Energy drinks have become popular for many significant reasons – from increasing your physical performance to losing weight, people are switching toward energy drinks.
However, there are many unexplored sides of energy drinks, which need to be evaluated in order to understand the effects of energy drinks completely.
Some people use energy drinks as appetite suppressants, thinking that energy drinks can make them less hungry. However, it’s not true. Energy drinks might reduce your hunger temporarily, but not effectively.
Let’s explore the topic in a bit more detailed manner to understand the effects of energy drinks in a better way.
What Are Appetite Suppressants And How Do They Work?
Appetite suppressants are substances that are taken to help you lose weight by suppressing your appetite. They work by affecting a chemical in your body called ghrelin, which causes you to feel hungry.
The higher your ghrelin levels get, the more you feel hungry. Appetite suppressants reduce your hunger by making your brain tricked into believing that your stomach is full.
Moreover, appetite suppressants regulate your serotonin levels which make you feel good, regulate your sleep and moderate your hunger.
Ingredients in Energy Drinks
Energy drinks contain several ingredients which give them special benefits associated with the drink. A few ingredients work well in suppressing your hunger and making you less hungry.
However, other ingredients do not really help much in suppressing your hunger. In fact, they really do cause you to feel more hungry.
Here are a few ingredients that are related to either lower or increasing your hunger:
Caffeine
Caffeine is an effective ingredient that has powerful health benefits. The health benefits of caffeine range from increasing your memory to increasing your physical performance.
However, in order to require the benefits of caffeine, you need to consume caffeine in a moderate amount. The FDA has suggested a moderate amount of caffeine be consumed around 400 mg.
One of the most popular reasons why caffeine is consumed by people is the ability of caffeine to enhance metabolism and suppress hunger.
So, if you consume caffeinated beverages, they are sure likely to suppress your hunger. That said, it’s not effective when it comes to hunger suppression. For a temporary time period, caffeine in an energy drink can suppress your hunger, but for a longer time, it’s not effective.
Other than the benefits, caffeine can have several side effects which are mentioned below:
- Restlessness and shakiness.
- Insomnia.
- Headaches.
- Dizziness.
- Fast heart rate.
- Dehydration.
- Anxiety.
- Dependency
Sugar
One of the most popular ingredients, sugar, is present in almost every kitchen. However, the only benefit associated with sugar is the sweetness it provides, other than that there are no apparent benefits of sugar.
Most energy drinks contain sugar. Sugar is an ingredient that has certain effects on the brain because it’s a stimulant.
Sugary drinks make you feel full for a really short amount of time. However, once you experience a sugar crash and your blood sugar level drops low due to the action of insulin, then your brain will make you want to crave more sugar in order to regain the lost energy.
So, if you consume energy drinks with high sugar content, then it’s likely to have an opposite effect on your hunger regulation and you’ll feel more hungry instead of feeling full.
Minerals
The human body is made up of a variety of different components, including bones, muscles, and organs. One of the most important components of the human body is the bones.
Our bones are the framework upon which your muscles and other tissues are supported and protected. They also help to regulate the amount of calcium in your blood.
There are many minerals that are necessary for maintaining weight and many of these minerals can help you in controlling your cravings.
Here are a few minerals that can help with your cravings and actually suppress your hunger:
| Minerals | Benefits as suppressants |
| Calcium | We often hear that calcium is great for our bones and teeth. However, do you know that calcium is great for your weight loss as well? You must keep your calcium levels moderate enough to experience the benefits of weight loss it can provide. |
| Chromium | Chromium is very important when it comes to sugar metabolism. Without the presence of chromium, insulin will not be able to work effectively to bring your sugar level in place – so chromium actually helps with managing weight along with reducing your hunger. |
| Manganese | Manganese has an important function in the metabolism of glucose and fat. So, if you want to lose weight, missing your manganese requirement is not recommended to me, and in such a manner it can help with hunger. |
Vitamins
We all know we need a certain amount of vitamins and minerals to promote health, but did you know that some specific vitamins have important roles to play in keeping your body fit and healthy?
Certain vitamins and minerals can help improve your physical performance and can help reduce the risk of injury and illness which can sideline your training. Just like that, certain vitamins help us lose weight by regulating and even serving as a suppressant for our hunger.
Energy drinks contain several vitamins, moreover, energy drinks, which contain B vitamins can do you more good than other energy drinks.
Following are a few vitamins, which are great as hunger suppressants:
| Vitamins | Benefits |
| Vitamin B1 | Thiamine or Vitamin B1 can help in many bodily functions such as converting the carbs you eat to energy, moreover, Vitamin B1 is one of the B vitamins which can help with reducing your hunger. |
| Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B2 regulates your metabolism and leads to weight loss. |
| Vitamin B3 | Niacin is one of the very important vitamins which is helpful in suppressing your hunger. |
| Vitamin B5 | Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid is the most important vitamin when it comes to weight reduction, in fact, it is a powerful weight-reducing agent and it can help in suppressing your appetite in a powerful manner. |
| Vitamin B6 | Vitamin B6 is the most used vitamin in energy drinks, the reason is that along with increasing energy, it is helpful in reducing weight. |
| Vitamin C | Vitamin C has many great uses when it comes to our health, however, do you know that Vitamin C can increase iron absorption and as a result, your hunger is stabilized? Therefore, it can help in reducing hunger. |
| Vitamin D | If you have low levels of vitamin D, then you are likely to feel more hungry. It is best to keep your vitamin D levels in check. |
Do Energy Drinks Reduce Hunger?
Energy drinks might suppress your hunger for a short time period because they contain ingredients such as caffeine, which might have temporary effects on reducing hunger. That said, it’s not a reliable hunger suppressant.
Even though energy drinks contain B vitamins and caffeine, vitamins are not present in significant amounts to help you manage your hunger and the presence of caffeine does not have a strong impact either.
It’s better to look for other supplements to reduce hunger rather than relying on energy drinks.
Do Energy Drinks Keep You Full?
Energy drinks can keep you full for a short time period.
The reason is that some energy drinks contain a high amount of calories, which can be helpful in keeping you full for a short amount of time. Energy drinks also have caffeine which makes you feel fuller since it reduces the feeling of hunger for some time.
Do Energy Drinks Cause Weight Loss?
Energy drinks are not a reliable source of weight loss, in order to lose weight, you need to become more active and consume a better diet.
That being said, you can add a few low-calorie plant-based energy drinks into your diet along with working out, it might keep your energy levels high and increase your physical performance.
Is Monster Good For Weight Loss?
Monster energy is not a good method of weight loss. In fact, it does not cause any weight loss at all.
The reason is that Monster energy drink is extremely high in sugar content, and it can spike your blood sugar level in a dramatic manner leading to weight gain.
Are Energy Drinks Bad For You?
Energy drinks are not totally bad for you – whether an energy drink is bad or good, depends on the type of energy drink you are consuming.
If you are drinking an energy drink in a controlled manner and choose the right type of energy drink, then it’s not going to cause side effects.
Final Thoughts
- Energy drink is a popular beverage due to various reasons – from making you feel active to increasing your concentration, energy drink can do a lot.
- Some people use energy drinks as hunger suppressants, however, it should be kept in mind that energy drinks are not really effective when it comes to suppressing hunger.
- You can try out other ways to keep your appetite in control, such as keeping yourself hydrated, however, drinking energy drinks is not one of those ways.