If you make your way to the nightclub with plans to enjoy an energetic night, you might as well have a glass of the liquor with a blend of energy drink handy. The popular brands of energy drinks on this side are Red Bull, Monster and Power Horse. Mixing energy drinks with alcohol has invented different flavours of drinks that serve the purpose of hiding the effect of being drunk while you are charged up all night long.
The first suggestion to pair up with your alcohol is usually a can of energy drink before cranberry. As widely accepted as the drink recipe is, it is safe to know how dangerous it is to your health. We are talking about a caffeinated beverage and alcohol in the same sentence, don’t pretend you don’t know what we are talking about.
Combination of ingredients like taurine, guarana, sugar and B vitamins with a high level of caffeine is advertised as a safe and effective way to boost mental and physical stimulation. The energy drink market is fast growing into an uncontrollable large one and it is not expected to slow down anytime soon.
We cannot deny that these energy drink causes irregular heartbeat, anxiety, jitters, increased blood pressure and thickening of the blood. (if you did not know, now you do.) This is as a result of its caffeine contents ranging from 40 to 240 mg.
Wide-Awake Drunk Effects of Mixing Energy Drink With Alcohol
A blend of energy drink with a desired alcoholic beverage is a widely accepted culture in our nightlife adventures and can hardly be cut down unless its health effects are made known to the masses. There is a faint hope of caution after making this known.
Alcohol is widely known as a depressant in the study of substances and the central nervous system. It slows down brain and motor activity while the caffeine and other ingredients in energy drinks work as a stimulant. If you do the maths, the stimulant effects of an energy drink will counteract the sedative nature of alcohol, tricking users into feeling more awake and less drunk than they really are. This effect is referred to by researchers as “wide-awake drunk.”
Being wide-awake drunk can be dangerous because of the unreal feeling of alertness it brings due to the caffeine boost from the energy drink. You are more likely to drink more than you intended without realizing that your coordination has been altered.
Researchers have found that drinking alcohol mixed with an energy drink creates a false sense of security that is responsible for making people four times more likely to want to drive home while intoxicated, as well as three times more likely to participate in binge drinking.
Beware!
Below are some signs of a caffeine overdose are:
- Jitters, restlessness
- Increased heart rate
- Nausea
- Anxiety
- Heart palpitations
- Fever
- Chest Pain
- Convulsions
- Hallucinations
- Vomiting
- Trouble breathing
