energydrinks

Sales of energy drinks are rising and their brightly coloured cans line the shelves of almost every supermarket or grocery store in the UK. But do brands like Monster, Red Bull and Relentless deliver on their promises?

Listener Syed is a consultant radiologist and says he needs to be on his A-Game in his demanding job. He wants to know if an energy drink would be any better than his usual cup of coffee in helping him stay alert. He's also keen to know more about some of the ingredients they contain - things like taurine, guarana and electrolytes. What exactly do they do? And are energy drinks safe to drink regularly?

Presenter Greg Foot has a thirst for knowledge and speaks to expert dieticians and cardiologists to find out if energy drinks live up to the hype. Are they the best thing since sliced bread - or marketing BS?

PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/safetythird

Chuck hates them, Josh has flirted with them. Energy drinks. Listen in to learn all about this canned speed. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 80% of the world's population consumes the same psychostimulant every single day. Yet few of us know very much about our favorite daily drug . . . caffeine.

My guest today will shed some light on humanity's love affair with this pick-me-up substance. His name is Murray Carpenter and he's the author of Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us. We begin our discussion exploring what caffeine does to our mind and body, before delving into how caffeine consumption developed in different places all around the world and how the way we get our caffeine fix has evolved over the millennia. Murray and I then discuss the popularity of coffee in America and how our grandparents actually drank way more of it than we do today. Murray explains how caffeinated sodas became a stimulating competitor to coffee in the 19th century and how energy drinks became a huge business in the late 20th. Murray and I then discuss how you're probably ingesting more caffeine than you realize, and what the generally recommended maximum amount to consume per day is. We then get into whether caffeine can enhance athletic performance, and how much you need to take for it to make a difference. We then discuss the overlooked benefits of caffeine, as well as its downsides, and end our conversation with the question of whether caffeine is an addictive substance.

This episode will get you thinking about your morning joe differently.

Get the show notes at aom.is/caffeinated.