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.