown to be potentially harmful.Įven when sugar – perhaps the unhealthiest part of many energy drinks – is removed from a product to create a sugar-free energy drink, some issues remain, largely due to the caffeine content of these beverages. Chief among these problematic products is energy drinks, which tend to be loaded up with ingredients designed to do one thing: make you more alert. Why Are Sugar-Free Energy Drinks Bad for Your Heart?Īs our understanding of nutrition, drugs, and the effects of each on the human body grows, it’s become clear that some popular food and drink products are actually detrimental to a person’s heart health. But given the negative press surrounding caffeine-laden products – and energy drinks especially – many people want to know: Are sugar-free energy drinks worse than coffee for your heart? To find out, keep reading as the amino acid supplement experts at aminoVITAL® discuss this common question. Although it’s the most widely used, coffee is sometimes spurned by those who dislike the taste, with many reaching instead for regular and sugar-free energy drinks to supply their stimulant of choice. What is less clear-cut is which kind of caffeinated product is the best for users, both in terms of effectiveness and the associated health risks. People turn to caffeinated drinks, powders, pills, and other supplements to supply a pick-me-up after rolling out of bed and again as the day drags on. In the world of energy-boosting stimulants, caffeine reigns supreme.
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