Energy Drinks & How They Affect Youth
By Brooke Bradley
Have you ever walked into your school just to see everyone with an energy drink? Whether it’s in their backpack pockets or their hands, you see so many people with energy drinks that it’s sort of confusing and worrying. It makes you ask just how much caffeine they're consuming- and why they continuously brag about it.
The first question is; How much are we consuming? Medical News Today indicates that 86 percent of teens consume caffeine regularly, while a whopping 96 percent consume it every once in a while. This suggests that teens who don’t drink any caffeine whatsoever are in the extreme minority; that's scary, to say the least. This means a large number of teens are at risk of growing up with a caffeine addiction, which can turn into many health risks later on in life. This leads to another question; Is this healthy, and if it is, what quantity?
ULCA Health says the most caffeine you should consume from ages 12 to 18 is 100 mg. But, just how much caffeine is in an energy drink? Looking at Red Bull alone, it has 111 mg of caffeine, which is 11 mg over the healthy limit. Well, what about other drinks? According to Havard T.H. Chan, the average is 85 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces, but we aren't drinking 8 ounces, are we? The article later states that the standard drink is 16 ounces, pumping the caffeine intake up to 170 mg of caffeine, which is way over the recommended intake for caffeine. So what are the effects that happen when drinking too much caffeine?
ULCA Health also states that it can cause jitters, an elevated heart rate, insomnia, high blood pressure, and later a crash. This means the caffeine, which is supposed to make you awake, will later make you even more tired after a few hours, and with the increase of anxiety, it will not fulfill its original purpose.
So what can we take from this? Studies show that caffeine consumption is healthy in moderation; however, as students, we need to lower our caffeine intake, especially while still developing which will lower the risks that come with that.