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I am a shameless pig – I have people on my blog here, and I beat the buckets =). Laziness is the main ailment that crippled my enthusiasm. But, as they say, for every action there is a reaction. For me, the cure for laziness, at the moment, is you, my dear readers. I don’t know how it happened, but the search engines gave me a plus and the great uncle Google dumped a whole bunch (on a modest scale) of targeted traffic on the blog, which I am immensely happy about.
Okay, now to the point. Summer! Here, actually, and it. What can you say? Unexpected =). Ahead of 3 months of complete separation, warm days, the sea, summer terraces and other delights of this time of year. And, of course, the mass of sleepless nights, which then result in very, I must say, difficult morning hours. The body will gradually deplete, require more energy, but people deal with this problem quickly. Someone will get hooked on coffee, someone will prefer to take time to sleep, and someone will simply start pouring liters of energy drinks into themselves, bringing their body to the limit of its capabilities. Today, I would just like to pay attention to the issue of energy drinks, namely, their overdose.
Working at the bar for 15 hours and getting only 4-5 hours of sleep, I know firsthand what a subnet for energy is. Sometimes they really save – they tone up for a couple of hours, bring the body into at least some order. But, sooner or later, you cease to feel the measure, and the so-called medicine turns against you. I’ll start, perhaps, with the basics, namely, what are energy drinks and how do they affect the body?
Energy Chemistry
According to one of the wiki authors, energy drinks are non-alcoholic or low-alcohol drinks, whose advertising promotes their ability to stimulate the physical and intellectual abilities of a person (not literally). Be that as it may, an energy drink is, first of all, a mixture of chemical components that affect the functioning of the human body. In principle, substances that tone the body have been known to the population of our planet for a long time. In the East they consume coffee, in Asia they disperse with tea, in South America with an unusual mate drink, which I will definitely mention, in Africa there are kola nuts. In the North-Eastern part of Asia, people are addicted to various stimulant plants: ginseng, eleutherococcus, Chinese lemongrass and aralia.
The very first energy drinks appeared at the end of the XNUMXth century, when the “inspiring” Red Bull hit the market. Of course, the Pepsi and Cola conglomerates immediately sensed the threat and started producing their own energy drinks – Burn and Adrenaline Rush. Today, with energy drinks, everything is not as smooth as it used to be. A couple of overdoses, a couple of deaths, and the governments of different countries sensed a threat. In some countries, energy drinks can only be bought at a pharmacy, in Russia there is a whole article of the law that specifies restrictions on components and sale rules.
The composition of all power engineers is approximately the same. At the origins lie sucrose and glucose. Sucrose is a regular sugar and is broken down into carbohydrates – the main source of energy for the body. Glucose is quickly absorbed into the blood and supplies energy to all vital organs. Glucose is also closely related to adrenaline, which is known to stimulate the cardiovascular system. Tonic substances are caffeine (matein, thein, etc.), theobromine (cocoa alkaloid), taurine, guarana, carnitine and many others. Energy drinks also contain a high dose of vitamins.
Caffeine – the most popular component of energy drinks, which is a powerful psychostimulant. It gives a temporary effect (about 1-2 hours) – relieves fatigue, drowsiness, speeds up the pulse, etc.
Studies have shown that among people who regularly drink coffee, the number of suicides is significantly lower than among those who neglect this drink.
theobromine – cocoa alkaloid, which is contained in small doses even in chocolate. In principle, the substance is poisonous, but after chemical treatment it completely tones itself.
Taurine – a derivative element from cysteine (amino acids). Stimulates the activity of the nervous system, speeds up metabolism, etc. Synthesized in the body on its own.
Carnitine – something like a B vitamin. It is synthesized in the body on its own and affects metabolism.
Ginseng and guarana are natural stimulants found in plants. They contain the same caffeine, so the effect is similar.
Mate – contains mateine, which has the same effect as coffee.
In general, you can list forever. In one bank, energy is almost the entire periodic table. How all these components work, I think, is not worth telling. In a nutshell, caffeine-like substances accelerate the blood, which already contains a shock dose of vitamins and other “energy” substances that speed up metabolism, the breakdown of carbohydrates, the work of the brain and muscles. But this, in fact, is the removal of a large amount of energy from the body overnight, after which total fatigue sets in.
Energy overdose syndromes
You can get an overdose from any product, whatever one may say. But going out into the street, seeing the bright advertisements of Red Bull and other energy drinks, immediately there is a desire to follow the crowd. As a result, energy drinks are consumed as a fashion statement, not as a necessity. And they are used, I must say, in exorbitant quantities. One can of Red Bull contains more than 2 daily doses of caffeine, an exorbitant amount of taurine (400 mg) and even nicotinic acid, which is mildly addictive. In fact, you can drink only 1 can of 250 ml per day, but we, as a rule, are content with at least three. With coffee, the situation is the same – a cup in the morning, then another, then another, and then an overdose.
Next, I will talk about a mild overdose of energy drinks, including coffee. I don’t want to describe here how to pump out a person who practically fell into a coma. What is observed:
- insomnia;
- irritability;
- redness of the face;
- rapid pulse;
- digestive tract disorder;
- tremor (when your hands and everything else is cowardly);
- cold sweat;
- a period of restlessness;
- increased anxiety, etc.
I got my first coffee overdose while working at Caffeine – about 6 cups of espresso was enough for me. Then the guys were preparing for the championship of Ukraine, and I had the honor of being a taster – a part-time waiter. The most obvious sign of a caffeine overdose is tremor and cold sweat, total fatigue, and lack of concentration. So, how to deal with it?
What to do with an overdose of caffeine, taurine, guarana and other components of energy drinks
- Of course, you should stop, in the sense, put the next jar of energy or a cup of coffee aside.
- Provide yourself with fresh air.
- Excess B vitamins are easily excreted in the urine, so drink plenty of fluids. In principle, any overdose of vitamins is eliminated by drinking plenty of water and stopping the use of these vitamins.
- Caffeine is neutralized by green tea (due to flavonoids), protein (cream, milk) and foods rich in magnesium. I took off my overdose of coffee with milk and meat – as if by hand. This method was suggested to me by Val, a barista with many years of experience.
- The accelerating effect of energy drinks, oddly enough, can be slowed down with alcohol, with the calculation of 50 ml in terms of pure alcohol. The same rule has another side – some symptoms of alcohol overdose can be neutralized with a cup of coffee. For the same reason, you should not use energy drinks together with alcohol. The power engineer masks the harm of alcohol – for this reason, you can get very strong alcohol poisoning (another fad for an article on how to drink and not get drunk).
Gag
Ginseng
Drink the right energy drinks. Here I don’t mean specific manufacturers (by the way, Burn contains the largest amount of caffeine, guarana and taurine in comparison with other brands). It is better to stimulate yourself with natural substances – brew mate, drink tinctures of natural stimulants (eleutherococcus, ginseng, guarana), coffee, tea (tea also contains caffeine, even green tea), cocoa. I have personally tested mate – it stimulates, dulls the feeling of hunger, tones. Last summer, I periodically drank tincture of Eleutherococcus – excellent. Also tested not by me, but by a good friend, ginseng tincture – helped him survive at the bar during the summer.
Well, happy first day of summer to you, my dear readers. Have a wonderful holiday, warm sea, delicious drinks. Relax with the mind and taste, and the mood will follow by itself =)
PS and it happens if there was too much coffee =)