What do you do when you feel exhausted and beat but need to stay alert and awake? Simple, you take an energy drink and feel invigorated and instantly alive enough to finish whatever late night work you need to do. Energy drinks are beverages that are meant to be a quick fix for the exhausted and sleepy.

For instance, if you are a student who needs to pull an all nighter to finish studying for an exam early the next morning. After your hard day at school, it can be extremely difficult to stay up and not fall asleep on your notes. To help you keep going, energy drinks were intended to be the cramming student's companion.

Energy drinks can be confused with sports drink but these are completely different. However, there are some hybrids that have been manufactured that combine the benefits of energy drinks along with sports drinks. The main difference between the two is that sports drinks contain electrolytes as well as sodium to help the body absorb and retain valuable liquids that have been lost during sports or other strenuous activities.

Energy drinks on the other hand is mainly a mixture of caffeine, sugar, some herbs like ginseng and other alert giving substances that are meant to help one maximize the length of hours that he or she is awake for in a given day.

There are some controversies behind energy drinks. Some interest groups are making noise about the amount of caffeine that these energy drinks contain. In fact, it is true that most energy drinks contain caffeine concentrations higher than that in a cup of espresso. This some people say is problematic because pregnant women, children and people who suffer from anxiety disorders may suffer inadvertent adverse effects.

Also, caffeine is the world's most extensively used mood altering substance and it also happens to be addictive so there are some who voice their concern against the caffeine concentration found in these energy drinks. Although, it would be important to note that no strong claims have been set to back any complains by interest groups about the health implications of energy drinks.

The fact is that taking energy drinks is a choice. Most, if not all energy drinks list their ingredients on their labels and here they also list the concentrations of each of the ingredients so that consumers know what it is exactly that they are taking. Also, sometimes, taking energy drinks is the only choice when in a tight fit.

This is true not only for cramming students but for business and professional individuals who need to be able to pack in more hours than would usually be allowed by the body. Late nights working to finish a presentation that may help get that promotion is an endeavor surely worth the aid of energy drinks.

Like everything however, energy drinks should be taken moderately and only when absolutely needed. Also, be sure to be aware about how much energy drinks you've downed in one sitting. One dose of energy drink is supposed to keep you going for some hours so it is probably wise not to take more than one dose of energy drink at a time. Also, it is better to drink the sugar free types of energy drink so that sugar crashes are avoided.