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Do Energy Drinks Make You Bald? (Some Facts)

Energy drinks are expected to boost energy and concentration.

The issue with energy drinks comes when they become a regular part of your daily diet.

While consuming energy drinks occasionally won’t make you bald, excessive consumption can lead to thinning hair and baldness which can also be caused by medical conditions and hormonal imbalances in the body.

Although energy beverages are probably not going to directly cause balding.

They have been associated with specific medical problems which list thinning hair as a secondary effect.

Learn more by reading this blog post till the end!

Ingredients of Energy Drinks and Their Effects on Balding

Caffeine is the main component of energy drinks and is frequently coupled with other ingredients such as sugar, and taurine to create what is known as an “energy blend” by the producers.

Higher caffeine dosages mixed with the additional ingredients currently found in energy drinks can sometimes have unpredictable results.

Side effects have been documented, including indirect balding.

Let’s check the effects of these ingredients on hair, in detail.

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most commonly used beverage in the world and has been utilized for its energizing properties for ages.

This universal stimulant is naturally present in coffee and tea but is also added by manufacturers to soft drinks and energy beverages.

Caffeine is the main active component in energy drinks, which is not surprising.

While the average energy shot contains 113 to 200 milligrams of caffeine, a 16-ounce can have between 70 and 240 milligrams.

Comparatively speaking, that may not seem like a lot of caffeine, but if you consume many cans at once, the amount can pile up quickly.

Consuming caffeinated drinks regularly, particularly in excessive amounts, can cause obesity, cardiac issues, diabetes, and other health risks.

This isn’t simply because of the high sugar content, or—on account of many without sugar items—an abundance of artificial substances, but because of the amount of caffeine, they generally contain.

Some health experts have cautioned that caffeinated beverages might cause adverse effects, including hair fall.

Image of coffee beans and powder in a cup.
Caffeine makes the body feel alert by stimulating the central nervous system

Above the suggested daily safe dose (400 mg), people might experience adverse effects, including insomnia, heart palpitations, headaches, nausea, and hair problems.

But isn’t caffeine helping hair to grow?

Caffeine can help with hair growth if it is used topically.

Usage of caffeine is beneficial for the growth of hair and is at times blended in with the balding treatment minoxidil to work on the adequacy of its conveyance into the circulation system.

It is important, notwithstanding, that this effective retention through the hair follicles on the scalp, instead of taking the caffeine orally.

If you drink caffeinated beverages habitually (numerous cans a day), this can promote a serious instance of caffeine overdose.

Over-the-top caffeine consumers are additionally in danger of this.

It can prompt heart issues, hypertension, and chemical awkward nature.

Research published by Frontiers in public health, in 2017, identified alarming connections between caffeine consumption and poor health outcome

Researchers found links between the consumption of caffeinated beverages and problems with the heart, kidneys, teeth, and skin, as well as risky behavior and poor emotional health.

The findings demonstrate that energy drinks can be harmful to health and should be restricted through additional strict guidelines.

Energy DrinksAmount of Caffeine
Red Bull30 mg
Monster Energy36 mg
Rockstar160 mg
The table above shows the brands and their caffeine content

Large doses of caffeine can lead to hormonal imbalances and uneven physical characteristics in the body, which can result in hair loss.

Sugar

The body prefers to burn glucose as fuel.

Simple carbohydrates like sugar are recommended for workouts lasting longer than one hour by many fitness programs.

However, excessive sugar consumption has been related to diabetes, and obesity, and can elevate insulin levels, which frequently results in a “crash-like” feeling an hour or so later.

Although there isn’t much evidence linking high-sugar diets with hair loss, experts are aware that sugar encourages inflammation.

When people consume sugar, the blood is flooded with sugar, which raises the levels of insulin and androgens, which bind to hair follicles and cause hair loss.

Relationship Between Sugar and Hair Shedding

Excessive sugar consumption is considered one of the possible reasons for balding.

This is because high consumption of sugar could prompt location, where proteins are separated.

Thus, this can prompt a maturing impact at a cellular level, causing the protein structures inside the follicles to crumble.

Ceo and co-founder of VivoDoc Dr. Rahman Muhammed stated that: “the delayed raised blood glucose can irritate, speeding up going bald”.

Raised blood glucose levels might dry out the scalp, prompting dandruff and harm to hair follicles, which could add to baldness.

Since hair is principally protein and sugar is a starch, the absence of protein in the body from an overabundance of sugar.

Does sugar cause hair loss?

Excessive consumption could bring out expanded hair shedding or potentially misfortune brought about by harm to hair follicles.

As sugar is another major ingredient in energy drinks so I took to examine this factor for hair fall as well.

I found the negative impact on hair loss due to sugar intake (as we know each can of energy drink might contain sugar).

