Teens and Energy Drinks

For millions of Americans, drinking a cup, or two, of coffee in the morning is part of their routine to kick start the day.  Heck, sometimes we even need a little boost in the afternoon too!  Right?  And now, energy drinks, like Red Bull, have become the go-to caffeine jolt that teens have flock to when they’re tired. While we know these energy drinks are loaded with caffeine, until now we didn’t know how dangerous they are for teens to consume.

According to Dr. Stephanie Lai, a pediatrician at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, energy drinks often contain twice as much caffeine as coffee and eight times as much as soda. Yikes! She says that teens are mixing alcohol with energy drinks, which is especially dangerous to their health. Combining high-caffeine energy drinks with alcohol may give a teens the perception that they’re not drunk, when they really are. And when they don’t feel tipsy, they tend to drink more, which is SUPER BAD.  Remember Four Loko?

The side effects of too much caffeine are well known.  It increases blood pressure, heart rate, palpitations, insomnia, and dehydration.  Not good.  And, caffeine is addicting, which means that teens will experience caffeine withdrawal when they don’t get their drinks.  Withdrawals cause anxiety, tremors, irritability, headaches, and fatigue. 

Because energy drinks are classified as “natural dietary supplements” and not food, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate it.  Can you believe this?  Many energy drink companies don’t list their caffeine content because they claim that it is a “proprietary blend.” Wow.

So it’s time to have that talk with your preteens and teens.  Give them the facts about caffeine, energy drinks, alcoholic energy drink mixes, addiction, and health risks.  Then recommend that they simply get more sleep, exercise, and eat healthy foods. 

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