Have you ever felt sluggish before a team practice, sports match, or workout class even though you're drinking some caffeine-packed pre-workout powder? You’re not alone! It turns out, most sugar filled energy drinks may be doing more harm than good. Luckily, there is a healthier, more effective alternative that can help boost your energy if you are needing a little pick-me-up before breaking a sweat.

New studies show that drinking green tea can significantly improve your playing performance while coffee and energy drinks can make you to play worse. 

Energy drinks, coffee or water? 

For most school-aged and adult athletes, sports games, practices, and gym sessions are held early in the morning or after a long day of school or work. Most of us are tired both physically and mentally and need an energy boost to feel ready to perform our best, so we reach for a cup of coffee or an energy drink. 85% of adults and 83% of teens consume caffeine daily, and the U.S. energy drink market is valued at more than 19 billion dollars, which is projected to reach 33 billion by 2030! 

With a firm hold on the “more than water” drink market and the rates of teens and adults not getting enough sleep on the rise, it’s easy to understand why, sometimes, water just doesn’t feel like enough when you need an extra energy boost.

Unfortunately, most energy drinks contain dangerously high levels of stimulants, sugar, and countless added ingredients that have a ton of negative effects on your body, mind, and overall sports performance.

The negative effects of energy drinks and coffee 

While the negative side effects of drinking energy drinks are continuously being studied, we now know that they can have so many adverse effects on our bodies. Energy drinks and coffee can:

• Raise blood pressure

• Decrease complex cognitive function

• Increased risk of cardiovascular events like atrial fibrillation

• Give us anxiety 

• Upset our stomach 

• Cause insomnia 

• Create violent tendencies 

• Increased risk of stroke

• Increased risk of epileptic seizures 

• Increased risk of obesity

• Cause dehydration 

• Erode teeth

Despite these negative health effects and risks, so many people still drink energy drinks and coffee - why? It’s because the desirable effects of caffeine can be felt almost immediately and include improved reaction time, concentration, and endurance. But wait! There’s a better way to get all the positives (and more) of an energy drink or coffee without the negatives - green tea! 

Why green tea instead of energy drinks and coffee? 

Green tea naturally contains a very important amino acid called l-theanine. 

L-theanine effectively cancels out the negative side effects of caffeine. It reduces anxiety and jitters, can help improve sleep quality, can help you feel and stay focused, and can improve overall mental clarity and cognitive function. L-theanine can be taken as a supplement on its own, but when combined with caffeine, the positive effects are even more potent. 

A new study on the effects of physical and cognitive performance of athletes shows that those who drank caffeine without l-theanine struggled to perform complex plays and had lower accuracy scores than those who drank caffeine with l-theanine. The results were conclusive in proving that l-theanine and caffeine together significantly improved cognitive and physical performance during sports. 

Green tea naturally contains high levels of caffeine and l-theanine and has so many health benefits, including: 

• Full of antioxidants 
• Reduce risk of cancer 
• Improve oral health 
• Improve cognitive function 
• Improve kidney health
• Build stronger bones 
• Prevent cardiovascular disease
• Reduce headaches and migraines 
• Improve gut health 
• Help you lose weight 
• Lower the risk of diabetes 
• Maintain female reproductive and sexual health 
• Maintain male reproductive and sexual health 
• Improve hair quality 
• Improve skin health 

Choosing green tea over energy drinks and coffee to improve your sports performance and improve your overall health may be the easiest and best choice you make all day! 

We offer a few different ways to easily make matcha green tea on the go, including a hydration aid that has matcha, cordyceps, and ginseng, making it the perfect sports drink. 

The bottom line 

The latest research points to energy drinks and coffee negatively affecting sports performance and health. Luckily, if you choose green tea instead, you can get all the benefits (and more) of caffeine for cognitive and physical performance in sports with none of the negative side effects! 

Resources:

Yilmaz, U., Buzdagli, Y., Polat, M. L., Bakir, Y., Ozhanci, B., Alkazan, S., & Ucar, H. (2023). Effect of single or combined caffeine and L-Theanine supplementation on shooting and cognitive performance in elite curling athletes: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 20(1), 2267536. https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2023.2267536

Alsunni A. A. (2015). Energy Drink Consumption: Beneficial and Adverse Health Effects. International journal of health sciences, 9(4), 468–474.

Kelly, C. K., & Prichard, J. R. (2016). Demographics, Health, and Risk Behaviors of Young Adults Who Drink Energy Drinks and Coffee Beverages. Journal of caffeine research, 6(2), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1089/jcr.2015.0027

Anderer, J. (2023, December 25). Caffeine can negatively impact an athlete’s decisions. Study Finds. https://studyfinds.org/caffeine-athlete-decision-making/

Impact of high volume energy drink consumption on electrocardi... (2019, May 29). https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/JAHA.118.011318

Yahoo! (2024, March 4). United States energy drink market projected to reach $33 billion by 2030: Rising demand for non-alcoholic and sugar-free formulations. Yahoo! Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/united-states-energy-drink-market-171000243.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAN2vbSr424DR_BwxJtlvuM9c-yWO-NgoFM8fRBaicvSF76-_9lNiMWmX9eU8yspLgWApNmoqUqDta0Dj9Nb4ixw8xCR6bWk2biGN7zW-4LfxqtFtGyH5Ur7C0CTUZtfkEpvlOfB51oWxhwLZKhLIkMn0mTD0q5-ux6gmE1aHNlKM