Energy DrinksAmount Of Sugar
Red Bull10 g
Monster Energy11 g
Rockstar63 g
The data table shows that the popular rockstar energy drink has a large amount of sugar

Do sugar-free energy drinks help stop hair fall?

You can take sugar-free caffeinated beverages to prevent balding, however, try to keep an eye on artificial sugars.

The issue with sugar-free energy drinks is that the sugar is supplanted with filler substances like synthetic ingredients.

These can be destructive to your well-being, raising the possibility of diabetes and hypertension.

Not all sugar-free energy drinks are made equivalent, so watch out for artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose.

These sweeteners can add flavor to the beverage, yet this can be harmful to your health when consumed regularly.

As an aberrant consequence of drinking refreshments, this could bring about going bald and standing hair.

Taurine

An amino acid called taurine acts as a stimulant to improve both physical and mental function.

Although it may be produced spontaneously by human bodies, taurine is primarily found in meat and fish.

Taurine is found in the typical American diet in amounts ranging from 123 to 178 mg per day.

According to research published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, drinking only one 8-ounce energy drink can increase your daily consumption of taurine by a factor of 6 to 16.

Taurine can increase blood pressure and heart rate when combined with the caffeine found in energy drinks.

According to the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, excessive taurine can potentially affect teenage development.

Energy DrinksAmount of Taurine
Red bull1000 mg
Monster Energy80 mg
Rockstar1000 mg
The monster energy drink has the lowest amount of taurine as shown above

Taurine And Its Effect on Hair

The amino sulfonic acids, the chemical substances that come together to form the body’s proteins, are found in the highest concentration in taurine.

A protein known as keratin makes up the majority of your hair, skin, and nails and is what gives the hair strands their strength.

Therefore, increasing your taurine consumption will result in more keratin and will strengthen your hair.

Taurine provides a wide range of advantages that help prevent hair loss.

Up to 1,000 mg of taurine can be found in an 8-ounce serving of energy drinks, but higher dosages may have negative effects on growth hormone, hair, blood pressure, and heart health.

Niacin

Niacin, a water-soluble vitamin B3, has been demonstrated to raise levels of good HDL cholesterol and decrease levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, another blood fat.

This vitamin is present in many energy drinks. May, cause special sensitivity in some individuals.

Flushing, lightheadedness, low blood pressure, exhaustion, headaches, nausea, upset stomach, impaired vision, and liver inflammation are some symptoms of niacin toxicity.

Energy Drinks Amount of Niacin
Red Bull25 mg
Monster Energy24 mg
Rockstar30 mg
Rockstar energy drink has a high amount of niacin

Does niacin help hair to grow?

Niacin is beneficial for hair growth. Hair loss and thinning hair are both greatly influenced by poor blood circulation.

Niacin promotes quicker and thicker hair growth by increasing blood flow to the scalp.

Niacin overdose can be harmful to health. From moderate (a stomach ache or flush) to severe (liver dysfunction or glucose intolerance), these can range.

According to Mayo Clinic, a dosage of 16 milligrams for males and 14 milligrams for women, these drinks typically have 40 milligrams of niacin in each can.

How Many Energy Drinks Is Too Many For A Day?

Experts advise consuming no more than one can of energy drinks per day since they are laden with artificial caffeine, sugar, and other components that might cause more harm than good.

Clinical dietician Katherine Zeratsky from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota told CNN Health that healthy adults who like to drink energy drinks shouldn’t consume more than one can daily.

Even one is too many for kids and children should not use energy drinks.

According to Marcie Beth Schneider, a pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Nutrition, “Some cans or bottles of energy drinks can have more than 500 milligrams of caffeine, which is the equivalent of 14 cans of soda.”

Image of energy drinks.
Caffeine overdose can result from consuming too many energy drinks

Severe cases can be fatal and result in hair fall, rough skin, breathing difficulties, confusion, chest pain, and even convulsions.

Conclusion

  • Energy drinks boost vitality and focus. They are consumed by people of all ages, and their appeal is only increasing.
  • While rare use of energy drinks may not cause going bald, over-the-top utilization might make hair to diminish and health troubles.
  • Although common ingredients of energy drinks have positive properties for hair growth, excessive consumption of energy drinks might indirectly cause hair thinning and hair loss due to health issues and internal imbalances.
  • Energy drinks are thought to be unhealthy due to their high caffeine, sugar, and artificial ingredient content. Because of this, it is not advised to include energy drinks in your daily diet.
  • Occasional use shouldn’t have much of an effect on your health, therefore hair loss is unlikely to be brought on by it. However, if you take energy drinks daily, your body might experience several issues. So, consume energy drinks responsibly.

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