Do you crash after the effects of your energy drink wears off? It is quite a common problem that many people face with their energy drink consumption. And while energy drinks should add to your lifestyle and give you, well, energy, the aftereffects can cause further troubles sometimes. For the most part, energy crashes are a result of the effect of ingredients present in an energy drink. This is the reason why experiencing a crash is more common with energy beverages containing high amounts of sugar. While sugar and caffeine work together to increase your adrenaline, dopamine, and insulin concentrations, they can also have side effects. Significant doses of energy-boosting ingredients in energy drinks can give you that boost, but they also cause your hormone levels to return to normal, resulting in exhaustion. This is known as the crash.

Understanding Caffeine Crashes

Energy drinks only take as much as 10 minutes to reach your system, causing a spike in the blood pressure and heart rate. But caffeine absorption usually peaks around 15 to 45 minutes later. As a result, you feel extra alert and have better focus. In about 30 to 50 minutes of consumption, all caffeine in energy drinks metabolizes. Then, the liver acts by absorbing even more sugar into the circulation. In about an hour, the benefits of the caffeine may start to wear off, and a sugar crash becomes possible. Energy levels begin to dwindle as fatigue also sets in as a result.

Caffeine

Caffeine consumption through energy drinks  is a great way of temporarily inhibiting adenosine pathways. This is the chemical associated with how fatigued a person feels. So temporary inhibition in pathways of this chemical can give you a quick energy boost as well as enable more 'feel good' compounds in the brain. As a result, you feel more alert and energetic to complete the tasks at hand. Although we all can experience the energy boost, there is limited scientific evidence to prove caffeine's role in decreasing mental fatigue. In fact, surveys reveal that significant doses of caffeine can often lead to crashes and physical and mental exhaustion. Most high-sugar energy drinks contain as much as 505 mg of caffeine, whereas the recommended amount for caffeine consumption is only 400 mg per day.

Sugar

Are you familiar with the terms' sugar high' or 'sugar hangover? A sugar hangover is what happens after consuming a high-sugar energy drink. This refers to a condition when the consumption of too much sugar in a short period of time causes temporary hyperglycemia. While this spike in insulin level initially translates to a boost of energy, its aftereffects also include headaches, foggy thinking, thirst, and fatigue. The infusion of energy from high amounts of sugar is usually short-lived and results in fatigue. This happens when your body finally uses up the sugar, and your insulin levels plummet. In less than an hour of a sugar boost, you will begin to lag down.

Other Ingredients

Energy drinks also contain various other energy-boosting ingredients that can cause a crash to occur. For example, many energy drinks also contain guarana, another stimulant similar to caffeine. In combination, caffeine and guarana can give a big jolt of energy. This energy boost is often more than enough to cause a crash after its effects start wearing off. Crashing after consuming high-sugar energy drinks is more common than you might think. This is mostly a result of ingredients like caffeine, sugar, guarana, etc. Let us know if you frequently experience crashing and how you deal with it. To boost energy, substitute those high sugar energy drinks with FITAID Energy + Sports Recovery. Crack open an ice cold FITAID Energy + Sports Recovery for all the right vitamins, minerals, and caffeine. FITAID Energy is sure to not leave you with that sugar “crash” feeling. Check them out here.