With the stress of exams, students often reach for a caffeinated drink for an extra boost of energy.
Whether that is an iced coffee or an Iced Capp, hidden sugars in these drinks can be counterproductive and affect energy levels throughout the day, according to experts.
While Diabetes Canada recommends adults limit their daily intake of sugar to about 12 teaspoons or 50 grams, a caramel macchiato from Starbucks has roughly two-thirds of that amount, about eight teaspoons.
When one of these drinks has almost the daily intake of sugar, dieticians say it’s important to look at what happens to our bodies when we drink them daily.
Vanita Pais, a clinical dietician and diabetes educator at SickKids Hospital, says the body absorbs sugar in drinks faster than food.
After absorption, our blood sugar spikes and insulin is released to put the sugar into our cells.
“That is fuel for our body to get energy,” says Pais. “Our brain actually uses only glucose.”
She says when we eat a balanced meal, the sugar is released slowly into the body as it takes longer to digest. This helps to control and manage appetite.
Sugary drinks do the opposite.
“It’s not providing you the nutrition that you need,” says Pais. “You are going to feel quickly energized and quickly tired.”
Rachel McCormick, a registered dietitian in the nephrology program at Lakeridge Health, says these blood sugar spikes and drops can also make you feel irritable and hungry.
“It’s not a long-term solution to help you study or give you more energy,” McCormick says.
High sugar intake over a long period of time can develop into insulin resistance, prediabetes and then diabetes.
When a person has diabetes, McCormick says blood sugars will build up in the bloodstream and cause damage.
“It does damage to the small blood vessels behind your eyes, in your heart, in your kidneys, in your feet and your nerves,” she says. “This over time can cause these systems to fail.”
However, one sugar filled drink here and there doesn’t mean you will develop diabetes.
“It’s how you develop or have these habits and expose your body to that constant roller coaster,” says Pais.
Sugar doesn’t need to be cut out entirely. She says it’s OK to have sugary treats once in a while as long as it doesn’t replace healthy foods.
McCormick recommends the 80-20 rule where 80 per cent of food consumed is whole nutritious foods. The other 20 per cent includes more flexibility with treats.
She also says students should drink water and get good sleep to increase energy levels.
Craig Black is a learning specialist at Durham College (DC) with a background in biology. He runs workshops geared towards prepping students for exams.
Instead of cramming the night before a test and depending on caffeine, he recommends studying a little bit each day.
He uses the analogy of learning to drive a car to develop study habits. For example, when practicing getting a G2, you wouldn’t stay up late driving around to learn how to drive.
“I went out over time. I made mistakes during that time and then I learned from those mistakes,” he says.
Black says by developing these study habits, it takes away the pressure and the need for that “miracle cure” of caffeine with added sugar to get by.