People drink energy beverages to increase alertness and stave off fatigue. The ingredients of energy drinks vary, but many have significant amounts of sugar and caffeine, which are the chief causes of the energy boost. While these ingredients aren't inherently dangerous, too much of either can cause negative side effects, including sleep problems.
Function
Eating sugar might provide you with a short-term energy boost, but sugar offers little nutrition and many calories, which is a bad combination if you're having trouble managing your weight. Caffeine is safe in low doses, but some energy drinks contain as much as 14 times more caffeine than a 12-oz. can of cola, according to "Health" magazine.
Sleep Problems
Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it will cause you to urinate more often. Drinking too many energy drinks might lead to dehydration, especially if you're exercising or the weather is hot. Other effects of caffeine include nervousness, rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure and insomnia. Caffeine affects you most soon after you ingest it, but you might experience lingering effects as much as 6 hours later. The energy drink you have during the day might affect the quality of your sleep at night.
Recommendations
For healthy people, it's safe to have energy drinks occasionally, so long as you keep your overall caffeine intake below 300 milligrams a day. However, some people have caffeine sensitivity, which means a little caffeine has a great effect. Some energy drinks contain 160 mg of caffeine, which could drastically affect people with caffeine sensitivity. If you start to notice the side effects of caffeine, such as sleep disorders, nervousness or restlessness, quit caffeine entirely to see if that fixes the problem.
Considerations
People who suffer from insomnia usually feel tired the next day because of the lack of sleep. If they turn to caffeine to wake themselves up, and if the caffeine causes insomnia again that night, they can get stuck in an unhealthy cycle. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing a sleep disorder. Typically, your doctor will recommend you exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet and avoid products that contain extreme amounts of caffeine and sugar. If you favor a specific type of drink, ask your doctor if any of its other ingredients could contribute to your sleep problems.
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