Do energy drinks really give you energy?

[dwelsh2850]

I need help to formulate an experiment on this. Am thinking of having 2 groups of peopke ( not sure how many i must use) they will perform some physical activity such as jump rope or run. Then drink either energy drink or water (they wont know which tey get) and do activity again. Improved perormance woukd be the measure of increased energy. Need advice if this seems good procedure.

[deleted-71957]

dwelsh,

"Energy drinks generally contain methylxanthines (including caffeine), B vitamins, and herbs. Other commonly used ingredients are carbonated water, guarana, yerba mate, acai, and taurine, plus various forms of ginseng, maltodextrin, inositol, carnitine, creatine, glucuronolactone, and ginkgo biloba. Many contain high amounts of sugar. A common ingredient in most energy drinks is caffeine (often in the form of guarana or yerba mate). [Caffeine is the major stimulant]."

These ingredients significantly impact your nervous system by speeding everything up including your blood pressure. Caffeine temporary block accumulation of adenosine in the brain, which keeps you awake. Adenosine accumulates throughout the day making you tired partially in response to your circadian rhythm. Therefore, as mentioned caffeine works to block this chemical.

You need to be extremely careful regarding the idea for the project that you described. Energy drinks can be a hazard to your health because they do contain forms of drugs. You would need consent and assent forms filed in which medical risks are described by participating in the experiment. You would most likely need a nurse or doctor to supervise the experiment. Also there are an incredible amount of factors that you would have to consider with your subjects including drug use, medical history, heart health, muscular strength, motivation, and etc.

The point I am trying to make is that safety is definitely a problem in the project you are describing. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair would consider this a high risk experiment that would require approval forms, risk assessment, consent forms, qualified scientist approval, and many other safety precautions. I am not trying to cause a loss of interest in this project but I have many safety concerns. What if a subject had a heart attack due to the ingestion of the energy drinks combined with physical activity, you would be responsible for that.

Your topic is definitely valid but I would suggest you seek out your science teacher further and discuss these safety issues. You may be able to find an alternate ways to approach this topic, which we can assist you with. I wish you the best of luck figuring out your project.

I have several other ideas in mind that you may be interested in while remaining in the general subject.

-Travis Sigafoos

[deleted-71948]

I need help to formulate an experiment on this. Am thinking of having 2 groups of peopke ( not sure how many i must use) they will perform some physical activity such as jump rope or run. Then drink either energy drink or water (they wont know which tey get) and do activity again. Improved perormance woukd be the measure of increased energy. Need advice if this seems good procedure.

Hi dwelsh2850,

Like Travis had mentioned above, I cannot stress enough on how the safety issues are of utmost importance in conducting your research project, especially when dealing with human subjects.

In addition, as you wanted to investigate the effects of energy drinks on human subjects, it reminded me of a project of a winner at the YES( Young Epidemiology Scholar) Competition. You can refer to her project following the link: http://yes.collegeboard.org/yes-legacy/ ... 10-winners

I think her project can provide you another example as well as a basic guideline in creating your own project. Also, I want to point out that just by measuring the variables such as performing a physical activity, "such as jump rope or run," is limited and it would be better if you could include the difference in social aspects such as perception, reasons for use, awareness of ingredients, side effects, and warnings pertaining to the consumption of energy drinks.

I hope this helps!

-Grace

[deleted-71957]

dwelsh2850,

I definitely agree with Grace. It would almost even more valid to test the psychosocial perspective of energy drink consumption. Please let us know if you would interested in pursuing that and I would be more than willing to help get you started.

Grace, it's ironic that you posted the YES link. I was looking for the information about that project; as I was a YES semi-finalist last year and had read about her project.

- Travis Sigafoos

[mbadtke]

dwelsh,
In addition to the very good suggestions from the other experts, might I suggest a study where you survey people about their energy drink usage and then hypothesize a correlation to some other result. That would allow you avoid the issues with the study as it was originally proposed. What might be some factors that could be associated with increased energy drink usage?

Matt Badtke