It can be easy to think that energy drinks are normal to need every day in order to function. The truth is, they are not. Our bodies are well capable of having sufficient energy without added caffeination. Energy drinks can cause added complications, especially when too many are consumed at once. This can cause heart racing—or even death. Caffeine and other ingredients used to produce artificial energy in the body can cause more intense crashes later on. This makes you feel like you need another energy drink. How can you get away from this cycle of energization and fatigue? A few things can help.
Get Moving
Exercise changes brain and body chemicals. You don’t need a high intensity workout, or hours of weight room work in order to boost your energy levels. A few minutes of low intensity workout can wake up your brain and body. In fact, a low intensity workout might work more effectively than a high intensity one. According to one study, the low intensity option helped boost energy in 65% of those trying it, in comparison to 49% in those using a high intensity workout. Regardless of what you do, even a few minutes of activity can wake your brain and body back up, and give you increased energy.
Stay Hydrated
Water works. This is one reason that your body gets more fatigued later after drinking soda, or caffeinated drinks, which can be diuretics that decrease hydration. Scientifically, water forms much of the inner workings of our bodies and individual cells. Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, both necessary to the body. Hydrogen boosts your energy production at the cellular level. Drinking sufficient water makes bodies and minds more energized from the cells on up!
Get Enough Z’s
Your parents probably already tell you to eat healthily and sleep well. Being a teenager is complicated more than it was when they were teens. A generation ago, you’d have to watch TV or read after bedtime. Now, you have all of the internet at your fingertips! You have a huge volume of responsibility, and homework which takes a great deal of time. Being woken up a few times a night by text messages, dings from social media, or other contacts, can make you feel wanted and needed in the world, but also disconnected from your own rest. A simple step like having the same bedtime every night, changing your screens to remove blue lights in the evening, and especially turning off notifications at night can help keep your sleep sound. Over time, this will train your body to have more energy during the day.
You have so much to do in your life, and you need energy to do it. Practicing healthy ways to make that happen, now, can establish patterns for a lifetime. Knowing that an energy drink periodically will be ok, but using one as a pattern to survive the day is not healthy or useful to you is important as well. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to not only stay awake during class, but to be able to enjoy your days with energy made by your own cells.
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