The Dangers of Energy Drinks

My teenage son and his friends drink energy drinks. They go like crazy all day and stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Although eventually they crash, energy drinks are all the rage in keeping that source of energy flowing for as long as possible.

Then I heard that kids were having problems with dizziness, fainting, and heart palpitations because they had been consuming these drinks. What we generally all seem to do is overdo everything. Over eat, over work, over exercise, and over indulge in almost anything available to us. Children are no different. Even when warned about the dangers of too much of something, teens are likely to say 'So what?' and do it anyway. (Come on...we were all there once and this attitude is not limited to teens)

Death and serious health problems have been rare relating to energy drinks. Extreme consumption or drinking them continuously over a long period of time has raised some red flags in concerns for our health. The target crowd in marketing these drinks are the "extreme" individuals. Sports enthusiasts of all kinds are often times fans of these drinks. It's the 'push yourself beyond your limits' crowd.

These drinks, when used in moderation, are relatively safe. However, when they are consumed over a prolonged period of time, high levels of certain ingredients that build up in the body over time can have major effects on the body. Some of these effects last long-term.

Energy drink overdose can be caused from its key ingredient, caffeine. In order to die from a caffeine overdose, you would likely have to drink about eighty cups of coffee. Energy drinks have more concentrated caffeine than coffee, so fewer of these would be necessary to cause an overdose.

Everyone reacts to caffeine differently. Gauge how you react so that you can adjust your consumption. Because of high levels of caffeine, you may have problems getting and staying asleep.

The concern lies wherein someone guzzles these drinks along with soda or coffee or both. The combination of the caffeine that's consumed can be dangerous. Caffeine is a natural diuretic, which contributes to dehydration. Energy drinks may supply an energy boost, but don't count on it for adequate hydration. These drinks are also typically loaded with sugar and sodium. The mixture of these ingredients denies the body of what it needs. Severe dehydration has been noted in people drinking these drinks before, during, and/or after being involved in sports.

The energy drinks that contain very high levels of sugar can be dangerous for diabetics or people with high or low blood-sugar concerns. The end result of too much sugar is always a sudden crash, which is far from beneficial. When there's a crash, I'm sure a lot of people just pop the top off another energy drink, only to repeat the cycle.

There are other ingredients that concern physicians. Ephedrin, when combined with caffeine, has been proven to cause deadly heart problems. One can of Red Bull contains about as much taurine as 500 glasses of red wine. This has not been studied for long-term effects, but that's a lot of taurine! Guarana or extract from the seeds contributes to even higher levels of caffeine. Since these are relatively new concoctions, there is not sufficient data, and this lack of understanding of long-term consequences is pretty scary.

People have used energy drinks in combination with alcohol to create mixers. Because energy drinks stimulate and alcohol is a depressant, the combination can be dangerous. The stimulant effects can mask how intoxicated you are, and it's difficult to know when you've had too much. The stimulant can also give you the impression that you aren't impaired, making you more alert than if you had consumed just the alcohol. Your blood alcohol level is the same no matter what you add to it. Because the stimulant wears off quickly, you are left with the depressant effects of the alcohol and this could cause respiratory distress or vomiting in your sleep. We already discussed the dehydrating effects of the energy drink. Alcohol is very dehydrating too. The combination of the two can cause dehydration that hinders your body's ability to metabolize the alcohol. This increases toxicity and as a result, you're likely to suffer from a killer hangover.

There has been a related energy drink/alcohol death. A young woman died, apparently of dehydration, after mixing a popular energy drink with alcohol. Two other deaths are under investigation. This should not be taken lightly.

There have been some who have suggested that no one under the age of 18 consume energy drinks. There are warning labels on some cans stating that they should not be consumed by children, pregnant or lactating women, or individuals sensitive to caffeine.

Energy drinks are not intended to be consumed frequently. Two drinks or less per day is the maximum recommended consumption. Even better is if you opt to skip some days in between. Stay informed about potential effects and risks of anything you decide to put into your body. We should consume to nurture ourselves and our wellness, not harm ourselves. This is our responsibility to the care of ourselves.