Everyone has good-luck traditions that they do before an activity. For high school athletes at Ipswich, this consists of drinking Celsius before a sports game or practice. Celsius is a fruity energy drink that has 200 mg of caffeine, and only 10 calories. Most people drink this for its powerful and quick energy boost from its large amount of caffeine. It is marketed as having capabilities to “accelerate metabolism” and “burn body fat”, but how healthy is it? 

Celsius contains green tea, guarana seed extracts, ginger root, vitamins B and C, and chromium. The drink gets its sweetness from sucralose, in the form of guarana seed which is a plant in South America that is processed into an extract. Sucralose is a zero-calorie sugar substitute that is 400-700 times sweeter than regular table sugar and is used in baking goods, drinks, gum, and more edible foods. According to DownToEarth.org, sucralose can increase blood glucose levels and insulin levels, meaning that people with diabetes or other blood sugar concerns should stay away from it. In addition to sucralose raising blood sugar, it can also negatively affect our gastrointestinal health by decreasing the beneficial bacteria in the gut by 50%, potentially leading to stomach issues. 

Mrs. Barclay remembered when the big artificial sweetener company, “Nutrasweet”, first came out in 1985. During this time, all of the college students including herself were ingesting f

foods and drinks with NutraSweet in them: “I got so violently sick that I had to go to the ER because of the digestive issues I had developed from eating NutraSweet.” Mrs. Barclay has avoided fake sugar ever since because it is better to “keep it natural and don’t overdo it with the artificial stuff.” She brought up a good point about marketing companies only advertising the health benefits of these artificial products, and not displaying the risks of it. She urges everyone to not fall for these marketing strategies.

Celsius contains guarana seeds . According to an article from Harvard, “Guarana seeds contain about four times the amount of caffeine as that found in coffee beans”, which explains the high levels of caffeine found in Celsius. The recommended caffeine intake for adults is 400 mg, while teenagers ages 12 and older should be drinking no more than 100mg of caffeine a day (The Nutrition Source). Steph Dunford, a senior captain of the school’s varsity cheerleading team, says, “I used to drink one Celsius a day, but I cut it down to three to four a week. I used to drink them in the morning before school but now I drink them before practice or cheer competitions.” Steph’s reason for slowing down on the Celsius intake is that she became aware of the high caffeine levels in them: “I used to drink a Celsius and a Red Bull in one day, but all of the caffeine made me feel too jittery and hyper”, says Steph. 

As mentioned before, Celsius advertises the drink’s health benefits as a body fat burner, and a metabolism accelerator, but how effective is its marketing on the consumers? Steph says that “[She likes] the packaging and the way they look, and the health benefits are appealing.” On the can it says “clinically proven”, which means that the product was shown to be effective through human clinical trials consisting of anywhere from one person to a million people (Business Insider). These two words mean nothing when it comes to the reliability of a product because any company can advertise its product as being “clinically proven”.

The bottom line is that people should drink Celsius in moderation. Drinking this heavily caffeinated drink two times a day for a long period of time will most likely lead to adverse health effects like heart attack and could cause stomach issues from the sucralose in it. Everyone is different and they know what works best for them, and Celsius could be the right energy drink for you.