Science Projects on How Energy Drinks Affect Your Body
- One of the biggest components in any energy drink is sugar. Energy drinks often use sugar as the carbohydrate that gives your body the energy that the drink claims to give. However, putting so much sugar into your body might affect your blood sugar levels, which could, in turn, affect other functions of your body, especially over time. You can test this aspect of energy drinks by gathering a group of about 10 volunteers. You will also need a blood sugar meter and testing strips, as well as latex gloves. Test each person's blood sugar prior to drinking the energy drink and record the numbers. After each participant has consumed an energy drink, wait about 10 minutes and retest each person's blood sugar, recording the results. Compare the before and after numbers.
- Caffeine has long been known to have an affect on a person's heart rate, especially someone who already has issues with his heart rate. Because energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine, the energy drink can have a negative impact on a person's heart rate, making long-term use a problem. You will need about 10 volunteers for this experiment, as well as a heart rate monitor. Test each person's heart rate and record the numbers before they drink the energy drinks. About 10 minutes after each person has finished the energy drink, retest their heart rates and compare the results with their pre-drink results.
- Energy drinks come in almost an endless variety. Each different drink contains its own recipe of ingredients, including different amounts of caffeine and sugar. Thus, each drink will have a different affect on the body. You can conduct a science project by comparing the effects of the different brands of energy drinks available on yourself. Use at least three different drinks. Take your heart rate and blood sugar level before you begin. One at a time, drink each energy drink, wait 10 minutes and then retest your heart rate and blood sugar. For best results, wait a few hours or even until the next day between each type of energy drink to allow your body to return to normal between readings. Always check your "normal" heart rate and blood sugar before you drink each drink. Compare the results of each energy drink.
- Some of the energy drinks claim that they can help improve your performance in sports. This can be a difficult thing to prove, but you can certainly try it as a science project. For instance, you can test your throwing skills to see how far you can throw a baseball with or without an energy drink. To conduct the project, set up a measuring tape on the ground and ask someone to help you measure your throwing distance. Throw the ball at least 10 times to get an average for how far you can throw. Drink an energy drink, wait 10 minutes and then repeat the throwing stage. Throw the ball 10 more times and determine your average. Compare the averages to determine if the energy drink made you throw better.
