One energy drink a month increases risk of disturbed sleep, study

A new study has found that energy drinks are making students’ sleep worse. They also cause insomnia, which means trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, the study was published in the BMJ Open Journal.

Energy drinks are very common these days. You can see them at juice shops. Their ads are also very attractive to young people. They say that drinking them makes you very strong and gives you wings.

But these ads are misleading. Many children and young people are drinking them too much. Some of them like them and some of them want more energy. Drinking them indeed makes you more energetic and less sleepy, but only for a short time. They have many bad effects on your health.

Some people think that drinking them once in a while is not harmful. But this is wrong. A new study has shown that even drinking them sometimes can make students’ sleep worse.

The study also found that the more a student drinks energy drinks, the less they sleep at night. Even drinking them once to three times a month affects sleep.

Occasional Energy Drinks Harmful

The researchers said that energy drinks have about 150 mg of caffeine per liter. They also have sugar, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. They are supposed to make you mentally and physically stronger. That is why many college students and young people drink them.

But there is not much proof that energy drinks can improve sleep quality. It was not clear how they affect different parts of sleep, and if they affect people of all genders differently.

The study was done to find out these things. The researchers looked at the data of 53,266 young people aged 18 to 35, who were studying in colleges and universities in Norway.

The researcher asked the students in the study how often they drink energy drinks. They also asked them if they drink these drinks sometimes or never. The researcher asked about their sleep habits, such as when they go to bed, how long they sleep, and how long they stay awake at night.

The researcher inquired how long it would take them to fall asleep after lying down. They measure how well someone sleeps by comparing the time they spend in bed at night with the time it takes for them to fall asleep.

Half of the female students and 40 percent of the male students in the study said they never drink energy drinks. Among those who drink them, 5.5 percent girls said they drink them four to six times a week, and three percent said they drink them every day. For boys, these numbers were eight and five percent.

Problems may increase due to increased consumption

A study highlights a clear link between energy drink consumption and sleep duration. Individuals, especially children, consuming energy drinks daily experienced around 30 minutes less sleep than rare or non-consumers.

The impact extended to increased nighttime awakenings and prolonged sleep onset with higher energy drink intake. Among regular women consumers, 51% reported insomnia, compared to 33% in occasional/non-consumers. Similarly, 33% of daily male consumers faced insomnia issues.

Insomnia involved difficulty sleeping at least thrice weekly, waking up early, and feeling sleepy for three months. Overall, higher energy drink consumption correlated with increased sleep-related problems and inadequate sleep duration.

The study noted that the Center for Science and Environment had also found that energy drinks have too much caffeine. India’s food safety body, the FSSAI, says that energy drinks are drinks that have things like caffeine, guarana, taurine and ginseng that make you alert.

But there are no special rules to stop these drinks. Health experts say that calling them energy drinks is wrong because only sugar gives you energy. The rest of the feeling comes from caffeine. Studies also agree that these energy drinks are bad for health. But these energy drinks are still very popular in India.

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