Energy Drinks

18 year old Jonathan Pierce enjoys drinking tea, but that wasn't always the way he got his daily boost of energy. He says in high school he was drinking at least one energy drink a day.

He claims, "When I was drinking them the most there would be days where I would get headaches from not having my caffeine." He says the energy drinks really helped when he was active, not only giving him an extra boost of energy but confidence as well. Jonathan says, "I would ski in the morning and then drink one at lunch and in the afternoon I felt for some reason like I was more willing to try something I hadn't tried yet."

A recent study done at the University of Buffalo links risky behavior and addiction in young people to energy drinks. Dr. Brent Rody says that's one of the many problems with the drinks today. He says, "If they are feeling down or groggy at all they pop one of the energy drinks and it does give them a sudden jolt of energy. The problem is it can cause insomnia. It has a diuretic effect, cause dehydration. Long term problems with heart disease and stroke. Nausea and vomiting." Plus he says he's seen hundreds of cases where people come to the emergency room with heart problems because an overload of caffeine.

According to Dr. Rody, "They come in complaining of chest pain, shortness of breath but mainly feeling like their heart is beating fast or pounding out of their chest. Many of these energy drinks contain 150 milligrams or more of caffeine and that's just for one serving. Doctors say when you ingest more than 300 milligrams your body can start to react like its over-dosing from other stimulants. To put this into perspective for you, a Mountain Dew has 45 milligrams and a Coke just 29 milligrams. Energy drinks are not currently regulated by the FDA, but Dr. Rody says they should be because of the added the herbs.

Dr. Rody says, "It is common to think herbs are safe because they are quote natural but lots of things are natural that aren't safe like opioids, cocaine and marijuana." He says many of these herbs, like Guarana, Ginseng and Taurine, can cause potentially deadly problems if mixed with certain over the counter and prescription drugs containing Acetemetaphine. He also says many of these act as stimulants and when combined with caffeine can make your heart beat that much faster. Dr. Rody says, "You know fast heart rhythms are dangerous and potentially lethal and long term strokes, heart disease.

Immediately dangerous electrolyte abnormalities these are real problems." According to Jonathan, during his days of energy drinks he did feel jittery. He says, "You just get really fidgety and you don't want to stop moving and small things like fidgeting your leg or something. You just crash. You use up all that energy and you are tired." That's' why Dr. Rody says they are addictive, once the crash happens your body will crave another boost.

Dr. Rody says, "They are not safe. They are probably safe to take one every few days or so but don't get addicted to them because they can cause real problems." Problems that can lead to deadly consequences.

The FDA has not commented on whether or not they will eventually regulate energy drinks.

Doctors tell us one big concern they have with energy drinks is the trend of combining the drinks with alcohol. Dr. Rody says it is a deadly mixture because the caffeine makes you think you are tolerating the alcohol much better than you are and after you go to sleep is when the severity of your alcohol intake can kick in, leaving you helpless.

How Caffeine Affects Our Health

A study done by Northwestern University found more people are abusing caffeine and many do no think caffeine is a drug. The study looked at poison control calls in Chicago and found that there were 250 cases of caffeine induced medical complications between 2002 and 2004. The study argues the problem is on the rise because of the large number of new energy drinks on the market.
» Read Study

John Hopkins Report on the growing danger of caffeinated energy drinks
» Read Report

Common Ingredients