|
TL,
I drink wayyyy to many energy beverages. Sometimes pounding 5-6 20 oz redbulls a day and coffee. I tend to be slow to fully awaken after I get up from bed, and I want to start my starcrafting as soon as I can in the mornings, hence my extreme energy drinking. As I am well aware, this is very unhealthy. I am realizing it's important to try and remain healthy during starcraft training, and am looking for alternative drinks to redbulls and the such.
Anything is welcomed, but something providing a little pick me up or energy boost would be excellent.
I know a lot of people turn to tea... But i've never been into tea so much, not sure what types are good.
Please educate me on healthier alternatives to energy drinks!
|
Norway28654 Posts
drop the energy drinks and only drink coffee. and try to moderate your intake. drinking 100+ oz of redbull on a daily basis seems insane.
I actually edited this part once already cause I mis-mathed, but then when I correct-mathed, it didn't add up, because surely you'd be dead. 3 liters of redbull a day?
or, you could keep it up, but channel your redbull-fueled mania into doing something awesome, like becoming the figurehead of starcraft 2.
also, I moved this to blogs.
|
throw cold water on face
drink cold water
|
I make it through my day just fine without loading myself up with battery acid, and I have faith that you can to if you taper off. Why is this in the starcraft forum @_@
|
Eat some veggies, drink water and go outside for a while.
|
On January 30 2012 02:08 Liquid`Drone wrote:
drop the energy drinks and only drink coffee. and try to moderate your intake. drinking 100+ oz of redbull on a daily basis seems insane.
or, you could keep it up, but channel your redbull-fueled mania into doing something awesome, like becoming the figurehead of starcraft 2.
also, I moved this to blogs.
ah, my apologies on the wrong section. I know, it really is crazy, that's why I know I need to stop. Is coffee really a better option? I would assume because of no added vitamins or anything?
|
On January 30 2012 02:09 superjoppe wrote:
Eat some veggies, drink water and go outside for a while.
Veggies? I was unaware of the energy giving power of veggies? Any type specifically?
|
With that kind of energy drink intake, you can develop a serious caffeine dependency. Personally I rarely drink coffee or energy drinks (once or twice a month), and the only tea I drink is usually green tea, low in caffeine. A lot of people wake up and turn to caffeine to get them going, but its really unnecessary. Waking up is not hard if you sleep adequately and adhere to a regular schedule.
I'd suggest dropping those drinks entirely (if not for the caffeine, for the sugar...) Drinking that many energy drinks in one day is going to seriously mess with your blood sugar levels and long-term usage like that could really put you at risk for developing diabetes.
I've been using an iPhone app lately called SleepCycle. The premise behind this app is that you are most refreshed when waking up after completion of a REM sleep cycle. Movement in your sleep, specifically how much you move, is directly correlated to how deep of a sleep you are in. The app works by putting your iPhone face-down on your bed while you sleep, and tracking your movement through the accelerometers in the phone. So, you put in the time you want to wake up, and in a half-hour window of that time when you are moving the most it will slowly wake you up with an alarm that slowly gets progressively louder.
Sounds like BS, but it's definitely changed how I go about my day. I used to naturally sleep in until 11am some days, skip my morning university classes etc., but now I can wake up at 6:30am, go to the gym before my day starts with no problem. If you have an iPhone I highly recommend it! You won't even need coffee or energy drinks if it works for you as well as it does for me.
|
I have heard that speed can keep you up for a while.
|
On January 30 2012 02:14 Freak705 wrote:
With that kind of energy drink intake, you can develop a serious caffeine dependency. Personally I rarely drink coffee or energy drinks (once or twice a month), and the only tea I drink is usually green tea, low in caffeine. A lot of people wake up and turn to caffeine to get them going, but its really unnecessary. Waking up is not hard if you sleep adequately and adhere to a regular schedule.
I'd suggest dropping those drinks entirely (if not for the caffeine, for the sugar...) Drinking that many energy drinks in one day is going to seriously mess with your blood sugar levels and long-term usage like that could really put you at risk for developing diabetes.
I've been using an iPhone app lately called SleepCycle. The premise behind this app is that you are most refreshed when waking up after completion of a REM sleep cycle. Movement in your sleep, specifically how much you move, is directly correlated to how deep of a sleep you are in. The app works by putting your iPhone face-down on your bed while you sleep, and tracking your movement through the accelerometers in the phone. So, you put in the time you want to wake up, and in a half-hour window of that time when you are moving the most it will slowly wake you up with an alarm that slowly gets progressively louder.
Sounds like BS, but it's definitely changed how I go about my day. I used to naturally sleep in until 11am some days, skip my morning university classes etc., but now I can wake up at 6:30am, go to the gym before my day starts with no problem. If you have an iPhone I highly recommend it! You won't even need coffee or energy drinks if it works for you as well as it does for me.
I do not have an iphone, but your point is defiantly made about sleeping adequately. I know I have since stopped such intense consumption of energy drinks, just drinking coffee today. But maybe I should look into figuring out some healthy ways to about sleeping better, that may be what I need to awaken with more pep and energy.
|
On January 30 2012 02:17 zalz wrote:
I have heard that speed can keep you up for a while.
