Does anyone drink energy drinks? Do you think they have an impact on metabolism or calorie burning? I drink low carb Monsters a few times a week for that extra go in the morning b/c I can't drink coffee. I have noticed after I drink them that my heart is beating faster, which I know is a side effect of the caffeine. I know they probably aren't the best thing in the world to drink, but does anyone have any info in regards to whether they negatively or positively affect weight loss efforts? Thanks!

Blue - good topic hun. As far as i know the only thing that can really hurt your weight loss is maybe the amount of chemicals in the beverage, or that it might produce cravings for other soft drinks. PS diet soft drinks have been shown to cause weight gain by bloating and what not. I used to drink at diet rockstar every morning on the way to work instead of coffee with all the cream and sugar and what not for that extra pick me up. To be honest now i don't even need the pick me up anymore. It seems like when i eat well, and hit the gym regularly I am well rested in the morning and ready to go. Plus at 2.50 a piece they get kind of pricey....and that 2.50 could totally go to new skinny jeans! When you get up in the AM make sure you stetch and do some crunches or something to get the blood moving. That sounds so like i'm your grandma or something LOL. Are you taking a multivitamin????

I am guilty of drinking energy drinks. I drink either a low-carb monster or a sugar-free redbull at least once a day. Great question BEG, I in the back of my mind know this cant be good for me but I love them so much and they are just 10-15 calories.

I'm an energy drink fan myself...I'm sure its not the healthiest, but I find the boost of energy I get helps keep me motivated to work out on those days where I am dragging. I stick to the ones with little or no calories. I've tried the ones that are supposed to boost your metabolism too (although I'm not sure they work or not), celsius has 200 mg of caffeine and whoo that gets me going. I think some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, I have friends who get jittery on one soda, I myself just get a nice energy boost from any caffeine I drink.

blue
I don't know if this makes any sense but I don't drink caffeine anymore. I have so much more energy now. I swear the caffeine kept me down.

Yes, I do take a multivitamin, along with flax seed and fish oil, l-carnitine and chromium picolinate. I eat well and workout at least 5 times a week. I am a full-time student on top of working full-time and I am so not a morning person. Plus, I get really bad caffeine headaches if I don't drink something with caffeine and have pretty much stopped drinking soda unless I go out. I recently read an article about teens that were drinking energy drinks all day and not eating to "lose weight." That is when I started wondering if they had some kind of impact on weight loss.

ENVIGA!!! the sub-title of them is "the calorie burner" Now, I don't know if I believe that but they are so good. They are made with Green Tea and comes in regular Green Tea Flavor, Peach (doesn't taste like artificial peach) or Berry. I absolutely love these things. They also have a light carbonation and are not a sweet as sugar free Monsters or Redbulls or Rockstars.

I try to not drink more than 2 or three energy drinks per week. I am just afraid too much caffine isn't good for my heart or something.

I tried RedLine once. I have since began calling them 'FlatLine'. Not kidding you, there is a warning on the can to first only drik 1/2 of one to see if it is too much for your body. Of course, I didn't see that until after I drank the whole thing. about 10 mins later... I thought I was going to die. I looked down at my chest and could see my chest moving slightly with each heartbeat. I got hot and flushed. Ugh... it was awful. Be careful with that one!

It feels like admitting a dirty habit but I have energy drinks every single day.

I was drinking an obscene amount of Diet Dr. Pepper and espresso shots for years and wanted to cut back. I figure an energy drink or two is better (and cheaper) than all of the diet soda and espresso.

I don't find for me that it contributes to weight loss.

What can I say? I'm addicted to caffeine! I work at the computer 18+ hours some days and crash without it. I plan on tackling that addiction after I've successfully dealt with a few weight loss hurdles. I know I'll feel a ton better without it.

I don't drink, or recommend energy drinks. They are caffeinated...but not always naturally, and they contain all sorts of crap in them.

Coffee or tea is much better for you-natural, and you get the benefits of the antioxidants, etc. and not all of the fake things and chemicals.

If coffee has too much caffeine for you, try drinking a cup of black tea instead. You can even go to Starbucks and get a black tea unsweetened (hot or iced).

Also, if anyone is trying to get off of the caffeine kick, start slow. If you go from 4 cups of coffee and 2 Dt. colas to nothing in a day-you are going to get headaches, etc. Cut one cup of coffee or a soda this week, go down one more the next week, etc. and do so gradually to avoid the withdrawal symptoms.

Its not that coffee has too much caffeine, it upsets my stomach, to top it off, I think that tea tastes like dirt, unless it is the flavored and sweetened kind, which defeats the purpose. Every morning I drink either one diet caff soda or energy drink and then the rest of the day I drink water. Sometimes with dinner I have flavored sparkling water, other than that just plain bottled water.

I have a friend who a couple years ago drank an energy drink every weekday and ended up with a heart condition where her heartbeat was 170 all the time just resting. not good! i don't think she can even drink any caffeine now, but she's an advocate against drinking them and for good reason.

and with diet soda, they've found your body responds to it as real sugar but when you don't actually have any, it causes a sugar crash and you're more likely to eat junk and sugar to satisfy your body. I think the article says your body even releases insulin or something. I read it in Self magazine either December or january issue if you want to read the full thing.

Yeah, same here basically. Full time student with 2 part time jobs, and one of them is night shift so sometimes I just HAVE to have something before class or I will pass out in my desk. After a night shift I tend to drink a no-carb Rockstar (blue can) or the sugarfree Full Throttle.

I've read about how the body might respond to fake-sweeteners by making you crave more food (doesn't happen to me) or responding like you'd eaten sugar (sort of a conditioned response to any sweet taste, whether it has real sugar or not), but I really don't know if I want to give up ALL sweet things, you know? I've always drank my coffee black and the same with most teas, but I feel like I need the occasional energy drink/soda.

I have very little desire to give up caffeine completely. Sodas/energy drinks do make me feel bloated on occassion, but I feel like that's not really the end of the world anyway. It's a lesser of 2 evils thing for me. I am in fact drinking a no carb Monster right now because the place I buy my other drinks at was closed when I got there last night.

I agree. I have given up all soda completely, except for my one a day for caffeine and I skip the soda if I have an energy drink. I hardly eat sweets or junk and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Luckily for me, I don't seem to have a problem with artificial sweeteners, but I know that they are chemicals and aren't good for you. I try to stay away from them, whenever possible, but I gotta have my caffeine! I get tired and burned out without them, not to mention the withdrawal headaches...OMG! They get me through the morning, then I workout at lunch and that energizes me through dinner. Then it's homework, studying and bed! Exciting, huh?

I appreciate everyone's input, I think it is an interesting subject with different views from different people.

Also, caffeine and whatnot aside, how are energy drinks not just empty calories? Surely there's more 'energy' in real food... It seems like a total waste of calories to me.

The energy drinks I buy are low calorie/SF, maybe 10 cal. per serving?

I know when I was drinking regular ones a bottle was easily 300 calories. Yikes.