They "give you wings", promise you to free the beast in you and to take on thirty or so unruly children without any loss of courage... Did you dream about it? Energy drinks have done it! In France, one liter of energy drink is sold every second, that is 30 million liters per year!

While they may - perhaps - be useful for high-level athletes engaged in intense activity, most buyers are normal people who are simply adding dangerous toxins, chemicals and unnecessary calories to their diet.

But do energy drinks really provide energy?

If you've ever looked at the list of ingredients in these magic cans, you'll have noticed that the manufacturers of these drinks - who also market other products of the same type, such as bars or powders - add dozens of elements such as vitamins and minerals, but the primary active substances are two: sugar (in the form of glucuronolactone, sucrose and glucose) and caffeine.

So, yes! Energy drinks do provide energy. However, there is no lasting effect. They won't give you more than a cup of coffee or a glass of soda, resulting in a quick energy boost, but a downward spiral that will slow you down to the point where you'll likely reach for a second dose. Hello the vicious circle!

Nutritionally, energy drinks are similar to carbonated beverages, such as sodas, although there are tiny traces of vitamins or minerals, totally overwhelmed by a ton of sugar.

Performance, concentration, reaction speed, alertness and increased metabolism are the promises made by the manufacturers. Indeed, the caffeine contained in them brings this kind of short-term reactions, but what is never mentioned is that the combination of ingredients present in this kind of drinks directly affects the human body. Moreover, these drinks are mostly consumed by students and nightclubbers who drink them, for the most part, in an abusive manner and mixed with large doses of alcohol. The effect of the combination has not yet been proven, but researchers agree that overloading the body with heavy stimulants, energy drinks in this case, mixed with a heavy depressant, alcohol, could lead to cardiac arrest.

Of course, over-consumption of caffeine causes health risks, but in addition to the massive dose of sugar it provides, consuming energy drinks has results comparable to an acid bath for your teeth!

In the end, the most important question is probably not whether these drinks provide energy or are good for the body. The real problem is certainly in what causes the energy drops, because no, humans are not designed to be slow and constantly tired. Poor diet choices, stressful lifestyles, lack of sleep and, ironically, lack of exercise frankly promote this condition.

There are simple little tricks to implement:

1. a healthy diet with limited sugar, fructose and processed foods and an increase in omega-3,
2. the simple fact of sleeping when you are tired,
3. physical activity.

It is clear that energy drinks are not a healthy option, or even a useful one. If you're really looking for that quick burst of energy, opt for a simple cup of black coffee, preferably organic, knowing that if you want to improve your vitality and health over the long term, pure water is by far the best beverage to combine with the three little tips above.