A recent large-scale study has found a link between consumption of energy drinks and disturbed sleep. The research revealed that even occasional intake, such as once a month, could affect one’s quality of sleep.
Marketed as beverages that can help boost mental and physical energy, energy drinks are particularly popular among college students and young people. They contain an average caffeine content of 150 milligrams per liter along with varying quantities of sugar, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Earlier studies have shown that energy drinks could reduce sleep quality. However, there has been limited research on how these drinks affect various aspects of sleep and the sex-specific differences in these effects.
In a recent Norwegian study published in the journal BMJ Open, researchers evaluated the impact of energy drinks on different aspects of sleep. They discovered that higher consumption was associated with an increasing risk of sleep problems, with the strongest associations with short sleep duration.
The team evaluated 53,266 participants between the ages of 18 to 35 who were part of the Students’ Health and Well-being Study (SHOT22 study) — a large-scale national survey of college and university students in Norway.
The participants were asked to respond to a survey that measured the frequency of their energy drink consumption. The options included daily, weekly (once, two to three times, four to six times), monthly (one to three times) and seldom/never.
The sleep patterns of the participants were also studied through surveys that inquired about their bedtime, wake-up time, duration of falling asleep and wakefulness after going to sleep.
The researchers then calculated their sleep efficiency by comparing the total nightly hours of sleep to the time spent in bed. People were considered to be having insomnia when they reported difficulties falling and staying asleep and waking early on at least three nights of the week. Furthermore, meeting the criteria for…
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