I have also heard this.
|
Norway28654 Posts
caffeine isn't necessarily bad for you by default. while I'm by no means an expert on nutrition, I've definitely read that coffee provides certain health benefits. like most things in life, it becomes bad when there's an excess of it. however, energy drinks, like red bull, are not something you want to consume on a daily basis, and definitely not multiple energy drinks.
wikipedia is your friend here, as always;
"The results of a study showed that the ingestion of one, 250mL can of sugar-free Red Bull, in a sample of 30 healthy young adults, had an immediate detrimental effect on both endothelial function, and normal blood coagulation. This temporarily raised the cardiovascular risk in these individuals to a level comparable to that of an individual with established coronary artery disease."
note that 250 ml is 9 oz - according to yourself, you sometimes ingest 10 times that amount in a single day.
whereas coffee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee
has listed 13 possible benefits of different character and 8 different possible negatives, and more importantly;
coffee is absolutely tested. trillions of cups have been drank by billions of different people, and thus, it cannot be all that detrimental if used moderately.
|
Keep in mind that drinking coffee loaded with sugars/cream is almost as bad as downing cans and cans of RB. Sounds pretty obvious, but it's amazing how many people don't realize this and just assert coffee is automatically healthier.
@ Freak705: The app sounds interesting. Unfortunately, no iPhone. I'm pretty much an insomniac and don't get much sleep period, so the caffeine's almost a must for me. I went to sleep at 4 AM the other night, brain woke me up at 8 for no particular reason, and couldn't get back to sleep even though I was dead tired so I just rolled around for a bit before hitting the dining hall for some coffee. >.>
|
On January 30 2012 02:37 Liquid`Drone wrote:caffeine isn't necessarily bad for you by default. while I'm by no means an expert on nutrition, I've definitely read that coffee provides certain health benefits. like most things in life, it becomes bad when there's an excess of it. however, energy drinks, like red bull, are not something you want to consume on a daily basis, and definitely not multiple energy drinks. wikipedia is your friend here, as always; "The results of a study showed that the ingestion of one, 250mL can of sugar-free Red Bull, in a sample of 30 healthy young adults, had an immediate detrimental effect on both endothelial function, and normal blood coagulation. This temporarily raised the cardiovascular risk in these individuals to a level comparable to that of an individual with established coronary artery disease." note that 250 ml is 9 oz - according to yourself, you sometimes ingest 10 times that amount in a single day. whereas coffee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffeehas listed 13 possible benefits of different character and 8 different possible negatives, and more importantly; coffee is absolutely tested. trillions of cups have been drank by billions of different people, and thus, it cannot be all that detrimental if used moderately.
oo. thanks for the info drone. I didn't quite realize the immediate negative health effects of energy drinks. Yah, i was a crazy person drinking that much Red Bull...
|
most of the drowsiness you feel in the morning stems from the amount of water you lose during the night while you're constantly exhaling rhythmically without any interruption for 8 or so hours. SO fixing that dehydration in the morning is top priority, so my routine in the morning is downing a bottle/glass of water while my coffee brews.
so like eri said, coffee is certainly better than red bull. also I would recommend apples in the morning for their water and caffeine supplement as well. (I literally buy like a shitton of apples on like a boring sunday afternoon and just chop em up into a large bowl which is like my "breakfast snack bowl")
good luck with your switch! also working out is a great way to stretch your energy. as in waking up at a regular hour, and doing a fitness exercise. this will carry your more nutritious wake-up cycle throughout the day so you don't crash in the afternoon.
|
I suggest crack or meth. It'll get you up the same amount, but at a slightly lower cost to your health.
But seriously, just get enough sleep, eat well (fruits, veggies, maybe get a multivitamin), and have maybe a cup or coffee in the morning. If you need that much energy drink/caffeine to wake up in the morning, then there's something wrong.
|
Good grief, that is a lot of Red Bull. o_O
|
yah, after hearing from you guys and reading up a bit more, I think my issue may be more related to sleeping, and exercise. I think those things will help a lot in not having to use energy drinks as a pick me up. Thanks for the info guys, really helps a lot.
|
On January 30 2012 03:10 mOnion wrote:
most of the drowsiness you feel in the morning stems from the amount of water you lose during the night while you're constantly exhaling rhythmically without any interruption for 8 or so hours. SO fixing that dehydration in the morning is top priority, so my routine in the morning is downing a bottle/glass of water while my coffee brews.
so like eri said, coffee is certainly better than red bull. also I would recommend apples in the morning for their water and caffeine supplement as well. (I literally buy like a shitton of apples on like a boring sunday afternoon and just chop em up into a large bowl which is like my "breakfast snack bowl")
good luck with your switch! also working out is a great way to stretch your energy. as in waking up at a regular hour, and doing a fitness exercise. this will carry your more nutritious wake-up cycle throughout the day so you don't crash in the afternoon.
really really good point on the hydration, makes sense, thanks for that.
I will give apples and fruit a go, I tend to not eat breakfast so that may in fact help out a lot. I've been reading the effects of no breakfast on the body and energy levels, so the apples make a lot of sense as well. Thanks for the info.
|
On January 30 2012 03:49 zer0das wrote:
Good grief, that is a lot of Red Bull. o_O
yah.. so friggin unhealthy.. need to switch up my beverages!
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
