BANG energy drinks have recently become popular in our everyday world, specifically in the fitness industry. Originally, the company impressed its audience with promises of a healthy energy supplement. The fitness world exploded with support for this new drink, a phenomenon known as the BANG revolution. With the drink containing creatine, it makes sense that health-nuts would craze over it. But is this drink really a 'bang for your buck'?
Containing both creatine and caffeine, the drink is actually a dangerous mixture. According to the FDA, it is safe to consume up to 400mg of caffeine per day. A single can of BANG contains 300mg, almost reaching the average healthy person's daily maximum! Mix that with the other active ingredients of BANG, such as creatine, and you could have a problem. Creatine is used to shorten your muscle relaxation time, helpful in high-intensity workouts. Caffeine is used during endurance workouts. Recent research shows that consuming creatine and caffeine at the same time may decrease both of their effectiveness because you are confusing your body, as both ingredients are meant to create opposite effects. With that in mind, it has been found that drinking BANG is actually decreasing your workout worth (Lindberg, 2019).
On another note, the long-term effects of BANG in your system are alarming. It takes around 12 hours for all traces of caffeine to exit your system, finally allowing your body to return to homeostasis (Ding, 2019). Repetitively placing this much caffeine in your body could lead to long-term problems including increased heart rate and blood pressure, and decreased fertility and digestion. There are also reports of failed drug tests due to the consumption of energy drinks, raising the question of if it is worth it to drink them in hopes of a better workout (Ding, 2019).
As with all things, BANG is not necessarily bad for you (even with its intimidating warning label on the can directly stating the negative effects of drinking high amounts of caffeine). What matters is drinking them in moderation. BANG doesn't seem to be living up to its hype of being a healthy workout supplement, but that doesn't mean it can't be an occasional pick-me-up on your tired mornings.
References
Ding, E. (2019, June 2). Are Bang Energy Drinks bad for you? (studies revealed). Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://reizeclub.com/bang-energy-drinks-good-bad/.
Lindberg, S. (2019, September 12). Can I Take Caffeine While Taking Creatine? Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://www.livestrong.com/article/540935-can-i-take-caffeine-while-taking-creatine/.
As an avid pre-workout and caffeine user, this was an incredibly informative read. This led me to a paper saying that low doses of caffeine (approximately 200 mg) can actually do the trick as opposed to high amounts of caffeine, similar to the BANG drinks you mention. There was evidence of improved vigilance, alertness, mood, and improved cognitive processes during and after exercise (Spriet, 2014). There's also less of a side effect since many people tend to feel a tingling sensation with so much caffeine at once like in pre-workout. You bring up an excellent point about whether drinking stuff like BANG is actually even worth it. We should consider the cost and benefit of it and where that balance is for enough to enhance our performance but not so much that we are overloaded. Thanks for the read Courtney!
ReplyDeleteSpriet L. L. (2014). Exercise and sport performance with low doses of caffeine. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 44 Suppl 2(Suppl 2), S175–S184. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0257-8
As a fan of bang, this article was extremely interesting! I was amazed on learning about the contridictory aspects of taking both creatine and caffine at the same time. I have also noticed that a good majority of suppliments at GNC, particularly pre-workouts, most contain both caffine and a type of creatine (currently I work at GNC). Yet when it comes to BANG, they use a form of creatine that is not common amongst other brands. The creatine they use is SUPER CREATINE. SUPER CREATINE, also known as Creatyl-L-Leucine, is creatine that is covelently bonded to L-Leucine which makes it stable in an aqueous solution. Yet, the effects of this type of creatine and if it acts like creatine is unknown (Reddeman et al., 2018). A technology supplier in sports nutrion, ThermoLife International, has filed law suit against the maker of BANG, stating that due to the use of SUPER CREATINE, this is a mismarketed ingreadient to the public because of the inactive use of this form of creatine (Collins, 2018). Furthermore, I am not too sure if consuming BANG has the downside of the contridictory aspects that creatine and caffine play when ingested at the same time; due to this improper form of creatine.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Collins, Gregory B. “ThermoLife International, LLC Files Suit Against VPX, The Maker Of BANG Energy Drink, Alleging ‘Super Creatine’ Is Not Actually Creatine, And That All BANG Energy Drinks Are Misbranded.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing, ThermoLife International, 12 Oct. 2018, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thermolife-international-llc-files-suit-against-vpx-the-maker-of-bang-energy-drink-alleging-super-creatine-is-not-actually-creatine-and-that-all-bang-energy-products-are-misbranded-300730106.html.
Reddeman, Robin A., et al. “A Toxicological Assessment of Creatyl-l-Leucine - Robin A. Reddeman, Róbert Glávits, John R. Endres, Timothy S. Murbach, Gábor Hirka, Adél Vértesi, Erzsébet Béres, Ilona Pasics Szakonyiné, 2018.” SAGE Journals, 22 Jan. 2018, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581817751142.
I attended a conference for student athletes last weekend, and one of the presenters talked about the dangers of supplements and energy products. Apparently the government has almost no regulations for what these products contains nd they aren't tested either. Some have had traces of meth, cocaine and feces. Unfortunately, not all of the contents are disclosed, and nutrition labels can be confusing. Not to mention how many people turn to their favorite social media influencers for health, diet and workout advice.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! Many of my friends are frequent BANG drinkers and usually chug an entire can right before they work out. They rave about the no calories, no carbs and claim their workouts are just not the same without one. In addition to the possible harmful effects of the combination of creatine and caffeine, the BANG ingredient sucralose may also have undesirable effects. Although the BANG label lists zero grams of sugar on it’s nutritional facts, sucralose is a listed ingredient and can account for the sweetness of the drink. Although approved and recognized as safe by the FDA, sucralose can potentially alter gut microbiomes (Suez et al., 2018) in addition to creating several metabolites whose effects are unknown (Bornemann et al., 2018). Does the benefit of having zero calories outweigh the potential harms of this energy drink? I think there are worse energy drinks out there but in the end I agree that moderation is key.
ReplyDeleteBornemann, V., Werness, S. C., Buslinger, L., & Schiffman, S. S. (2018). Intestinal Metabolism and Bioaccumulation of Sucralose In Adipose Tissue In The Rat. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 81(18), 913–923. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2018.1502560
Suez, J., Korem, T., Zeevi, D., Zilberman-Schapira, G., Thaiss, C. A., Maza, O., … Elinav, E. (2015). Artificial Sweeteners Induce Glucose Intolerance by Altering the Gut Microbiota. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 70(1), 31–32. doi: 10.1097/01.ogx.0000460711.58331.94