Mountain Dew is one of the popular soda drinks both teens and adults love to have. Earlier, it was made to mix with Alcohol, but due to its excellent taste, it was then launched as a separate drink.
Now, the company explicitly advertises it as an Energy Drink for everyone. But is it really the case? Does it really provide a boost of energy whenever you have it?
Mountain Dew does give you loads of energy whenever you drink it. The reason is its caffeine content, which is the main architect behind this drink’s claim of being an Energizer.
But this caffeine (and many other ingredients) does a lot more to the body and provides energy, and you will know everything here!
First, a little brief about how Mountain Dew gives you energy.
How Caffeine In Mountain Dew Provides Energy?
Caffeine stimulates Neurotransmitters’ activities, leading to faster communication within the body. This improves the Central Nervous system functioning. Plus, it also fights off Adenosine, which is why you feel fatigued. This leads to high energy levels and all of this becomes possible only due to caffeine.
The caffeine in Mountain Dew is extracted from cola nuts, which are primarily found in Africa. Pepsico extracts the caffeine from there and makes the best possible drink for you. A regular can of Mountain Dew has around 90 mg of caffeine, while some other flavors may have more. This much caffeine is enough to produce strong effects on the body; the biggest one is it provides False Energy.
The energy you get from Mountain Dew is called False energy because you only feel it for five to six hours. Why? It is because Caffeine typically circulates in your blood for about five to six hours. Until then, you feel energetic and ready to do any work. But as soon as the caffeine leaves the body, the energy levels also drop.
In addition to caffeine, sugar and high fructose syrup are also present in a can of Mountain Dew. These two increase glucose levels in the blood, which also provide a dose of energy whenever the system breaks them down.
However, caffeine leads the charge in providing you the energy. Let’s now read what other effects it has on the body.
What Other Things Caffeine In Mountain Dew Do In The Body?
In addition to boosting energy levels, caffeine in Mountain Dew does much more to the body. Due to these effects, more and more people are now drinking sodas and carbonated drinks.
The top effects Mountain Dew causes are:
Improve Brain Functioning
The caffeine in Mountain Dew enhances brain functioning because it supports Serotonin and Acetylcholine, which are Neurotransmitters. This leads to a stronger memory and fewer chances of Alzheimer’s in the future.
Increase Metabolism
The caffeine content boosts metabolic activities in the body, which leads to fat cell burning. It means that drinking Mountain Dew can lead to weight loss.
Great For Athletes
Athletes particularly love Mountain Dew because of its overall effects. They drink it before the game to get rid of any fatigue and to improve their focus. As you know, caffeine is an energy booster, and Athletes benefit from it too.
Now, let’s compare the caffeine in Mountain Dew with Other Energy drinks.
Caffeine Content: Mountain Dew vs. Other Drinks
Pepsico has launched Mountain Dew in different flavors because of its popularity. Each one has different levels of caffeine.
| Mountain Dew Flavor | Caffeine (per can) |
| Mountain Dew Rise | 180 mg |
| Mountain Dew Amp | 142 mg |
| Game Fuel | 90 mg |
| Mountain Dew KickStart | 92 mg |
| Mountain Dew Zero Sugar | 70 mg |
| Mountain Dew Major Melon | 55 mg |
| Mountain Dew Voltage | 55 mg |
| Mountain Dew Spark | 45 mg |
When you compare it with other drinks that are famous for caffeine, you will realize that there is not much difference.
- A cup of coffee contains around 95 mg of caffeine
- A cup of black tea contains 60 mg of caffeine
- A cup of green tea has 43 mg of caffeine
- Coca-cola can contain approximately 23 mg of caffeine.
- A can of Pepsi Zero has about 70 mg of caffeine
- Chocolate Milk Drinks have approximately 35 mg of caffeine.
- 7-up and Sprite do not contain caffeine.
All these drinks are a great source of caffeine and you can all enjoy their benefits. However, doctors and health experts still recommend people not drink carbonated drinks or sodas (including Mountain Dew).
Those who allow it suggest that you should only drink once in a while. It’s true that it does have strong, powerful effects and the best one being an energy booster. Barney and Ally Hartman first made Mountain Dew in the 1940s, and since then, people have been consuming it one way or another.
So, why are health experts now suggesting you should stay away from sugary drinks like Mountain Dew?
It is because carbonated drinks and sodas (including Mountain Dew) have more harmful effects than beneficial ones.
Let’s dive deeper.
Why Should You Not Drink Mountain Dew To Get Energy?
You should not drink Mountain Dew to get energy because it is not so good for your health. The primary reason that makes it bad for you is the high caffeine and sugar content.
The effects these two ingredients cause on the body are:
Burden on Kidney
Drinking cans of soda, like Mountain Dew, can burden the kidneys. They have to filter out more than usual, and then they have to work more to pass out the excess of bad things. Sometimes, you burden your kidneys so much that they stop filtering out properly. This causes stones and, in the worst-case scenario- organ failure.
Insomnia
Drinking Mountain Dew late at night can cause insomnia and restlessness. The reason is the sugar, fructose, and caffeine content. They stay in the system for up to six hours and elevate their energy levels. So, you won’t be able to sleep when you drink it right before your sleeping time. This will also disrupt your sleep cycle/schedule.
Headache
Sugary sodas are high in Artificial sweeteners, and Mountain Dew is also no exception. It contains high levels of Aspartame, which has some negative side effects and one of them is headache or migraine. In addition, caffeine is also known to cause headaches in people.
Some people complain about headaches when they drink a Mountain Dew can.
Irregular Heartbeat
Another problem with caffeine is that it speeds up the heart beating. This effect is not noticeable in many people; however, some people complain about abnormal heartbeat after drinking anything that is high in caffeine. When the heartbeat is irregular, it means that the blood circulation is also not normal.
This is not an adverse effect as the heartbeat can come back to normal after a few hours. Still, if you drink too many Mountain Dew soda cans, you will face problems like high blood pressure, high sugar levels in the blood, and many more.
Tooth Decay
An important ingredient in Mountain Dew is Citric Acid which can damage the enamel of the teeth. So, regular drinking of mountain damage can erode it completely, and tooth decay will start happening even if you are in your 30s or 40s.
Stomach Problems
As mentioned above, Mountain Dew is high in Citric Acid. This acid also affects the stomach too by increasing acidity levels and damaging the stomach linen.
Our stomach naturally has Hydrochloric Acid, which helps with breaking down complex foods. But when you drink a lot of Mountain Dew, its citric acid destabilizes the acid levels in the stomach.
But that’s not it.
Caffeine in Mountain Dew promotes more acid release in the stomach as it is high in sugar.
Thus, those who drink a lot of soda cans feel stomach pain, high acidity levels, acid reflux, GERD, and other stomach problems. If they keep on drinking Mountain Dew, Ulcer will also occur.
So, I say you only drink Mountain Dew once in a while. Don’t ever make it a permanent energy source, and start drinking it daily.
Final Words
All-inclusive, Mountain Dew does provide you a sudden boost of energy levels whenever you drink it because it contains caffeine. However, the energy you get from this drink is called False Energy because it stays for a shorter period.
It is because the caffeine content circulates in the body for about five to six hours, so you will also feel the energy for a few hours.
But health experts do not recommend you drink sodas or any sugar drink to get a spike in your energy levels as their harmful effects are more than the beneficial ones. These are insomnia, irregular heartbeat, headache, tooth decays, stomach problems, and many more.
So, only drink Mountain Dew when you really need loads of energy and never make it a habit!