Acute effects of energy drink consumption on recreational athletes among UiTM Seremban 3 students

Energy drink consumption is widespread among young adults and recreational athletes who seek to enhance alertness and exercise performance. These beverages usually contain caffeine carbohydrates, taurine and central nervous system stimulants that can influence both physical and cognitive outcomes. In sports speed of reaction movement and total response time are critical for quick decision making and efficient physical execution. While caffeine primarily improves reaction speed by boosting attention rather than direct motor control, previous research on energy drinks shows mixed results regarding short term performance and perceptual gains. Although energy drinks can offer acute performance benefits individual safety and variable responses remain important considerations. Because local data on Malaysian university populations is sparse this study examined the acute effects of energy drink intake on reaction time movement time and total response time among recreational athletes at Universiti Teknologi MARA Seremban 3.