The reason energy drinks taste so good? They’re packed with artificial flavorings and sugar. “With a lot of the energy drinks, they can have higher amounts of sugar in it, or they’ll use artificial flavors which can cause a lot of inflammation of the body,” says Kearney.
And when it comes to these energy drinks, most companies won’t disclose what those artificial flavorings actually are. “So we could have a blueberry flavored drink, but we don’t know what chemicals have been used to recreate that blueberry flavor,” says Kearney.
Don’t jump on the pint-sized trend just yet, especially if you have digestive issues. That’s because low-fat or diet ice creams replace sugar with sugar alcohols, which when consumed in excess can have a laxative effect on the body, says Kearney. And if you have a sensitive stomach or digestive tract, you’ll feel those effects even faster, she adds.